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Optimizing your career for happiness

praachi.work

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Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#41

Post by RandomThoughts3 »

KolenCh wrote: post #32
RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Aligning your personal goals with your company's mission can be a game-changer in achieving both professional success and personal fulfillment. That’s a fairly dangerous way of doing thing in my experience. Unless it’s your company, you have very little say in what the company actually does. Generally speaking, I advocate keeping a sane distance between what you do for a living and the rest of your life. You are no…

Not an expert here, so I'll quote one from the highlights I have reading the following book: “Harsh as this sounds, if you’re not in the right job—a job that is moving you toward where you want to be in life—then you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work.” “First, “you should do what you love” means finding work that “matches well with your expertise, your creative thinking skills, and your strongest…

Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea.

I personally very much enjoy what my salary allows me to do despite actively disagreeing with most (but not all) of what the company I work for does. My role has an overall positive but fairly minute impact on this trajectory and I’m fine with that. I’m not defined by my work.

I have plenty of space outside of my job to actually actively advocate for things I genuinely care about without mingling the two.

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#42

Post by RandomThoughts3 »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #16
chrisdbanks wrote: post #2

I would also add to this. Aligning your personal goals with your company's mission can be a game-changer in achieving both professional success and personal fulfillment. When your values and objectives resonate with those of your employer, every project becomes more meaningful, and motivation naturally increases. Your personal goals become much easier to achieve, and you have more fun achieving the company goals beca…

This makes me wonder, as a misanthropic European software engineer, what would be the best way to get into the weapons or (governmental) surveillance industry?

The same way than any other companies: they advertise the positions they are looking for.

But you will find very little misanthropy there. The salaries are not that great so most of the engineers are either genuinely interested in the complexity of what they build (aerospace and naval is often like that) or invested in the mission (serving the nation).

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#43

Post by n_ary »

mcook08 wrote: post #33

> Studies indicate that hospitals led by doctors, sports teams by star players, and universities by researchers outperform those led by non-experts This is a bold point with only a vague reference to studies. I’m more familiar with sports teams than the other domains but star players who manage successful teams is an exception, not a rule. A few famous examples are Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter - both were legends p…

I would argue that it depends and varies on the person. I have had non-experts in management who did not often grasp the effort and difficulty and often made bad judgements. Then there were other non-experts who appreciated what was done on technical side a trusted that the reports will do a good job.

Then I had experts in management who always poked into everything and thought they knew better or often get swayed by sweet talks from other experts(even in cases when it didn’t make sense). Then I had experts who rose among the ranks and then despite being untouchable, still supported the reports and put immense trust and acquired all resources requested and let people do their best work.

In the end, I think, expert or non-experts bring different tradeoffs, but trust and a good relation with the people in trenches always gave the best results.

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#44

Post by KolenCh »

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #41
KolenCh wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an expert here, so I'll quote one from the highlights I have reading the following book: “Harsh as this sounds, if you’re not in the right job—a job that is moving you toward where you want to be in life—then you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work.” “First, “you should do what you love” means finding work that “matches well with your expertise, your creative thinking skills, and your strongest…

Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea. I personally very much enjoy what my salary allows me to do despite actively disagreeing with most (but not all) of what the company I work for does. My role has an overall positive but fairly minute impact on this trajectory and I’m fine with that. I’m not defined by my work. I have plenty of space outside o…

> Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea.

I agree with you but it is not what Laura said or mean. She said,

> “Harsh as this sounds, if you’re not in the right job—a job that is moving you toward where you want to be in life—then you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work.”

I'd like to point out 2 things:

- Perhaps it is understood without saying: there's no "the right way" here, as different people have different utility function. The corollary is that the alternative of what Laura is proposing can be equally fulfilling or more.

- Sticking to Laura's proposition then, is that you only have 168 hours a week. Work constitute to 30-50 or more hours, a significant chunk of your total amount. So, that's what "you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work" means. Note that she's not saying this defines the meaning of your life. She's saying plainly that majority of your quota (hours) is spent towards work, if those amount of time is not spent towards "moving you toward where you want to be", then those time is counted as wasted, in terms of "moving you toward where you want to be". In order words, you need to be moving faster in the remaining amount of time you have elsewhere to compensate, which is harder. (Compare to another hypothetical you that can "moving you toward where you want to be" in both portions of your time, which would almost surely make more progress.)

In your case, you mentioned "actively disagreeing with most (but not all) of what the company I work for does". Having read Laura's book, I don't think in her definition yours must be "wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work". Because as far as I understand her book, if what you're spending time doing at work is, for example, building up a skill you want to build, or solving problems you like to solve, then this constitute towards "moving you toward where you want to be".

The more dangerous situation Laura warned against is something like the majority of the time spent at work, say 20+ hours, are spent towards meaningless things that don't advances you, such as attending many meetings you are not needed there, performing a duty that is not your duty and not something you want to develop a skill in, etc. I.e. what "advances you" is defined by you, but the author is actively guiding the readers to seek these out and defines it clearly.

