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I'm making enough money to live on from apps I released last year. I don't know what to do with my time. Freedom is of course wonderful but I don't _feel_ it, I

I'm making enough money to live on from apps I released last year. I don't know what to do with my time. Freedom is of course wonderful but I don't _feel_ it, I often long for the office context of a good Swedish workplace. You need to feel you accomplish something every day, and (good) work does that.

a3n 10y ago
Then go work in a Swedish workplace part time. :)
kafkaesq 10y ago
You need to feel you accomplish something every day, and (good) work does that. That's great for you, but of course Bukowski wasn't thinking of the "have your cake and eat it, too" world of tech workers in 2017 (who are generally overpaid and/or get to do what they love most of the time -- and quite often, subject to both fates). But rather, you know, regular people.
- iopq 10y ago
  I don't like doing tech work, it's really repetitive and you don't get to work on what you want.
- sidlls 10y ago
  Tech workers are not overpaid.
  - wingworks 10y ago
    *some
  - rak00n 10y ago
    He probably wanted to say they're paid above average. In the same way doctors are not overpaid.
    - sidlls 10y ago
      In America at least there is an artificial scarcity of doctors, so that that comparison isn't fair.
vertex-four 10y ago
You could try volunteering, or otherwise finding a cause and working on it?
GuiA 10y ago
Do you have kids/elderly parents to take care of/etc.? I can imagine that lifestyle working really well for people with caregiving obligations.
justinator 10y ago
I would read the fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper.
the_watcher 10y ago
You still have the freedom to do that though. You can go back and work in a "good old Swedish workplace" if you want. While I don't necessarily agree with the idea that 9 to 5 is slavery (or that there isn't a way to live within your means and save enough to keep quitting on the table as an option), the message of this article is for those of us who do not have the freedom to choose to do something entirely different that may not actually generate income.
paulcole 10y ago
> You need to feel you accomplish something every day, and (good) work does that. Work (good or bad) is a crutch many people rely on to feel as though they're accomplishing something. I didn't work for 2 years (by choice) and never felt as if I lacked purpose and never felt the need to "accomplish something everyday." Instead I exercised, read, watched TV, relaxed. I was constantly amazed by the number of people who said they'd hate that sort of routine.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  I agree. I probably still wouldn't get myself to exercise much, but I know I'd spend a lot of time reading books, coding random stuff and learning new off-line skills. It seems to me like there are different kinds of personality. I'm having a hard time treating my job as anything but a sacrifice of my time better spent elsewhere, that I need to do to afford the necessities. On the other hand, I know people who like having a job - among other reasons, because it creates a rhytm in their lives, much like a clock signal in digital electronics.
- gravypod 10y ago
  > I exercised, read, watched TV, relaxed. I was constantly amazed by the number of people who said they'd hate that sort of routine. I'd be board out of my mind. You'll never pull me away from computer(s), programming, terminals, and all the lot. I know many people in computer science like me. Computers are not a job, they are a way of life so much so that I find ways to fill my free time with more of them. I know many people like me. One such (retired) person, who I will not name, has actually spent money to work for my current employer. He's done construction/demolition, data processing, data agregation, and goes to the north pole for us sometimes. He's a great guy who loves what he does and I don't think he'll be able to stop... ever. I'm very much the same way. I love the work I get to do and I've done a lot of it for free just because I enjoy doing it. I also do freelance work with computers and I'm trying to break into other fields like machining, welding, and electronics. When I retire I'll keep doing that. Making things is just fun for me.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
ouji 10y ago
hey this got me curious on your life because it sounds like my dreamlife! ^^ do you have a website or anything?
- 542458 10y ago
  I was also curious! I dug through his comments and found this: https://medium.com/@thyselius https://medium.com/@thyselius and https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807934 https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807... I think these are his.
- emsy 10y ago
  A little bit of comment digging brought me this: https://itunes.apple.com/se/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807934?l=en https://itunes.apple.com/se/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807...
ClassyJacket 10y ago
Thus frustrates me very much. As someone who has too many things they want to do to possibly fit them all in, I can't even imagine the thought of wanting to go back to 9 - 5 just to kill time. I could name twenty things off the top of my head I'd do if I was you. Working 9 - 5 is a sad necessity so I can pay for rent, bills, my car to drive to my 9 - 5, my dentist, etc. And I have to give up on my dreams because of it. Please please use your time wisely.
pipio21 10y ago
Well, in Sweeden you can't go out and enjoy your country in Winter, it is just so cold and dark to do anything but stay indoors, read a book,play and instrument, play computers...all artificial things, specially after working in front of a computer for hours. This will make you go out of balance or you will burn out. My advice is for you to take a month or so and travel in Winter to other countries if you are young. Go to Argentina, it is now summer there, or Indonesia, or Morocco. Making apps means you are free to travel and even continue working. Your money is worth 20x more or so in Argentina than Sweden. Usually you could stay out of your country 6 months or so without fiscal problems. If you try it odds are you won't believe how you could live without it, but start small taking one month out at first. I did it myself because I also started creating software. Now traveling the world is routine and for me staying in places like Boston, Chicago or Sweden in winter does not make lots of sense.
q3r3qr3q 10y ago
Learn an instrument or craft?
criveros 10y ago
Travel.
kriro 10y ago
Volunteer for stuff and/or teach people. Feeding the poor for a couple of weeks can be really enlightening and rewarding. Teching app development to some kids as extra curricula activity is also quite a lot of fun. If you're just missing the office I suppose the only real alternative is getting a job again. At least you can apply for the "craziest things you've always wanted to do" given your situation :)

