41–50 of 85 posts
Also, if you're in Hobart there are people around who are doing similar things. Surely there are lectures at UTas or something. Perhaps a system admin job at UTas might be a better option as well.
CSIRO robotics have people in Hobart as well. Have a look and see if there is something there.
Plenty of people work dull jobs to support their family.
Sorry for terse list form, but I'm knackered after a long day and still have plenty to do. But I sympathize with your plight so here goes. #1 Diet and exercise. Healthy body, healthy mind. #2 Take the paychecks. If you can phone it in at work, and your employer is undeserving, then make money for no mental effort. #3 Consider full time remote work. This is more and more viable. You can work for an awesome company wit…
Plus one on remote work. I'm the only one in my company in my town and it makes me very productive.
> My home town is literally at the bottom end of Australia. Beautiful place but there are very few development jobs and no paying startups here. I have a child with another on the way. My partners salary is insufficient for us to live on.
Solution #1: Move to a bigger metro. You can even find a job before you move. Your new employer may even pay for relocation costs.
Solution #2: Another solution is to find remote work. Once you get it, start implementing solution #1.
Read? Sounds like a sad place but if you're really in a place where you can 'play games on your phone and sleep' then create enough automation to meet what ever goals your manager sets for you, and then start learning more stuff. You might also find organizational dynamics and management books fun to see how they apply in your current situation. Some of the other folks there might be in the same boat you are, they ar…
I've had to do this on multiple occasions. It was either that or wake up every day hating the prospect of going to work and suffering the endless boredom.
And I agree your company likely has no grounds to your IP but what might give them some ground is if you're either caught working on your project at work or if your performance slips to the point they think you have somehow used your time for other means.
Once due to life circumstances I was stuck for a few years in a job I hated for much of the same reasons (limited growth, very bored, yet simultaneously very stressed due to ridiculous deadlines). One thing that helped me get by was to have my employer pay for me to learn new things. I really wanted to learn a particular programming language, so gradually over time I built up a compelling case that learning this lang…
The first thing I'd recommend is solid at-work time management - your goal should be to do the bare minimum to do well and make steady progress there in terms of you literally doing nothing but somehow being essential - a lot of managers do this after all, why not make it factual instead of how you perceive your job? But your heart and focus should really be on getting out of there and possibly using your side projects as evidence, not your day job (you're likely working on code that is far below your capabilities partly because you're too stressed to take on effectively now btw).
Most people besides your peers will have trouble understanding how tough it can be to be a breadwinner stuck at a job that's a deadend when you have so much passion to do better, so staying connected with people that can inspire you is critical. I'd say it's probably kept me from going completely insane and doing things I'd really regret just out of sheer frustration.
Exercise helps with few doubts but it won't help much unless you're managing your time effectively to keep the stress and workload at bay so you don't die of adrenal gland failure or something asinine.
Keep your head up and try to record your progress for yourself and try to limit work to side projects that do go somewhere and really understand what a minimum viable product means and take it from an entrepreneurial approach than engineering one.
Read? Sounds like a sad place but if you're really in a place where you can 'play games on your phone and sleep' then create enough automation to meet what ever goals your manager sets for you, and then start learning more stuff. You might also find organizational dynamics and management books fun to see how they apply in your current situation. Some of the other folks there might be in the same boat you are, they ar…
If he's using their time / lights / heat / AC / lunch / asking coworkers / etc, to read about topics that are directly applicable to his side project, that muddies things considerably even if he's otherwise kept separation strict.
Consider taking it one step further, and bringing in your own laptop (even if you're not connected to their wifi) to work on the side project in your underutilized time. That's probably too far, but is it really any farther than reading books ?
One thing that you might find more productive than playing games on your phone that seems unequivocally "safe" in this context is meditation. An hour or two of that might help make better use of your ~5h at home in the evening.
I know Australia is an expensive country (and moving is out of the picture), But if you're able to cut down your spending by 50%, you'll be able to save enough money to quit your job soon. Apart from that, spend some time doing steady consulting to start building an alternate income stream. Once your consulting income can support your entire family, quiting is a no-brainer :)