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Fuck being productive
161–170 of 382 posts
Re: Fuck being productive
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you considered the posibility of doing a rewarding job (other than money). I think is possible sometimes, often it might be less money involved, but imagine that your work allows you to work in what you enjoy and in your free time, er r …you just rest or do more of what you enjoy.
I've expended an inordinate amount of effort trying to get a rewarding job, more-so than at any of the jobs themselves. It's not a given. If you've taken a career trajectory that employers find don't match the pattern they are most familiar with and place a premium on, you will have a doubly hard time, as you're competing with those who haven't. Free time is what there is for me, and though I don't think of it in "pr…
What I am saying is that entertaining the idea, that there might be a job out there that you actually enjoy, might help you find it. At the end of the day is a transaction and is better to learn to make good deals for oneself, and also accept if one can only take a bad deal at the moment. I always tried to make the best out of the bad deals with different degree of success.
Re: Fuck being productive
#163I think this is all a misconception about what "productive" really means. It means making progress towards some goal.
If you're some temporarily embarrassed billionaire, then the startup grindset is quite productive towards your goal.
If filling your life with momentary happiness is your goal, then playing videogames is quite productive towards your goal.
If you're a good little worker bee or someone at the Bureau of Labor Statistics is holding your family hostage, then clocking in 18 hours a day/7 days a week at $BIGTECH is quite productive towards your goal.
If you're religious, then going to church, improving your behavior/mindset, etc. are quite productive towards your goal.
It just all comes down to: What do you want out of life? What do you see as the purpose of life? The purpose of your life? Looking at this problem any other way is just deferring your personal philosophy, beliefs, and values to someone else—someone who probably doesn't care one bit about you and what you want.
Re: Fuck being productive
#164I am increasingly hostile to the cult of productivity. I understand that a competitive environment calls for these sorts of sacrifices, but we should at least stop fetishizing it.
Live a simple life, make enough money, then focus on other things. You've met your weekly quota, your bills are paid. Now go play.
When you're on your death bed, you won't be thinking "I wish I spent more time at work, closing tickets".
Re: Fuck being productive
#165Honestly, I do feel somewhat similar. I work a normal 8-hour day and I am not obsessed with productivity nor I am some kind of anti-work activist, but it just feels like such a waste of time. The only reason I go to work is for money. I don't care about the products we build for someone else (why should I?), nor the technologies used (each of which brings its own challenges and frustrations). If I didn't need to go t…
This isn’t really what the article is talking about though. It’s talking productivity outside of work.
yes and the article's definition of productive is hazy to me. Pursuing a hobby or interest outside of work seems productive to me but the article implies it's not. From the article it seems like the only productive activity outside of work is preparing for more work, i don't think that's true.
Re: Fuck being productive
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As you say, there's little choice in whether you have to do it (unless you win the lottery or something) With some frugality and smart money management, you can retire in 5-10 years if you're on a dev salary.
This means delaying starting a family, and those previous years 10 years is vital for fertility as well, which discriminates against women.
men making a choice to save money and retire after a short career necessarily would create employment opportunities for women
Re: Fuck being productive
#167Interestingly, lately, I find myself totally unable to do "nothing" -- to be unproductive by the description given in the article. The perspective of spending 1 or 2 hours playing videogames or watching entertainment (movies, series) became terribly boring to me. I can only think of that as a loss of time: I wouldn't be a better person at the end of it. Being able to better smash buttons, faster, at the right timing…
I've noticed something similar lately as well.
Could be the influence of excessive corporativism as the article suggests, where every second we don't spend creating the proverbial 'value for the shareholders' we have no reason to exist. Slowly it leaks into private life until one cannot relax anymore and can only do productive things constantly or feel guilty about it. Or maybe it's about desperately trying to become that better more capable person we once foolishly promised ourselves we'll be, while we visibly age and wonder which day will be our last wondering "is this really all there is to life?".
Either one I guess.
Re: Fuck being productive
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tend to agree, but then I wonder if people in places like Canada (which has universal healthcare) tend to pursue their passions more than those of us in the US?
Could be. Though I see lot of Canadians coming in US for employment or even just for weekly shopping in border states. Seems nothing like quality groceries, winter clothing and Gas etc on Canada side.
It's not that there's nothing quality in Canada.
Everything is just cheaper in the USA
Canadians have much lower purchasing power than Americans. We earn less than Americans for the same work, we earn CAD which makes it even lower, and on average everything costs more here too. It is shocking to me how cheap things like gas and groceries are in the USA, even after factoring exchange rate.
Nevermind how expensive technology is here.
Re: Fuck being productive
#169If you feel this way and you have the option, an easy solution is to make less money and/or take a job you like that involves learning and self-improvement.
I realize not everyone has the opportunity, but I think a lot of people would be much happier earning less.
Re: Fuck being productive
#170Next step: reading Charles Bukowski and just absolutely not giving a f*ck. I always seen him as the ultimate slacker and hoped some of that energy will trickle down to me when I was being workaholic. On another note I really liked "How to Be Idle" by Tom Hodgkinson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/623922.How_to_Be_Idle In case you get some guilt feelings.
LOL this is some of the cringiest advice I've seen dispensed on HN yet.
Can you elaborate?