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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?

#71

Post by _ache_ »

g4zj, you are doing the most important thing of your life. Keep doing, I'm pretty sure you are doing great! Keep healthy.

I was actually in a situation similar to you. Lost of interest in learning new stuff, every thing feeling the same as something that I already know, and obviously I was wrong, but it took sometime before I was hocked over a new subject I know little about. Lately, I'm studying Computer Related skills like soundness, proof assistant and automatic proof/solver. It will not have any impact on my IT career, but I never learned anything for my career.

I keep working on myself too.

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

#72

Post by avensec »

Swizec wrote: post #22

I’ve always liked Viktor Frankl’s take on this: There is no meaning. But humans need meaning. Create your own! Absolutely anything will do as long as you find it meaningful. Just pick a goal/meaning and go for it. It’s okay to change what you find meaningful as you go through life.

I was in a similar introspective state of my life when someone recommended "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. To anyone reading the comment wanting more, I'd recommend the book. The audiobook is only 4h 45m.

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

#73

Post by bluetomcat »

tenpoundhammer wrote: post #31

I found in my mid thirties that my perspective on what was important and desirable shifted significantly. Which led me to become disengaged from my desire to build side projects and learn new programming languages. It was a time were ecclesiastes from the Bible resonated a lot. After a while I just found out that I wasn’t interested in nothing but I had to rediscover what was important to me and what I valued spendin…

In our younger years, we are primarily driven by economic necessity and social validation. Sure, programming genuinely interests me from my teenage years, but if it wasn't for attaining some level of financial independence, there's no way I could have spent most of my 20s in front of a screen, solving someone else's problems. I could have been doing it as a leisurely recreational hobby instead.

Now I'm in my late 30s, with a 5-year-old child and a well-furnished 2-bedroom flat that was paid for in cash. I don't feel like having to prove anything to anyone. I've not fallen prey to any kind of excessive material consumption. My best idea of spending quality time is assisting my son with playing with Lego, and then taking a walk in the park with a classic philosophical book from Plato or Hegel or Hume.

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

#74

Post by whamlastxmas »

smeej wrote: post #63

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 some thing 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 c…

Be someone to people you care about and are close to. Don't worry about trying to be a person that has a wikipedia page.

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

#75

Post by iancmceachern »

This is me. I've been working on my hardware design and engineering skills for 20 years, in the last I stopped trying to focus on progressing that and just focus on progressing me, my relationships (including with myself), and learning to market myself better and more genuinely. In learning about marketing I've learned a lot about human nature, and manipulation of such, and I've learned to recognize how marketing and soceity in general manipulates us in ways I was previously unaware of. Learning this alternate skillset really opened my eyes up to the broader world and has really broadened my horizons.

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

#76

Post by namuol »

I’ve been adjusting to a new chronic illness and have found that I need to save my “health days” for work, exercise, and friends/family.

I still sometimes find myself feeling good during time off without any plans, but I have learned that I can’t really pick up projects that I know will take more than a couple days of focus to complete.

If I find myself longing for more work or bigger projects, it usually means I’ve been in a long span of feeling well, which means I should just go outside or be with people anyway. Work usually fills that void very quickly, too…

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

#77

Post by whamlastxmas »

myself248 wrote: post #64

Are you 35-45-ish? Ask your doctor to check your hormone levels. This sounds SUPER familiar, and therapy ain't gonna patch the leak if the lugnuts aren't even holding the wheel on.

Worth noting that most doctors think very low testosterone levels are "fine" because they're "in range", which basically means you're not going to, like, die tomorrow from it. Research what healthy levels actually are where you feel good and healthy. It's significantly higher than the lowest acceptable test range.

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

#78

Post by amelius »

brabel wrote: post #54
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 started my career during the dot com boom, and there was so much optimism about the beneficial societal changes that tech and the Internet would bring. I don't feel like all tech is "evil" these days... Wow that's so true... we totally didn't see the social media dystopia we're living in today coming. We imagined a world where everyone has all the world knowledge available at their fingertips would be wonderful.…

In the early 90s the internet was great. The problems started with companies and their inherent greed.

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

#79

Post by namuol »

jedberg wrote: post #61

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…

(Edit: just one semi counterexample)

I work remotely with a live in partner of 7 years and we’re both feeling a lack of fulfillment. I work remotely, they work in an office.

Sure the pandemic might have had some play here but I don’t think it’s because we’re not in an office so much as these last few years have put things like “work” into perspective.

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

#80

Post by smeej »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #74
smeej wrote: post #63

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 some thing 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 c…

Be someone to people you care about and are close to. Don't worry about trying to be a person that has a wikipedia page.

Oh yeah. Couldn't care less about that.

I mean it several levels back from that, being a subject in my own story rather than merely an object in anyone else's, being someone who has an identity and makes decisions and engages other people as a person in my own right.

I wasn't anybody even to myself, which is why I couldn't ever do anything. I could be used by people to do their things, but I wasn't an agent even in my own life.

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