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#45

Post by jjav »

matthewsinclair wrote: post #6
purple-leafy wrote: post #3

work 4 days not 5 as money allows Then work 3 days not 4 as money allows Then work 2 days not 3 as money allows …. Then retire

I’ve never really been a fan of the concept of “retirement”. It feels very much like a Silent Generation/ Boomer idea that has run its course (for reasons both good and bad). I watched grandparents on both sides retire and their mental decline tracked their decline in active engagement with meaningful activity. The way I have always looked at it is that want to “retire from _having_ to work” and promote myself to wor…

> The way I have always looked at it is that want to “retire from _having_ to work” and promote myself to working on things that I _want_ to work on.

But this is exactly what retirement is!

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#46

Post by notepad0x90 »

stephenson wrote: post #25
notepad0x90 wrote: post #22

Happiness and fulfillment are great, but I can't wrap my head around making those things a priority. If or when I manage to support myself fully and achieve financial stability, then I would need to be concerned about doing the same for those who helped me get there (including family and friends). For most people, these things are not within reach, yet we must pursue them as a priority. Fulfillment and happiness shou…

I think this is the most sad comment I have read on HN for years. Can I ask where in the world you live?

America! :)

I didn't mean for it to be sad. I just don't get why the "self" is so important. Isn't it natural for a person to at least attempt to be about others?

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#47

Post by RandomThoughts3 »

KolenCh wrote: post #44
RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea. I personally very much enjoy what my salary allows me to do despite actively disagreeing with most (but not all) of what the company I work for does. My role has an overall positive but fairly minute impact on this trajectory and I’m fine with that. I’m not defined by my work. I have plenty of space outside o…

> Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea. I agree with you but it is not what Laura said or mean. She said, > “Harsh as this sounds, if you’re not in the right job—a job that is moving you toward where you want to be in life—then you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work.” I'd like to point out 2 things: - Perhaps it is understood…

> She's saying plainly that majority of your quota (hours) is spent towards work, if those amount of time is not spent towards "moving you toward where you want to be", then those time is counted as wasted

Well, yes, that’s the bourgeois part.

The fact is, most people work to survive because they have to. That’s perfectly fine and respectable and it doesn’t need a large amount of self-realisation guilt tripping thrown on top by people who want to sell self-help books.

People don’t need to strategically tackle their career and its progression to live meaningful life. They can if they want to and have the luxury of being able to do so but I will always oppose anyone describing work as wasted time on principle.

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#48

Post by KolenCh »

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #47
KolenCh wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don’t take it wrongly but "you should do what you love or your life is meaningless" is a very bourgeois idea. I agree with you but it is not what Laura said or mean. She said, > “Harsh as this sounds, if you’re not in the right job—a job that is moving you toward where you want to be in life—then you’re wasting almost all the time you’re spending at work.” I'd like to point out 2 things: - Perhaps it is understood…

> She's saying plainly that majority of your quota (hours) is spent towards work, if those amount of time is not spent towards "moving you toward where you want to be", then those time is counted as wasted Well, yes, that’s the bourgeois part. The fact is, most people work to survive because they have to. That’s perfectly fine and respectable and it doesn’t need a large amount of self-realisation guilt tripping throw…

Books/articles like this is presenting a world view. I don’t think they think this is the only way we should view the world. But I guess they are preaching a way to view the world, and as any preacher does they try to convince you why this is a better way.

(Somewhere they did mention not all people have the luxury to practice this, but she did documented examples where people in less-than-ideal situation have it turned around and do what they love.)

Regarding self-help, she said

“There are other ways in which 168 Hours does not aim to be like many self-help or time-management books. I approach this not as a productivity guru, but as a journalist who is interested in how successful, happy people build their lives. I am particularly interested in how people who are not household names achieve the lives they want, and what we can learn from their best practices. There are plenty of books out there on Fortune 500 CEOs’ or celebrities’ tips for success. I’m more interested in the woman down the street who—without benefit of fame, outsized fortune, or a slew of personal assistants—is running a successful small business, marathons, and a large and happy household.”

Excerpt From 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think Laura Vanderkam

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#49

Post by freilanzer »

sgarland wrote: post #36
RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Aligning your personal goals with your company's mission can be a game-changer in achieving both professional success and personal fulfillment. That’s a fairly dangerous way of doing thing in my experience. Unless it’s your company, you have very little say in what the company actually does. Generally speaking, I advocate keeping a sane distance between what you do for a living and the rest of your life. You are no…

> You are not defined by the company that pays you. Find a job which helps you achieve what you want to achieve, work honestly and leave work at work. I am genuinely _fascinated_ with RDBMS. I tinker with them in my free time. I watch syscalls during reads and writes to better understand what’s happening. I test theories when someone asserts “Postgres is better at X than MySQL” to see if they’re correct. The fact tha…

I wish I had this kind of fascination in my life.

Re: Optimizing your career for happiness

#50

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

notepad0x90 wrote: post #46
stephenson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is the most sad comment I have read on HN for years. Can I ask where in the world you live?

America! :) I didn't mean for it to be sad. I just don't get why the "self" is so important. Isn't it natural for a person to at least attempt to be about others?

It might be the depression talking but my self happiness is way too low in a typical month / week to begin thinking of others
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