“Just keep doing what you’re doing, but weirder.”
Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
61–70 of 111 posts
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#62Do you get enough sleep? I know sleep makes a world of difference to me when it comes to working on less than exciting things.
To second this... If there is any chance you have obstructive sleep apnea (big neck? snore a lot? have trouble staying awake during movies?) get a sleep study ASAP. Treating that can be life changing.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#63You may want to change your attitude toward work. There's a reason it's called "work" and not playtime. There's a reason they pay you to do it. I like to think about the guy stuck in a shit town, working in a coal mine. Maybe they all drink themselves to oblivion and I'm delusional, but I envision at least some of them this way: Guy goes down there and busts his ass all day in the dark, getting dirty as fuck, probabl…
The needless aggressiveness aside, this goes completely against my job experience. The boring workplaces were those in which putting in the effort was actively discouraged and punished. Consider yourself lucky if you never worked in one of these places.
This matches my experience as well. I've worked at places that were boring because everyone was checked out and didn't care about the work. I've also worked at more interesting jobs where the people were far more engaged. The latter type of job tends to be more challenging, better paying, and more conducive to learning.
It's possible that OP's problem is largely that he has worked for bad companies/managers.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it might feel good to admonish people and tell them that they have to get tough and suck it up and pull themselves by their bootstraps, it typically does not do anything to help them; particularly if they are taking the initiative to ask for help in the first place. OP more likely than not realizes that they are in a situation of privilege compared to someone working in the mines to sustain their family; if the…
I realize my response may not be helpful and is not in the normal spirit of HN. But OP said this "My ideal life would be one where I am free to explore things that interest me and share that knowledge with others." Look, not everyone can be an Instagram model or a YouTube star. Sometimes a good smack in the face is what's needed to spark a little motivation. Sometimes not, but I think it's worth putting out there. Fo…
I don’t think OP wants to be an instagram star. They want a change in career and have only a nebulous sense of what exactly they want. “Suck it up” is not only a mean spirited response, it is beside the point.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it might feel good to admonish people and tell them that they have to get tough and suck it up and pull themselves by their bootstraps, it typically does not do anything to help them; particularly if they are taking the initiative to ask for help in the first place. OP more likely than not realizes that they are in a situation of privilege compared to someone working in the mines to sustain their family; if the…
I realize my response may not be helpful and is not in the normal spirit of HN. But OP said this "My ideal life would be one where I am free to explore things that interest me and share that knowledge with others." Look, not everyone can be an Instagram model or a YouTube star. Sometimes a good smack in the face is what's needed to spark a little motivation. Sometimes not, but I think it's worth putting out there. Fo…
To be fair, is that not everybody's ideal life? To not have to truly "work", just to do things they find enjoyable? Feeling entitled would be demanding that from every job, being realistic would be understand that normal jobs can help motivate you to get to that "ideal" life.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#66You may want to change your attitude toward work. There's a reason it's called "work" and not playtime. There's a reason they pay you to do it. I like to think about the guy stuck in a shit town, working in a coal mine. Maybe they all drink themselves to oblivion and I'm delusional, but I envision at least some of them this way: Guy goes down there and busts his ass all day in the dark, getting dirty as fuck, probabl…
Why? Why should life be that way? What’s the point of doing unfulfilling things that make you die sooner?
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#67You may want to change your attitude toward work. There's a reason it's called "work" and not playtime. There's a reason they pay you to do it. I like to think about the guy stuck in a shit town, working in a coal mine. Maybe they all drink themselves to oblivion and I'm delusional, but I envision at least some of them this way: Guy goes down there and busts his ass all day in the dark, getting dirty as fuck, probabl…
I appreciate the spirit of what you're saying, though I disagree a bit with the details.
I worked a blue collar job manufacturing commercial signage for several years before I got a job as a programmer. I'd wake up at 5, work on learning to code, and then go to my job. Sign making isn't coal mining but it is a low wage job with few benefits and negative impact on your health. I didn't find much of the stoic worker type you describe among the people I worked with. Most had families. Everyone hated their job. It breaks you down physically, the boredom wears on you mentally, and providing for someone else doesn't make this easier.
I am grateful that I now get paid 5x what I used to make, sit in an expensive chair, and get free beer at the office. But I think it's good to be honest with yourself when what you have doesn't feel like enough. Trying to push that feeling away doesn't help to resolve it, in my experience.
I do think that an attitude adjustment is called for. But I'm trying to sort out what is a product of attitude and what is a product of external circumstance.
Finally, I think a world where everyone has the freedom to pursue what they're interested in would be an ok world. It's not always possible but it wouldn't be wrong if it was.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it might feel good to admonish people and tell them that they have to get tough and suck it up and pull themselves by their bootstraps, it typically does not do anything to help them; particularly if they are taking the initiative to ask for help in the first place. OP more likely than not realizes that they are in a situation of privilege compared to someone working in the mines to sustain their family; if the…
I realize my response may not be helpful and is not in the normal spirit of HN. But OP said this "My ideal life would be one where I am free to explore things that interest me and share that knowledge with others." Look, not everyone can be an Instagram model or a YouTube star. Sometimes a good smack in the face is what's needed to spark a little motivation. Sometimes not, but I think it's worth putting out there. Fo…
https://twitter.com/dril/status/473265809079693312?s=21
I think it says a lot about your worldview and experience if you think there are only two careers (industry drone and Instagram celebrity). There are lots of jobs people find happiness through, like teaching or creating art. If you have some time off work for new years, I'd recommend playing the game The Stanley Parable.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#69There is this very popular place earlier known as Hacker School and now known as Recurse Center at NYC, so if you can manage to arrange some place to live in NYC I suggest you to go and check out this place. It's community driven and ask for no fee though is very good and worth giving a try. Here is the link to the same https://www.recurse.com
Yeah! I need to save a bit more money but I would like to participate in a Recurse Center batch. Would like to make my daily reality more like what time at the Recurse Center sounds like.
Re: Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career?
#70There is this very popular place earlier known as Hacker School and now known as Recurse Center at NYC, so if you can manage to arrange some place to live in NYC I suggest you to go and check out this place. It's community driven and ask for no fee though is very good and worth giving a try. Here is the link to the same https://www.recurse.com
This is nonsense, unless the OP lives in or around NYC this advice is useless.
Lots of people who live outside New York participate. Don't be so needlessly harsh.