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Fuck being productive

dostoynikov.bearblog.dev

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Re: Fuck being productive

#61

Post by badpun »

xenocratus wrote: post #42
sBqQu3U0wH wrote: post #15

Honestly, 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…

> I don't care about the products we build for someone else (why should I?) I mean, this obviously depends on the kind of product - is it some biotech to make someone's life better, or is it a gambling website tuned to suck the most out of whales? As engineers we're much better placed than most people to do something meaningful with our work, and sticking with a job where you don't see that value is a pity. But if yo…

> 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.

Re: Fuck being productive

#62

Post by thealchemistdev »

sesteel wrote: post #45
scaramanga wrote: post #4

Dude, you are absolutely not being productive in the 12 hours of indentured servitude. You need to find a new job. The people at your current job aren't your friends. They've let you arrange to give away a full 50% your life (most of what's left must be occupied by sleep, pissing, shitting, eating, and paying bills). Not a single person in your life has said anything or tried to get you out of the office earlier? You…

This deserves to be upvoted more. Trading your life for financial gain has diminishing returns. You'd think everybody's goal would to be free of servitude.

People aren't trained to think that way, even though we're surrounded by hints. For example, what do we call the strongest enemy in a level?

Re: Fuck being productive

#64

Post by zedpm »

damnitpeter wrote: post #57
myth_drannon wrote: post #27

Next 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.

Any favorites from Bukowski to recommend? Always been interested but not sure where to start.

Factotum and South of No North are two of my favorites.

Re: Fuck being productive

#65

Post by timeagain »

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #36
myth_drannon wrote: post #27

Next 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.

Is he really a slacker? To my limited knowledge, "Don't try" is to say do something that you don't need effort to start doing, something that doesn't feel like a chore to you, something that you are passionate about. He also mentioned going hungry a lot for his passion. I don't think that someone who perseveres through all that is a slacker, but again, my understanding is limited.

My impression of bukowski is that he was absolutely driven to write, but that he was an incredible slacker at work. That he worked only well enough and hard enough to drink and write (neither being incredibly expensive past times).

So he was motivated, but not by work or the concerns of others. The only reason we know about him is because he chose to write and often semi-autobiographically. There are scores of people who make similar arrangements for music, sport, reading, gardening, child rearing… we just don’t hear from them!

Re: Fuck being productive

#66

Post by kortilla »

cool_dude85 wrote: post #38
88913527 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you care about the products, the emotional investment in your work might propel your income, which is the reason why you're working in the first place, so ostensibly a follow-on goal of that might be to raise your income.

This is an interesting theory. My experience has been quite the opposite, in that typically jobs that people care about and connect with on an emotional level are those which pay relatively little. Teaching, social work, caring, and so on.

If you think people don’t care and connect with other industries on an emotional level, you are wrong.

Re: Fuck being productive

#67

Post by [deleted] »

zikduruqe wrote: post #55
sBqQu3U0wH wrote: post #15

Honestly, 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…

>The only reason I go to work is for money. Don't forget healthcare being tied directly to being employed. If it was not for that, people could purse their passions versus what they have to do just because.

[deleted]

Re: Fuck being productive

#68

Post by JohnMakin »

sBqQu3U0wH wrote: post #15

Honestly, 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…

I have been in places where I not only didn't give a shit about the product, but it was against what I believed ethically or morally. In those cases I managed to find pride in my own small piece of it and ignored the bigger picture. I'm lucky to work in a place now where I really believe in and use the product, and the same kind of soul-suckiness you're describing is far more tolerable.

Making money for someone else is inherently soul-sucking though, at the end of the day.

Re: Fuck being productive

#69

Post by SeanAnderson »

yamtaddle wrote: post #31
zwieback wrote: post #20

Yeah, just wait till you're in your fifties and feel like you're also running out of time to do things! For example: "how many more growing seasons do I have to try this or that tomato" or "should I learn Spanish?". On the plus side kids are out of your hair.

At some point it dawns on you that unless you make some special effort, you're only gonna see your favorite movie or listen to your favorite album or eat your very favorite food or see such-and-such person or go to [place you really like] a disturbingly small count of times before you kick it.

http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html Exceptionally relevant :)

Re: Fuck being productive

#70

Post by badpun »

damnitpeter wrote: post #57
myth_drannon wrote: post #27

Next 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.

Any favorites from Bukowski to recommend? Always been interested but not sure where to start.

"Factotum" and "Post Office" are both classics and basically on the subject of work.
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