Hi. That'd be me. I'm struggling right now and just can't focus on anything. In middle-school I was diagnosed with ADHD and was on meds. I haven't taken meds in 20+ years but in the last couple of weeks I can feel that it's been really hitting really hard.
Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
181–190 of 288 posts
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#182If you find yourself thinking “this is all for nothing”, you’d be correct. You can’t take any of this crap with you when you pass. You do what makes you happy. What makes you happy? Searching for external validation of a pat on the back for a job well done is not what makes one happy. Take a moment, pause, just be, focus on your happiness and what that means to you . Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop trying to…
You also can’t take your happiness with you when you pass. Not disagreeing with your advice, but with the reasoning.
Why would you care what happens after you pass?
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#183Wow, 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…
One question I’ve set out to answer is: what would I do if I were fired tomorrow? Understood that not everyone is in the position to switch to lower paying careers, start over, etc - but if you have some leash, what WOULD you do if you were fired tomorrow? (And I don’t mean short term like take a vacation then find another tech job - mean longer term like what kind of job will you be looking for next, or business to…
The ideal answer is: "If I got fired tomorrow, I would be doing mostly the same work as before, but maybe less meetings and admin duties."
Careers that fit this answer: artists, writers, musicians, mathematicians, scientists (those who lean more towards theory).
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#184The value proposition, honestly, has fallen off a cliff. If "they" can dangle things you really want (money, better lifestyle, interesting work) in front of you, then there is reason to get excited. Right now? Oh hell no. Entire tech industry is in the mode of getting rid of people, lowering standards, lowering pay checks, the work is boring and tedious. It is reasonable to simply not have any motivation to work on o…
Learn to live on a ~50-75% of your salary is what I’ve been telling people. The good times for American engineers are gone
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#185If you're feeling like you're stagnating, here are some ideas to help get you jump started that I've done over the years. There are a lot of things you can learn that are inherently *fun*. Maybe try learning something that sounds fun and interesting to you! Some examples for myself include things like Ham Radio, how and why radio signals bounce off the atmosphere. Or cooking, figure out how to make the best salsa you…
Without any sarcasm, Thank you for providing a handful of ideas to make learning great again. Specifically very little can be more fulfilling than an ability to save another human. I’ll look into emergency medicine certificate
depending on where you are, at least a CPR class and Stop The Bleed. :)
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#186If you find yourself thinking “this is all for nothing”, you’d be correct. You can’t take any of this crap with you when you pass. You do what makes you happy. What makes you happy? Searching for external validation of a pat on the back for a job well done is not what makes one happy. Take a moment, pause, just be, focus on your happiness and what that means to you . Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop trying to…
This is a step in the right direction but it is still wrong. Yes, whatever praise or accolades you earn from work will be things you can never take with you when you pass. But the same also goes for whatever enjoyment you get from hobbies, interests or activities. You've just swapped one temporary source of happiness for another. Even if the latter is more meaningful, it is still temporary. It is easy to suggest focu…
I am not the OP, but I disagree here. Happiness that we find in our social life, our friendships, family and relationships is not the same or swap-able with our career. This is something I learned the hard way, being drunk on startup cool-aid in the early life till it wore me down.
Friendships or other things I mentioned: not that everything is smooth, but there is a sense of comfort, pleasure, joy that just does not go away with more time invested. Because I am not looking for returns. Just being around is bliss.
Bumming out of a beach is very underrated. Going to a movie date is underrated. This is where my happiness lies. Then on top I write code now again, not to gain startup throne but because I like learning and typing out my thoughts in code.
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#187I like working on (relatively) nothing. I quit working a few months ago and now I don't want to go back. I've spent these months reading books about everything, working out, playing with hobbies and relaxing. The experience has reinforced for me that I don't want kids, I don't need any "lasting" legacy or any greater career success, and I want to work only enough that I can avoid it as much as I can. I want to learn…
Glad for you that you found this clarity
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#188Sometime in my late 40s I got really tired of learning the "next great thing" only to realize that some young developers had reinvented the wheel. Again. Since then, I have learned new things, but not because they were "relevant" or "important", bit just because they were fun. Python is a crappy language, and always has been. It's just a happy accident that the ML folks glommed in to it. Most frameworks suck, serious…
> Since then, I have learned new things, but not because they were "relevant" or "important", bit just because they were fun. How do you maintain a career? I stopped caring about relevant and important and my career suffered for it. I stopped caring about fun because it was either a waste of time or inaccessible.
This is what I hate about this industry at this point in my life. Just this morning I was fantasizing about being a dentist instead and just be able to work for as long as I like, not worry about ageism, and otherwise live my life, without needing to constantly “keep up”
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#189I'd like to start some hobby projects, but only when i have energy and health resources to do
it. Doing the bare minimum is default.
Besides i doubt investing in something long-term is worth it, except very rare circumstances that
don't apply to hobby/work/mundane "skills/knowledge".
Re: Ask HN: Who else is working on nothing?
#190Surprisingly I’m actually working on projects more. I’m turning 30 this year and my world view has only been affirmed more and more everyday.
Life is a ladder you keep climbing up on. There’s water beneath and it gets higher and higher. I suppose most people are fatalistic in this climb.
I’ve met a few successful business owners and their life isn’t any more secure than mine. We’re all on the ladder unless we have power. Money isn’t power; power is power.
Anyway. I’ve been trying to build a small company with my friend. Just something that will give us some breathing room from climbing.
I sympathize with a lot of you on here though. Technology hasn’t been all that we hoped. In fact- quite the opposite.
Most self aware tech people are tired of the society they helped build and would prefer to live away from it.