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Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

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Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#11

Post by lmueongoqx »

imagine99 wrote: post #6

I do kinda understand where you're coming from but I want to warn you against this approach. These jobs you mention, they DO exist. But they break people and make them intensely miserable. Look into "boreout" (as opposed to burnout) to learn more about this. You will be very happy for the first few months, being able to browse HN, news sites and Reddit all day while nobody cares about what you do, nobody wants your i…

Thank you for your advice. I do not have it in me anymore to get the high paying job and go all-out, unfortunately. I understand the really boring jobs would probably lead to depression and not much else. I think a good alternative path would be to look for real jobs but as a part-timer. I'm not sure if there are any ~20 hours a week dev jobs, but that would most likely be enough.

I'm passionate about playing a competitive sport. I could spend my days practicing / working out / thinking about tactics. Unfortunately I am not a world class athlete so money is not an option there :). I'd just be happy having enough time to go as high as I can on the local tournament scene.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#13

Post by lmueongoqx »

muzani wrote: post #5

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I've actually tried to hire dispassionate people before. One was an assembly line style UI job with no future - the API was solid, the UI was designed by someone else. It just needed someone who could glue the parts, and repeat the same job forever, with minor API updates every now and then. Another was a teaching job. Beginner HTML/CSS/Node.js. Come in 35 hours a week, act…

Nice. I'll look for one of those. I'd be perfectly content having some designs/specs handed out and implementing them.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#14

Post by voisin »

Not directly answering your question, but you might want to look into FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). The subreddits /r/FIRE, /r/leanFIRE, and /r/fatFIRE are full of excellent info and active communities of people who have either achieved or are working to achieve exactly what you are hoping to do.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#15

Post by poisonborz »

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to focus on hobbies/life and not caring much about working time job - I would guess most people fall on this side, actually (and they don't even have too much of hobbies either). However, the way you wrote this post, it strucks me that maybe you have burnout, or you're depressed - as if you reach out to your passions not mainly because you like them, but because those never failed you, and you want to get away from everything else, in which you were disappointed.

If this is not the case, just ignore this, but please think about it first. The world can be a great place with the right view, and there is a lot that can bring you back on track - including an inspiring daytime job.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#16

Post by fsloth »

This is an awesome question. I hope someone has good strategies for you. Life should be spent doing the things you find worthwhile, and the fact is, not all of those things are monetizable.

Given how esteem- and success driven HN as a platform is... you might not get too many ideas since I suppose people want to maintain their "hireable" status.

Success and "loving your job" are more or less empty phrases unless you are actually a professional moving your field forward or learning a highly complex subject matter - or you own a stake in a company.

Beyond that you are toiling, and if you like your job, it's glorious toiling like gardening (pleasing, but not important, but you love it, so it's great) or terrible toiling for living that eats your soul.

I'm basically in a job that is quite important for my org, I get compliments for good job, but I hate most aspects of my daily work since the tech stack is complex and fugly. I probably _appear_ motivated but I'm just a neurotic who hates failing. If I didn't need to feed and house my family I would have moved to a lower paying position long ago that is intrinsically more motivating.

Success and "loving your job" have nothing in common in my experience.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#18

Post by ozim »

muzani wrote: post #5

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I've actually tried to hire dispassionate people before. One was an assembly line style UI job with no future - the API was solid, the UI was designed by someone else. It just needed someone who could glue the parts, and repeat the same job forever, with minor API updates every now and then. Another was a teaching job. Beginner HTML/CSS/Node.js. Come in 35 hours a week, act…

I would be too afraid that such cash cow dies at the time I still need it and I won't have skills to find something quickly again.

Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?

#20

Post by shatnersbassoon »

You can do all of this and earn a high salary if you become an...

...agile coach

Read a few books, recycle stuff you find online, do a presentation on neurodiversity. It really is money for old rope. I knew of one who worked in a UK gov department who got £1250 a day, charged for 5 days, and only turned up for 4.5. Did it for years.

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