Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 329 posts

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#301

Post by bluefirebrand »

goodpoint wrote: post #210
glouwbug wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never in history has a commoner lived better than any of the feudal kings. Your average work from home yuppie has access to a warm home, door dash, video games, and online dating; betterments no longer akin to that of a king in their castle with their serf'd up veggies, lamely jesters, and brothel mismanagement and inbreeding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgKWNcs_20g

Absurd. Never in history the world had the wealth and technology that exists now. And yet your average work from home "yuppie" still has to work 40 hours a week doing SEO or fiddling with YAML to make some billionaire more rich. "door dash" does not give meaning to your life and ultimately you'll not be happy if you feel you live as a cog in an unnecessary company making an unnecessary product. And if that's not enou…

> And yet your average work from home "yuppie" still has to work 40 hours a week doing SEO or fiddling with YAML to make some billionaire more rich.

Again, the option to "not work" isn't real. That's an illusion you have been given. That 40 hours a week fixing YAML is not to make a billionaire richer (although it does), it's to have something that you can trade with people who produce your food. If you don't want to do the YAML, then grow the food yourself I guess? It will be a lot more than 40 hours a week and a lot harder work.

> "door dash" does not give meaning to your life and ultimately you'll not be happy if you feel you live as a cog in an unnecessary company making an unnecessary product

Idleness doesn't give meaning to your life either and ultimately you'll not be happy if you feel you've accomplished nothing in your life.

Being freed from working a job does not mean you will suddenly do something important. If it is important you will find the time in and among your 40-hour workweeks, or you will take big risks by not having a job so you can start it.

If you spend your weekends idle while working full time, you'll probably spend all of your time idle if you're unemployed. Seen this way too much to think otherwise. The people who are driven to do great things don't let employment stop them.

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#302

Post by username428 »

endymi0n wrote: post #153
asciimike wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As someone only a little older than yourself, I would say this: your job will never love you back, and especially in the software realm, it may not be as fulfilling as something like woodworking or therapy. It does pay the bills, though. Reminded me of https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149... > I no longer build software; I now make furniture out of wood. The hours are long, the pay sucks, an…

I have observed over the years a tendency of people leaving software for something completely different (often something much more tangible). Maybe that’s your beef, maybe not. My take on it is slightly different: It could very well be that instead of burnout, you are just missing purpose and meaning in your life. What is the legacy that you want to build for your kids? Don’t despair. It’s all good. Give yourself pro…

I feel like"software" is a really big bucket and there's actually a wide spectrum of projects with different scopes and missions. Some projects are actively harmful to society and I would have a hard time getting meaning from building such software. However there is also a lot of useful progress we can make too, so anyone finding low motivation to keep at it should consider building something else as an option.

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#303

Post by jordanmorgan10 »

perfectjob wrote: post #151
jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #128

It is alarming how similar we are (low 30s, 4DWW, great marriage, kids, big house, etc) but I've had similar thoughts. This sounds cliche and obvious, but it made a big difference for me: I found myself dreaming of shipping a project, or writing a book - whatever. But, then I would stay in the dream or possibility of what could happen if I did those things - but I wasn't actually doing enough to make them happen. So,…

> But, then I would stay in the dream or possibility of what could happen if I did those things - but I wasn't actually doing enough to make them happen. I know that one too well :) What do you have on your list? Just different things in areas of life or mainly productive-related stuff?

Mostly career related things. I made peace with the fact that I simply love making things, and there are four things I really want to make that I think could also be a business. Outside of professional stuff, I’m really fulfilled in life (i.e. that’s why I don’t have anything other than career aspirations on this particular list)

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#305

Post by inadequatespace »

Vanderson wrote: post #57

Focusing on other people will take your focus off yourself. I have found satisfaction in helping others. The less personal time I have, the more I value it and the more satisfying life generally is. Also, this is very likely temporary, as your kids get older your life will change with them. They will have more and more adult and complicated life needs. I found that forcing myself to do things differently based on oth…

Helping others is the obvious purpose, at least for me. Easier said than done, though.

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#306

Post by cvshane »

willhslade wrote: post #28

You are describing the hedonic treadmill. Essentially, you become used to your surroundings, and while they are objectively great, from the perspective of inside your own head, this is now normal and you / your monkey mind wants more. There have been a lot of post floating around the internet with various solutions, the most popular being Stoicism > Positive Psychology / Happiness research > Buddhism / Meditation. I'…

> it is our job to give back

I've struggled with the same thoughts above, and giving back is helpful. I've tried to document it (https://www.codekindly.org/) with these principles of giving back by coding kindly:

Be Kind to the Earth: reduce code waste, utilize green infra

Be Kind to Community: donate code, give to charity

Be Kind to Users: protect privacy, provide joyful experiences

Be Kind to Yourself: physical + mental health, cultivate relationships

It's a shift in mindset to find fulfillment in your current job

Re: Tell HN: I have the perfect job, why is it not enough?

#310

Post by cornflower »

jakobov wrote: post #112

I was in the same situation, but even better. I was making $350,000/yr, promoted to software architect of a 100 person team, was working on interesting problems, was well liked by everyone in the office, had lots of good friends at work, and only needed to work a few hours a day, was able to decide what projects I wanted to work on.... it was a dream. I quit to join a startup. Huge mistake. I quit the startup to take…

Do you mind sharing why joining startup was a mistake? I am in the similar position at the big company, and have been contemplating a similar change
Post reply on HN