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Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

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Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#61

Post by jedberg »

I don't have much to offer you, but I have some questions if you're willing to answer:

1. Do you have a live in partner and/or children?

2. Do you work remotely?

I ask because I'm seeing similar sentiments more lately from friends who work remotely and live alone. Even those with active social lives still have this sense of lack of fulfillment.

But I don't see it amongst peers with live in partners or children or who work in an office. In fact I had some friends who were working remotely alone who either got partners or returned to the office and their outlook improved.

To be clear, I'm absolutely not suggesting that you should get a live-in partner or children or go to the office just for socializing.

I'm more making a comment on a trend I've noticed with the rise of remote work, and one that we as a society will need to work on fixing together without forcing everyone back to work.

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#62

Post by personjerry »

Im going to antarctica next week because I want to, it's the 7th out of 7 continents :)

I don't really need another reason

Slowly been wandering through latin america until I ended up here

Doesn't mean I don't look for opportunities, in fact I still hack at projects, apply for stuff like YC

But there's no rush even if they don't succeed, I have some savings

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#63

Post by smeej »

I recently realized everything else I'd ever worked on amounted to nothing, because I had never figured out how to be someone. (I was something to someone growing up, but someone who still doesn't know other people are also someones.)

So I'm working on becoming someone. That's a combination of figuring out what things are just given in my life--that I am or I like or I want unprompted, naturally--and what things I choose, where I'll actually make an assessment from my values and apply my will and effort to making a change.

Hopefully once I do this, I'll be able to be someone who works on something, instead of living the remainder of my life afraid of the responsibility, and continuing to be no one working on nothing.

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#65

Post by kevinsync »

If by "everyone" you mean "people I see on the internet", you're only seeing them because they desperately want / need you to see them, and your perception of their accomplishments is their currency.

If you mean people you encounter in real life (and they aren't inner-circle), they likely are just saying something, ANYTHING, to either just make conversation or give themselves confirmation that they exist and that they're valid. We're human, after all.

Just try to take it all with a grain of salt. There's no "correct path" in life. You get to define what success and happiness means for you, and you'll also never find a shortage of people who will tell you you're wrong lol -- but the most-free people in the world are those who unapologetically just "are".

Be your authentic self, dude -- do nothing, do something, who gives a shit!

Life can't pass you by if you spend it truly enjoying whatever it is that gets you off (even if that's "nothing")

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#66

Post by whamlastxmas »

I have a lot of stuff I want to work on but completely lack the motivation/mental health/physical health to get into a consistent routine that lends itself to me getting these projects done

I'm in my mid 30s and my preference would be to sit on a porch at a cabin in the woods and wittling a spoon next to a fire with a cup of tea. But I need to keep my skills sharp to stay employed so here I am, sitting in guilt over the lack of productivity in my life and living out a tremendously mediocre career making one fourth of what I'd make if I ever applied myself

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#67

Post by advael »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #37

Wow, I just wanted to say thanks a lot for posting this. I'm in a very similar boat. I was always very focused and goal-oriented in my younger days - a bit of a workaholic but generally enjoyed working hard. A number of changes since the pandemic have left me feeling very similar to you: 1. Like tons of other people, I re-evaluated my relationship with work during the pandemic. To be honest, it wasn't easy. I think a…

I strongly relate, and think a big part it for me is that most people range from apathetic to hostile to most projects that try to wrest any power from tech companies, despite complaining about the way they've been immiserated by them in the next breath. It's hard enough trying to pry even little bits of freedom or individuality from the grasp of all these moneyed interests without every effort to do something like it getting a bunch of random hate

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#68

Post by seer »

To be honest I was in a similar place last few years, professional development was pushed to the back seat somehow, nothing was interesting to me. But then I started doing stuff for me personally - got a sail skipper license, a motorbike license - traveled the world. But after a year of having fun, I have to say I’m quite happy getting back to the industry.

I think maybe it’s because I’m getting into health tech, and that feels slightly more meaningful. Also FHIR turned out to satisfy my lust for exploring complex systems quite a lot. We’ll see how it goes, but my advice to all burned out hackers is to get a sabbatical - like a year or so - code what you like, travel the world, tinker with hardware, join a ngo, stuff like that, time does heal all wounds.

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#69

Post by nprateem »

Basically nothing but yoga for the last 3 months. Seems like the only thing worth doing. Every book on proper yoga/enlightenment says it's the way to lasting fulfilment. So I'm prioritising myself at the moment. I even pulled out of a £350k job to do this. Time to get the big thing on my bucket list ticked off.

Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?

#70

Post by kelnos »

Not right now, but I was in that place during probably the final 2 years at my previous job. It's hard to say if that was primarily due to the job itself (I was there for a little over 10 years, but by year 8 or so I was becoming disillusioned with the company and felt like I wasn't doing much new or novel) or the pandemic (for reasons that should hopefully be obvious!). And I did have a few spurts of creativity/wanting-to-learn during that time, but they only lasted 4-6 weeks at a time, at best.

The job dissatisfaction translated to burnout. The pandemic stuff was I guess a different kind of burnout that I'd never experienced before, combined with mild depression over the isolation (fortunately my partner and I lived together; I can't imagine what people living alone had to go through) and inability do do most of the normal things I loved to do.

I think it's useful to really examine how you feel (possibly with the help of a therapist, but you can do a lot of this mental/emotional work on your own if that's not your thing) to try to determine if these feelings are coming from a true belief that this career/hobby path simply is no longer for you, or if it's more that there are some current conditions in your life that have temporarily made you feel this way. I've experienced various levels of burnout throughout my career and life, and I know during those periods I was very negative about continuing with what I was doing longer term. But ultimately I still love software, and still love building things with software, and I'm glad I haven't abandoned it entirely.

Taking a break -- consciously, without putting pressure on ourselves to do something, anything -- is I think the bare minimum to getting past feelings of burnout, if that is what it is. Sometimes that alone works. But sometimes you may need a new job with fresh people and challenges as well.

Regardless, I think it's important to understand and acknowledge that there is nothing wrong with you. This is an unfortunately normal thing that happens sometimes, when things aren't going well for a sustained period of time. There is a way out, either to find joy in what you're doing again, or to decide that you want to find something else to do with your life and time.

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