A job. Just graduated and watching my bank account slowly drain. Have had a steady job for the past four years and not having one truly diminishes quality of life in all aspects. Those of you with them, even if you don't like them, realize you have income.
Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
31–40 of 51 posts
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#32A sense of purpose and meaning. I grew up in poverty, managed to emigrate to the US and have struggled to get where I am and now am in a comfortable senior position in the industry. I am good at what I do but it's the same thing over and over. I go to work each day, save most of my paycheck, then use the rest to buy expensive trinkets, go to nice restaurants and take trips. I have a circle of acquaintances, hobbies,…
I don't have an answer for you. I just wanted to say that I struggle with the same ideas. I feel like I'm wasting my youth obsessing over these ideas. I feel like I'll disappoint everyone if I stop keeping up this cycle you describe. Sometimes I feel handcuffed to my life.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#33A sense of purpose and meaning. I grew up in poverty, managed to emigrate to the US and have struggled to get where I am and now am in a comfortable senior position in the industry. I am good at what I do but it's the same thing over and over. I go to work each day, save most of my paycheck, then use the rest to buy expensive trinkets, go to nice restaurants and take trips. I have a circle of acquaintances, hobbies,…
Do you help others? If not, write a check to a non profit you care about in your local area. Even if it doesn't work, you did something good. Keep trying it! Sincerely, guy who works at a non-profit. Also, your company may pay for you to volunteer at a local food bank. Or throw some time into helping new immigrants. Do you speak another language? Do you have knowledge that, if you shared it, would help people like the young you? We're all different, but boy it is not a good feeling to "have it all" and still lack purpose- but two are not always connected. There might be other ways to scratch the itch. But it sounds like you are restless for more impact in the world. You might not fix that feeling by writing checks and volunteering, but you might. The idea of plateauing suggest maybe you need more challenges, that you need to be cooking up something new. Maybe you have always been in motion and it feels weird to not be in motion. Find something of your community that's broken and see if you can help fix it. Maybe you just need a really good problem to get stuck in. These are just suggestions, I hope I didn't come off too bossy, that's not what I'm going for.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#34If I was 300 feet taller
If I had a girl real cute so I could call her.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#35A sense of purpose and meaning. I grew up in poverty, managed to emigrate to the US and have struggled to get where I am and now am in a comfortable senior position in the industry. I am good at what I do but it's the same thing over and over. I go to work each day, save most of my paycheck, then use the rest to buy expensive trinkets, go to nice restaurants and take trips. I have a circle of acquaintances, hobbies,…
I don't have an answer for you. I just wanted to say that I struggle with the same ideas. I feel like I'm wasting my youth obsessing over these ideas. I feel like I'll disappoint everyone if I stop keeping up this cycle you describe. Sometimes I feel handcuffed to my life.
Do you have a specific alternative in mind? Can you dip a toe in the water without changing everything completely? The people in your life want you to be happy and safe and secure. They probably won't be disappointed if you go do something crazy but I bet their love to see that your backup plan is solid.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#36Working 4 days a week. I wouldn't mind working 9 hours a day if that lets me have Fridays to myself.
I worked for a company that did that during the 2001 recession. It meant a cut in my salary for the period, but it was nice despite having to cut back on some things.
I eventually started doing some side work on my Fridays. I have to say I really enjoyed being a part-time freelancer and helping clients solve their problems. The work was fun because I never relied on it.
Would do it again.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#37I would say moving to Toronto where my work is. Right now my commute is ~4 hours everyday so I don't get time to do anything apart from gym once I get back home. Good news is I'm moving in 2 months, bad news is I barely know anyone in Toronto and have great friends where I live currently.
Where do you live? That commute is insane.
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#38Doing something that I love to do, like programming. The hard part is that it'd greatly reduce my quality of life in the short term (gaining paper credentials, finding a job). Along with the fact that I've never programmed as a profession for someone else, so would I even like it? etc. I've got a cushy job with great pay and retirement, but it's a lousy "legend" to live. Hard to leave, but hate to stay. With that sai…
What are you doing now, and if I can ask, how old are you? > marrying my 4-year girlfriend. I highly recommend eloping! My wife and I did that, and hoo-boy it took so much pressure off of us(not to mention saved us a lot of money).
YES
We did it too. Total cost of marriage: $300. How many people do you know had expensive weddings but ended up divorced and/or in debt? I have encountered plenty of people who said they wished they had much less elaborate marriages, but zero people who regretted eloping
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#39Exercise and Proper eating. Common sense, right? Yet, so many of us find it hard. I've lost more than 8kgs in the last 3 months and I feel great. I was never overweight to begin with but still I feel so much happier overall. I don't think drugs can do what 1 hour of exercise daily does to your mood and energy. Plus losing weight has it's own benefits. Once you shed those extra pounds you feel like you've been carryin…
> 1 hour of exercise daily
How did you get going with that? Any pointers?
Re: Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life?
#40The main change I'd like at this point would be to transition from an "employee" job to a "founder" job.
That is in the works, we'll see how the next 6-12 months go... :-)