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Fuck being productive

dostoynikov.bearblog.dev

81–90 of 382 posts

Re: Fuck being productive

#81
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Frugality is an understatement on that timeline. To retire in 10 years you're going to have to be able to live comfortably on something like 1/3rd of your take home pay.

No employer is going to pay you 3x what your nearest peer is willing to live on.

Re: Fuck being productive

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

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?

Canada is kind of slowly imploding. It's going through a lot of crisis currently. Housing is one of the biggest ones, for example I am a housing activist and trying to do something actively about the housing crisis happening in Canada.

Re: Fuck being productive

#83

I'm incredibly lucky in that I live 5 minutes away from the office. I work 7.5 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Every day I got a ton of time to dedicate to things I like... and yet, many times I feel drained from crunching code every day... It's been like 8 months since I worked on a personal project... lately all I do is play Breath of the Wild... But I feel pretty good about it, I think I relate to this fuck-being-p…

Could be BotW is the problem. I was so much happier when I switched to Genshin Impact :-D

Re: Fuck being productive

#84

If that's your thing, I'm totally cool with it - if you need to watch TV or play video games to decompress, that's fine. I personally get really anxious when I'm "wasting" time and would rather learn something (math, computers, music, something) or do something (housework, yardwork, something) with my "spare" time and I can't help but notice that me not spending time doing what other people consider "leisure" activit…

You misunderstand. He is like you. He felt anxious when he wasn't being productive so he spent his free time studying or whatever. But at some point maybe that stops working for you. Maybe you just don't have energy left and need a break. That happened to him and the important realization is that then you also have to let go of that anxious feeling, because if you aren't gonna be productive you might as well have fun. It's easy to say "to each their own" if it hasn't happened to you (yet): not actually feeling like being productive while still having that anxious feeling. So what I'm trying to say is: It's good to be productive but being driven by anxiety is maybe not something you should view as a fundamental character trait of yours.

Re: Fuck being productive

#85

I'm the one who posted that post on bearblog and I want to make something clear. My working hours are from 7:30-17:30. But transportation takes an hour in the morning and an hour(at least) in the evening. So I added that two hours too because those two hours are no use to me. I can't do anything in those transportation hours. I might not have made this part clear, sorry for that. But yeah, I know that working time is…

What is your timezone, and area of expertise? Maybe you can try getting into a remote gig, with less crazy working hours? We use a lot of offshore labor at $CORPO_OVERLORD, at somewhat more normal work hours.

Best of luck, hang tight..!

Re: Fuck being productive

#86

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…

Its possible you just picked the wrong career. Time for a change?

Re: Fuck being productive

#87

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 main reason we all work for someone else is for money but there is something to be said about the things we build at work and not caring about them. This is something that took me a long time to realize but you need to stop thinking about software as a field and start thinking of it as a skill set. From there figure out what interests you. Wildlife, economics, vehicles, etc. or whatever, and then use your skill s…

Big +1, work on something that bothers you in your personal life or something that interests you in your personal life. It will always undoubtedly be more fulfilling compared to simply "working for the man."

Re: Fuck being productive

#88

This guy has everything backwards: he doesn't realize it's his insane long wageslave work hours that are the problem, not those extra 3 hours.

Yeah. Anyone who is blessed with this kind of motivation needs to quit their job and work full time on "being productive" toward their own goals. As someone with technical skills they have a high-leverage opportunity as a maker and builder. They shouldn't waste it by selling it to someone else for pennies on the dollar. Granted if you have a family to provide for, and a life outside work, then you might be "working t…

How would I go about finding/identifying those opportunities?

Re: Fuck being productive

#89
Here's my free advice on the internet (aka worth nothing). Don't be productive, be accumulative.

If every day you do one thing that makes thing easier going forward, gives you another option, makes a job easier in the long term, adds a skill, gets you a reference or a connection, pay a dividend or royalty, etc.. in the long run you will be fine.

Re: Fuck being productive

#90

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…

It's funny, if you say this duringg an interview "Why do you want the job?" "Money" you won't get hired. So it becomes a performance artist act.
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