Continue to work on your terms is good for your health.
Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
41–50 of 166 posts
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Entirely possible. When I was about your age I wound up taking off and teaching English to little kids in Thailand. That was a great experience that involved a refreshing amount of time away from a computer. I was able to pick up my career afterwards easily enough. I actually wound up working on education related software so my little teaching experience may have even helped. The only lasting (sort of) negative was t…
I did the same at the same age as well, except I was teaching English in Japan. After only a few months of that, I had a burning desire to be back in a coding career, and to be as far away from eikaiwas as possible. If you've never worked outside the tech industry, you would be amazed at how good we get it.
Lol. Very true. As much as I enjoyed teaching 6-8 year old and essentially playing games and singing songs all day having to clock in and out, a strict dress code and having to complete vast volumes of dead tree paperwork wasn't super fun. Especially when compared to software companies I have worked for. Flexible hours, free snacks, and wear whatever you want.
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are a programmer, now you have your next project for when you take some time off. ;-)
I have thought about doing that, but as with any ideas I have, I assume that if it was a good idea, someone would already be doing it!
I've thought about it a lot, also. Came to the same conclusion as yourself. If only I wasn't already currently working on N other side projects...
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#44As they say in the article, I think many people approach retirement as a cessation. From what I've seen of my own parents, I hope that retirement for me will be more a change of what I'm working on, and how I work, rather than whether or not I work. I'm also trying to make those changes now - working on what I want to work on, at a reasonable pace, at the level and times I'm interested. I'd quite happily keep doing t…
You made me remember this "living life backwards" quote
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#45I'm not sure why "retire" is equated with sitting on the porch doing nothing. Perhaps that is the image that some folks hold but I know lots and lots of people who fund their own existence through passive income (savings, etc) and do all sorts of interesting things. I need a different word for that state, perhaps self employed might be more accurate since at that point you are paying your own "salary".
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#46I am only 30 but have been unemployed for about 15 months, due to a significant family health and legal situation. I can definitely say that not working, even if other life needs are met, has had a hugely adverse affect. I definitely need to feel proud of what I am working on to feel whole and well. Ceasing to work and then resuming a new job search is also demoralizing. Most people will not even consider hiring you…
You've got to learn to avoid telling them that you're unemployed. Best way is to work for yourself. Assign yourself a project, pay yourself in equity, and work on it for a few hours each day. Rehearse telling people about it in such a way that it sounds like a legit job. That will be easier if you take it as seriously as a legit job.
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I view retirement mostly as financial freedom. I have every intention of working after retirement as I get personal enjoyment out of doing what I do. I just haven't decided what "work" will look like.
This. I am baffled by friends and family that talk about how they couldn't retire because what would they do? My response is to list the many, many things I want to do that I can't because I 'have to work': read more, learn new languages (spoken & computer), take up the piano/guitar, try new games (board, tabletoprpg, computer), write, program, etc. The only reason I ever get bored is because I don't have the time, r…
My problem is similar but different.
The last couple of vacations I've taken have been staycations. Even though I have many hobbies and interests - several musical instruments, writing music, drawing, dabbling in code, reading - not having the structure of a job and expectations of others weighing on me to 'be productive' I procrastinated quite a lot. I frequently felt anxious and unfulfilled. I took this experience as a glimpse into what retirement might be like.
In retirement I think I'll need to create a schedule for myself that includes having others depending on me to 'show up'. E.g. doing volunteer teaching, etc.
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#48I'm not sure why "retire" is equated with sitting on the porch doing nothing. Perhaps that is the image that some folks hold but I know lots and lots of people who fund their own existence through passive income (savings, etc) and do all sorts of interesting things. I need a different word for that state, perhaps self employed might be more accurate since at that point you are paying your own "salary".
It seems like leisure in the sense that Thoreau was talking about would be a good fit. Leisure"s contemporary meaning is pretty much doing nothing productive. Thoreau viewed at as doing things for their own sake, which does not preclude being productive. You can work as hard in leisure as you would for err... work to make a livelihood.
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I view retirement mostly as financial freedom. I have every intention of working after retirement as I get personal enjoyment out of doing what I do. I just haven't decided what "work" will look like.
This. I am baffled by friends and family that talk about how they couldn't retire because what would they do? My response is to list the many, many things I want to do that I can't because I 'have to work': read more, learn new languages (spoken & computer), take up the piano/guitar, try new games (board, tabletoprpg, computer), write, program, etc. The only reason I ever get bored is because I don't have the time, r…
@ergo You have a terrific mindset. To quote you "The only reason I ever get......... to do what I want". How does your brain keep itself so engaged ?
Re: Why Continuing to Work Is Good for a Man’s Health
#50I am only 30 but have been unemployed for about 15 months, due to a significant family health and legal situation. I can definitely say that not working, even if other life needs are met, has had a hugely adverse affect. I definitely need to feel proud of what I am working on to feel whole and well. Ceasing to work and then resuming a new job search is also demoralizing. Most people will not even consider hiring you…
That is a rough situation, and it sounds like you are hanging in there impressively. Hats off to you for that.
I do have to agree with the other poster, I sounds like the big thing here is the framing of the situation, your presentation, and projecting confidence.
Perhaps doing fake interviews with people and getting their feedback on the non-technical aspects could be helpful (it sounds like you are nailing the technical stuff). Or you could record yourself answering expected questions and work on coming across amiably and confidently, as it fits your personality of course.
Also, I'm not sure where your located, but my guess is that there may be some geographic/cultural differences in the severity of this issue. My impression is that in SF, one's current employment status is less important than other indicators.