Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

"What, then, constitutes the alienation of labor? First, the fact that labor is external to the worker, i.e., it does not belong to his intrinsic nature; that in his work, therefore, he does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself. He feels at home when he is not working, and when he is working he does not feel at home. His labor is therefore not voluntary, but coerced; it is forced labor. It is therefore not the satisfaction of a need; it is merely a means to satisfy needs external to it. Its alien character emerges clearly in the fact that as soon as no physical or other compulsion exists, labor is shunned like the plague. External labor, labor in which man alienates himself, is a labor of self-sacrifice, of mortification. Lastly, the external character of labor for the worker appears in the fact that it is not his own, but someone else’s, that it does not belong to him, that in it he belongs, not to himself, but to another. The worker’s activity is not his spontaneous activity. It belongs to another; it is the loss of his self."

If you're having issues with dating and work at Google HQ, the problem may be that you're in an area over-saturated with your demographic (nerdy 20-something men). Strongly consider seeking a transfer to another office, any(?) of which will have more favorable area demographics for dating.

If you don't feel challenged enough, seek intellectual activities (of ANY kind, as long as you enjoy it. Code, study, read, play an instrument, whatever) outside of your job. They will be much more satisfying, because you will have complete control over when and how do you engage in them. I've been doing this for many years and it's one the most satisfying aspects of my life, if not the most.

Also, being kind of a veteran (35yo), let me tell you this: be careful what you wish for. You seem to be enjoying a job that doesn't stress you or burn you out. If you start working at a company where you don't have that any more, there is a very good chance that you will miss the sustainability (in terms of mental health) of your current one.

TLDR: if your job pays the bills and doesn't offer challenges, great. Look for challenges in other areas of your life to maximise happiness.

So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what body language to use to make the desired impression, what to say and what not to say. My managers think I'm a high performer who also makes valuable social contributions to our team and this is reflected in pay rises. I see my mission at work in carefully educating the overly enthusiastic co-workers by dropping a few seemingly random hints or observations that make them think and challenge their beliefs.

Work is just work and unless you're curing cancer, you shouldn't put any effort into making some billionaires richer. Just do the minimum, get your paycheck and appreciate the fact that you don't need to worry about money. Very few people in the world have this level of freedom.

But life is quite a bit more interesting than it seems. Learn applied psychology to understand what drives people. Learn about all these LLCs, corps, trusts and other fun stuff. Talk to a lawyer and try to start your own company. No need to leave your current job: you can use the gained knowledge to hide traces, while still being very legal and very cool. Even if you get caught, use the learned psychology tricks to negotiate: you may even find yourself in a VP position as few people can covertly pull this type of stuff. Even if it doesn't work, there is nothing to lose: 50 years later the only thing you will regret is not taking the risk because of some silly non competes with a company that no longer exists. Learn some Buddhism and some Tiberian phylosophy: it gives a very interesting and different outlook at life. Learn how pilot an airplane: like I said, there is nothing to lose.