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Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
171–180 of 214 posts
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#172I think what your mentor meant was don't be bored. I have some misgivings about this advice though as I think it should be more nuanced. It's ok to be bored. With all the gifts modern society has given us, one of the costs has been over-stimulation.
When I'm bored, my mind is clear of any extracurricular thoughts or ideas, and I come up with creative solutions to the “problem” of being bored. One of my hobbies is distance running and it bores me. But almost all of my great ideas have come to me while running. I'm free from the weight and worries of the world
According to two studies detailed in Harvard Business Review, focusing on a mundane task allows your brain to “daydream” and ultimately boosts creativity and problem-solving afterward. Essentially, part of your subconscious mind will start working on things that have not been at the forefront. Your mind is literally reorganizing and optimizing its structure, creating new connections between neurons. [1]
When I've been banging my head against the wall trying to solve some technical problem, I go for a run and forget about my stresses and worries
If people perceive you as boring when you are fulfilled with life, in the words of the Dude, "That's just like their opinion man."
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#173Being happy isn't boring. If you are happy getting paid to create nine to five and the only thing it costs you is the creative freedom you lose by having to work for others I think its probably a fair deal.
There are other things in life worth investing your time and money, take the money and joy you get from work and apply it to other parts of your life.
This doesn't mean you will become stagnant or boring it means the opposite. So far you have only tried scaling yourself vertically (focused on your specialty) with the money and stability you have achieved you can now scale your self horizontally.
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#174There's a new series of Love & Robots coming to Netflix tomorrow, and while I've found both previous series somewhat hit and miss, the episode Zima Blue has stayed with me (someone here later told me it was based on an Alastair Reynolds story which I'd never even thought to google). I won't spoil the episode, but it powerfully captures for me something that has happened a few times in my life (heck, even now if I'm b…
I relate a lot to your comments. I'm currently in a situation which seems to be the pinnacle of the trajectory you described and I'm slowly coming to that exact conclusion about not enjoying the work but just the hobby. My passion for that hobby brought me here and the only logical step is to sell my business and move on. It's going to be such a challenge to let it go but I only look back at what I built with pride and good memories. There's no remorse or resentment because it's a hobby that I continue to enjoy and my professional life still gravitates around it. If you enjoy the ride, which I certainly did, there's nothing wrong in projecting your career off that passion for that hobby.
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#175From Bill Watterson's commencement speech at Kenyon College in 1990. I was lucky to read this when I was graduating and it changed my whole career path. I am now very happy and very boring: "Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an ecce…
This is an example of a common type of discourse that present itself as subversive and opposing what "society" wants. In practice, I really don't see how it is subversive. Most people do not pursue a career where they actively try to climb up the corporate ladder. In fact, most people who are overworked do not pursue any goal of their own, they are simply being exploited (psychological / economic pressure)
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a great counterpoint quote from Edward Abbey: "One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt an…
> hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space I like to keep in mind this romantic i MaDe tRaVeLinG a LifEstYle BS is enabled by the folks who are typically working the…
IMO, the large majority of jobs that pay very well do not actually contribute to a healthier and happier society. That software engineer running AB tests to get you to click on ads more? That insurance adjuster meeting a quota for denied claims? That food scientist making hot dogs last a bit longer in the fridge before spoiling? That director reorganizing some group of people so they can make their mark and use it as a justification to get promoted? They make more money for their bosses but I'm not sure that they are the things keeping life enjoyable for the rest of us.
Yes, if literally everybody became a rock climbing dirtbag we'd have a hard time feeding everybody our filling up the gas tanks for our vans. But I do not see this as an actual risk. We are almost certainly on the side of the curve where more of this activity makes society better, not worse.
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you had a job that paid well enough for you to take off and travel and enjoy your life, then you just opened up one more well paying job for someone else (who might be stepping up from one of those shit jobs). The greedier thing would be to stay on and suck up more and more resources that you don't need and don't even make you happy.
> you just opened up one more well paying job > stay on and suck up more and more resources As opposed to creating more value and enabling the company to hire 5-7 more team members? Maybe you view yourself as a zero-sum resource-suck, but I typically multiply what my company does through new ideas and creative pursuits.
"Creating value" often means "acquiring more revenue", which comes from somewhere. An insurance company can hire more people if they figure out how to cover fewer people's medical expenses. But I'm not sure that was a net win for society.
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#178My take would be to pick a comfortable job that ideally aligns to your values, that does not draw too much energy to be able to be creative outside work without any string attached. And maybe the comfortable job will allow some creativity too.
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#179being "not boring" has U shape returns. it will cost you everything you have before giving you more than you ever expected
Re: Ask HN: Thoughts on being “boring”
#180Inspired = In Spirit
The opposite may mean you're dead, just like the Benjamin Franklin quote:
"Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75."