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I don't want to work very hard

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Re: I don't want to work very hard

#81
post #31
post #27

Have you tried working part-time? I'm not sure this would help, because I don't really understand how you can love coding and hate working at the same time. Here is what I do: I have an arrangement with my employer that I will not work full-time for more than 9 months straight. After 9 months I have a 6 months break. The arrangement is tacit, it's not in a contract, but it has been working for the last 3 years. It to…

Huh. Somehow it had not occurred to me to try to make this cycle explicit. That's a really interesting idea, thank you.

This reminds me of something I often forget: if I want something out of the ordinary, it's very unlikely anyone will give it to me unless I ask.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#83

Look, I appreciate your candor and all but I can't help but think if I was your coworker then I'd be pissed at having to carry your sorry arse. Shit or get off the pot.

Difficult to tell. Our most highly respected individual contributor in our department comes in at 11:00, leaves at 5:00, and basically works on whatever catches his fancy whenever he pleases (Which, thankfully, usually results in a reduction in labor for our and other departments each time he releases some new code/product)

When particular tasks are placed on his plate - he is so overwhelmingly competent, that he simply nails them and moves onto the next task. The goal is to get _very_ good at your job so you do _less_ work.

And he is easily the most popular member of the team. People love him to pieces and I've never heard anyone suggest he isn't carrying twice the load of everyone else.

As I tell my team - Our Goal in life is to become so proficient at our jobs that we only need to come into work for an hour a day. If we develop our level of excellence, or ability to automate, and our ability to deliver to that level, I'm more than happy to have them in the office for as little time as is required to complete the tasks of their position. (presuming that the median person with those responsibilities would take 40 hours a week, of course)

As it turns out, with the exception of Director Level employees, the most highly paid _contractor_ in our company works for precisely 2 hours, from 9:00 - 11:00, each day. They are available 24x7 for assistance, but, if they do their job properly, they rarely are called in for help.

That is where I think we want to be. That should be our goal. Spend our time with family, in nature, pursuing those objectives which bring us inner happiness.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#85
I am starting out in the development world. I simply want a job that will push me to the point where I'm confident with my programming and design skills. After that I want to freelance, so as to give me more time to concentrate on the mountain of things that interest me. Or work for two years, save up money, then don't work for 6 months to a year (my living costs and needs are very low) so, again, I can work on the mountain of things that interest me.

Ultimately I have decided I will to work to live, and hopefully not work too much so I have to some time to live. Even if I succeed at creating a startup it will only be a means to a financial end. I'd quite like to live like a victorian gentleman, but filling my days with cognitive pursuits instead of prancing around London.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than pseudo-climatology alarmist bullshit, is your theory founded on anything?

Potentially the educated opinions of almost every significant national science or geological organization in the world? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_c...

Evidence > Opinions.

But if you want to sling opinions, here's a juicy read that came out two days ago: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/09/climate-meetin...

A few (650) more experts had something to say yesterday: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.B... Like most gov't sites, its design is hideous.

The hubris of men never fails to surprise me as I study history. People actually believed that we could change a planet's climate catastrophically based on thirty years' data?! When we had other data showing that the the climate naturally shifts, often unexpectedly? Asteroids and Volcanoes: Yes, they can drastically affect climate. Smokestacks? Not so much.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#88
post #49

You, sir, are an Oxygen Thief.

Don't forget that for tens of thousands of years, all Man had to do to stay alive was whatever it took to stay alive.

He never had to write a TPS report on his fishing trip or sell overpriced shares in manioc root or feel guilty because he wasn't completing his TODO list each day.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#89
post #9

I'm afraid the good times won't keep rolling. Over the next fifty years, humanity is going to face the largest ever crises amongst those that it has the ability to deal with: potential global catastrophe from climate change, and certain global catastrophe unless we develop and widely deploy effective non-fossil energy sources. I say "it has the ability to deal with" because if people become aware of the seriousness o…

I don't see why it need be "much less comfort". The sun is incredibly powerful and our current lifestyles ever so wasteful, especially if you factor in some not-quite-there-but-nearly future tech such as LED lights, ebook readers, usefully cheap solar panels, video-on-demand, music downloads, etc.

Re: I don't want to work very hard

#90
post #31
post #27

Have you tried working part-time? I'm not sure this would help, because I don't really understand how you can love coding and hate working at the same time. Here is what I do: I have an arrangement with my employer that I will not work full-time for more than 9 months straight. After 9 months I have a 6 months break. The arrangement is tacit, it's not in a contract, but it has been working for the last 3 years. It to…

Huh. Somehow it had not occurred to me to try to make this cycle explicit. That's a really interesting idea, thank you.

I'm not sure where you live or what your interests are, but this is the way contracting at Microsoft works. Every year contractors have to take a ~100 day break. Some contractors take that time off to relax / do hobby things, others take short term temp contracts or other part time work to fill the gaps.
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