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I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

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Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#41

Post by erichcervantez »

When I need to learn something I first brain-storm a small project to work on. Doesn't have to be great or solve any world problems. Maybe it's just something for you. But in that project, be determined to use whatever framework you've set out to learn.

For me, I also have a coding blog (eonjava.com) where I will write an article on whatever I am working on. I have several articles right now that I am working on at once. I try to write them as if I am speaking to someone who has no previous knowledge of the topic so this forces me to learn it from the ground up. It might be worthwhile to start a blog and take this same tactic.

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#43

Post by moooffooom »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #5

> I only took this job in order to buy some time and create some interesting things but this job barely leaves me any time to do so. If your interest is in creating "interesting things," you should focus on the ways you can scratch this itch. If you go into your next job looking to "buy some time" you probably won't be any happier than you are now. > I feel I should know modern frameworks like Rails and Angular to ha…

Wow ... this comment is so true especially in Germany.

Most of our Software Development jobs here in Germany deals with business application at is very boring and contains mostly mundane tasks. I have worked for some companies already and i really got to think the work is mostly the same boring shit!

At my current job we have a load of "slaves" from companies like Accenture, CSC and the like... they also report the same shits from a lot of other places :(

I really lost all hope ........

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#44

Post by robbyking »

I was in the same situation for more than four years. The only reason I stayed for so long was at the time my career wasn't very important to me -- my main focus was my band, and even though it was infuriating, my horrible job afforded me the time and money to be able to focus on music.

When the time came for me to think about moving on, I did a few different things. First off, I went to udemy.com and brushed up on my framework skills. At the time I was a front end developer, so I too courses in jQuery and Angular.js, then took a refresher course in Java. From there I started doing volunteer development work for local non-profits so I could round out my portfolio.

After that, my job hunt was pretty easy. All-in-all my ramp up took about 6 months or so, and it lead to me getting a job that I love.

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#45

Post by tcfunk »

shubhamjain wrote: post #25
logfromblammo wrote: post #17

If your job is a soul-crushing vise, take your soul out of it and put it somewhere else. There are a lot of people out there that do something they hate to pay the bills. They get their enjoyment out of life by doing something else after clocking out. People at your work have no interest in doing things better because they already emotionally divested themselves from the job. Just pretend that instead of writing awfu…

You are misunderstanding my situation. The reason why people aren't interested in clever solutions is because they can't think of any. It may seem cynical but I have seen people out here working even longer than me re-creating something, not exploiting even basic tricks or automations. Lately, my co-worker spent 15 minutes indenting JS files without realizing that it would 10s to use a code beautifier.

I do this occasionally if I'm updating an old project or something as a means of making sure I walk through the code and understand what it's doing. Might be silly, I guess, but it helps me.

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#47

Post by eccp »

padobson wrote: post #34

Apart from learning, try these: 1. Put yourself in situations where you can meet more tech people Most (not some, most ) of the work I've gotten came from a chance conversation with someone who was working at a place that needed the skills I have. So try to have more of those conversations. I live in suburban Ohio in the heart of the rust belt, so this can be done anywhere. 2. Try consulting instead of full time work…

I agree specially with #5. One of the aspects I was at fault for a long time was avoiding conflict and saying "OK" to all requests at work. There will be many times in which you will be asked non-sense or completely wrong tasks and you're completely entitled to say NO. Speak why something is not well planned or conceived or just plain wrong. Just by saying NO you'll cut a lot of crap you shouldn't accept.

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#48

Post by klunger »

Not to sound harsh, but you seem to have an unrealistic expectation about how rewarding a given job should be. The _vast_ majority of working folk do it for the pay check, then clock out at the end of the day and proceed to the part of their lives where their heart resides. Think about all the folks who works in retail, or food services, or manufacturing, not to mention agricultural workers, dish washers, maids etc. The notion that your career should reflect your passion is classist nonsense peddled by career counselors in upper middle class high schools and psychologically seductive but ill-conceived internet memes. You have a job that probably pays higher than the median national salary and doesn't expose you harsh physical conditions or toxic chemicals on a regular basis. Have some perspective and be grateful for what you have.

That being said: If you want a job that it is personally fulfilling to you on a reliable basis, then you need to take some risks. I would recommend either 1) starting your own company (it is your baby so you will care) or 2) freelance consulting (so you can pick your work).

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#49

Post by eccp »

shubhamjain wrote: post #25
logfromblammo wrote: post #17

If your job is a soul-crushing vise, take your soul out of it and put it somewhere else. There are a lot of people out there that do something they hate to pay the bills. They get their enjoyment out of life by doing something else after clocking out. People at your work have no interest in doing things better because they already emotionally divested themselves from the job. Just pretend that instead of writing awfu…

You are misunderstanding my situation. The reason why people aren't interested in clever solutions is because they can't think of any. It may seem cynical but I have seen people out here working even longer than me re-creating something, not exploiting even basic tricks or automations. Lately, my co-worker spent 15 minutes indenting JS files without realizing that it would 10s to use a code beautifier.

There are two things that pop to mind:

You can motivate or coerce your team mates to improve their skills so they all benefit. You can even ask your team leader/boss to be the lead of an initiative at your place to use better tools or technologies so that the productivity will increase. If you get an OK you'll even have an opportunity to spend some paid time doing something which will keep you sharp and improve your daily experience.

If you think you can't get the above to work or that you're way beyond the skills of your team, look for another job with better conditions.

Re: I have a soul-crushing job and I don't know what to do

#50

Post by allegory »

klibertp wrote: post #22
ScottHConner wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moar this than I can upvote. Getting in early changes your entire day. Sure, you sleep less, but unless you have an acute medical condition you can get used to it within a week or so.

Yeah, but make sure you do sleep enough. I neglected sleep for years, sleeping for 2-4 hours a day - on average, with sometimes 2-3 days without sleep at all - and I though I was doing fine. When it finally caught up to me I had a major epilepsy episode at the office, which was not nice. I since started to value a solid 8-9 hours sleep much more than before. This "much" of sleep is probably not really needed, but rig…

Similar experience. I did two days solid with a couple of naps and passed out on some stairs breaking three bones in my foot, 2 ribs and dislocated my shoulder. My brain just said "enough of this shit" and taught me a painful lesson that destroyed me for 3 months.

7 hours minimum now and no stimulants (alcohol, caffeine, masses of sugar etc) and lots of water. Made a bigger difference to me than an exercise regime.

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