Sell your back, or sell your brain. There is no other way.
From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
101–110 of 352 posts
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Working at amazon as an order picker is depressing, soul sucking and can wreck your body for the remainder of your life. Devs can get by working few hours a day, some barely do any work at all. I refuse to stare at a screen 8+ hours a day. I take healthy breaks and create boundaries. I rarely have to solve puzzles at work. The grunt of the work is almost the same thing over and over.
You might be surprised to learn that for every dev working “few hours a day” or barely doing anything at all, there is another engineer doing all their work for them - usually in a constant state of fending off burnout due to having to do other peoples’ work in addition to their own.
That other engineer is actually a problem. He is accomplishing nothing by grinding 8+ hours a day and will burn out, most deadlines are bullshit.
Nobody can sustain that much work for a long period of time.
I would much rather be a good well rounded reasonable dev than someone doing others work. That is a huge red flag. Every dev should be responsible for THEIR work, not their team mates. Unless of course they are doing code reviews.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#103Ostensibly he could just retire.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Software development is taxing on your brain the same way physical labor is taxing on your body. It’s depressing, soul sucking work. You’re stuck inside, staring at a screen for 8+ hours a day.
If all jobs had the same salary, benefits, career path, etc, there is no way I'd trade software development for a job involving strenuous physical labor.
If being a security guard paid half instead of a tenth what I made as $BIGCO software developer, I’d switch back immediately.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#105There were many times in my programming career when I wanted to take a mental break and just do some kind of menial job for a few months. There are many routine jobs that don't require much training so it should be easy to do one for 6 months. The problem is generally that most people's career paths do not allow for this kind of thing. It looks bad on your resume to have 'truck driver' or 'shelf stocker' in-between t…
I solved this by simply getting hobbies that involve manual labor. You get the physical exertion and the ability to see the results of the work of your hands--without the drudgery of a job and the pressure of having your livelihood depend on not wrecking your body. If you're not feeling up to it today, just don't go out to the garage. Need extra zen time to forget your JIRA queue? Spend a few extra hours hobbying. St…
I got deep into homebrewing beer for a while for this reason. It was extremely satisfying to make something tangible and physically taxing after spending all week tapping on a keyboard. Not to say that software isn't "real", but having a physical thing you can show off and share and enjoy hits differently.
Unfortunately having dozens of gallons of good beer on hand at all times led to some pretty bad habits so I had to get out of that game (plus I had kids, so RIP to both hobby time and frequent drinking). Still looking for the next hobby that really clicks with me, the intersection of science and creativity and engineering and socializing that is brewing was pretty perfect.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#106Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Software development is taxing on your brain the same way physical labor is taxing on your body. It’s depressing, soul sucking work. You’re stuck inside, staring at a screen for 8+ hours a day.
If all jobs had the same salary, benefits, career path, etc, there is no way I'd trade software development for a job involving strenuous physical labor.
Man, I'd go back to being an archaeologist in a heartbeat. I like software, but the whole corporate thing gets old real fast.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Working at amazon as an order picker is depressing, soul sucking and can wreck your body for the remainder of your life. Devs can get by working few hours a day, some barely do any work at all. I refuse to stare at a screen 8+ hours a day. I take healthy breaks and create boundaries. I rarely have to solve puzzles at work. The grunt of the work is almost the same thing over and over.
Devs can get by working few hours a day, some barely do any work at all Not sure how others here feel, but I have to say that when I've found myself in situations where there isn't much work to be done I find it utterly soul destroying. Always feel guilty doing anything else in down-time when I'm billing a client and so sometimes end up sitting in a weird stand by mode, feeling like I'm somehow being lazy.
It's not lazy. If I go for a walk I'm actively thinking about projects. I have solved many problem by just clearing my mind and taking breaks.
Building software should not be paid by the hour. It's a weird thing.
If I can build a piece of software in 10 hours, and another dev needs 40 hours....it seems kind of odd to pay the slower less resourceful dev MORE for a slower delivery?
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#109"The experience was physically taxing, he was diagnosed with tendonitis after moving hundreds of boxes a day, but it pulled him out of his depression and helped him gain perspective and a deeper sense of meaning"....... I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. I've had many physical shitty jobs in my 20's. Then, I had some health issue and co…
>I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable.
Sure it is, as soon as you realize employees are replaceable commodities that get used up like break pads.
Sustainable for the individual? Obviously not. Sustainable for amazon. Of course, which is why it won't be changing.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
If all jobs had the same salary, benefits, career path, etc, there is no way I'd trade software development for a job involving strenuous physical labor.
Man, I'd go back to being an archaeologist in a heartbeat. I like software, but the whole corporate thing gets old real fast.
Archeology sounds awesome, but I imagine it’s one of those highly academic fields where barely anyone makes it.