Ask HN: What to do after the workday?

If you're a real human - and you are - you should spend more time with yourself and get to known about yourself and how different and similar you are to the other human beings, what's your common ground and where you briefly part your ways. You should do nothing more often just because being (as opposed to doing) is truly a wholesome thing in itself and you probably deserve it. You should cultivate your curiosity and learn about things not because they're useful to your job, but because you may become a better friend, brother and son. You should learn to enjoy your company and be your own friend and exert more control over the things that look like escapism - TV, internet, drugs and all - but be a wholesome person as well and understand the age you live in and its peculiarities.

If you're a real human - and you are - you should spend more time with your friends. In the long run, most people regret not spending more time cultivating fulfilling and genuine friendships and keeping in touch over the years. (2) You should strive to be a better friend than you currently are and use some of your spare time to make their lives a bit better and their journeys easier. You should set aside time each week for some of them and call them, email them, write them paper letters and cook for them at your place. You should spend more time helping your friends know the real you, the scared you, the brave you, the silly you, as they probably already know the smart and sexy you.

If you're a real human - and you are - you should spend more time with your family. Some of the strongest and best reasons to be alive are connected to what we call our families. Being an adult yourself now, with your own peculiarities, life experience and unique perspective - you should be more kind to them and more approachable and less judgemental. You should make their journey through life less arduous and painful. You should be there more often for dinner and bake your lovely cake for them. You should ask for their opinions even though you're not going to follow them. You should teach them that things can be good and that's not always a muddle-through. Be a good dad without any logic to support it.

If you're a real human - and I'm sure you are - you should enjoy your work but never confuse work with life. While work is certainly part of it, it should never-ever replace life's extensive and puzzling experiences, disappointments and boredoms. Your brief visit here is realy truly brief, you just can't see it yet. Oftentimes and without our noticing, work saps meaning from life but we learn this when we've stopped being busy and eager. In your free time after work, you should be your own self, without the demands of work and social life. You should pursue your own activities and create your own meaning. There's certainly more to life than work. (3)

Here is a Freddie Mercury snippet to go with that.

"There must be more to life than living There must be more that needs the light Why should it be just a case of black or white There must be more to life than this"

1. https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html / 2. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-fiv... / 3. https://old.reddit.com/r/stopworking/

Meetup.come and facebook groups can be a great resource. Try something that freaks you out a little bit.

I <3 acro yoga, group and solo mountain biking, and group and solo rock climbing. Maybe one more of those would work for you. Maybe you should find something else. Ultimate frisbee, geocaching, group fitness classes, group hiking. There are a lot of exercise + socialize options out there if you go looking for them. Do it and I bet you’ll thank yourself for it later on down the road. If you feel uncomfortable putting yourself out there and trying something new than just try to remember how uncomfortable you are with the thought that there might be something more out there for you. I bet that there is.