a3n 10y ago

Then go work in a Swedish workplace part time. :)

kafkaesq 10y ago

You need to feel you accomplish something every day, and (good) work does that. That's great for you, but of course Bukowski wasn't thinking of the "have your cake and eat it, too" world of tech workers in 2017 (who are generally overpaid and/or get to do what they love most of the time -- and quite often, subject to both fates). But rather, you know, regular people.

iopq 10y ago
I don't like doing tech work, it's really repetitive and you don't get to work on what you want.
sidlls 10y ago
Tech workers are not overpaid.
- wingworks 10y ago
  *some
- rak00n 10y ago
  He probably wanted to say they're paid above average. In the same way doctors are not overpaid.
  - sidlls 10y ago
    In America at least there is an artificial scarcity of doctors, so that that comparison isn't fair.

vertex-four 10y ago

You could try volunteering, or otherwise finding a cause and working on it?

GuiA 10y ago

Do you have kids/elderly parents to take care of/etc.? I can imagine that lifestyle working really well for people with caregiving obligations.

justinator 10y ago

I would read the fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper.

the_watcher 10y ago

You still have the freedom to do that though. You can go back and work in a "good old Swedish workplace" if you want. While I don't necessarily agree with the idea that 9 to 5 is slavery (or that there isn't a way to live within your means and save enough to keep quitting on the table as an option), the message of this article is for those of us who do not have the freedom to choose to do something entirely different that may not actually generate income.

paulcole 10y ago

> You need to feel you accomplish something every day, and (good) work does that. Work (good or bad) is a crutch many people rely on to feel as though they're accomplishing something. I didn't work for 2 years (by choice) and never felt as if I lacked purpose and never felt the need to "accomplish something everyday." Instead I exercised, read, watched TV, relaxed. I was constantly amazed by the number of people who said they'd hate that sort of routine.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
I agree. I probably still wouldn't get myself to exercise much, but I know I'd spend a lot of time reading books, coding random stuff and learning new off-line skills. It seems to me like there are different kinds of personality. I'm having a hard time treating my job as anything but a sacrifice of my time better spent elsewhere, that I need to do to afford the necessities. On the other hand, I know people who like having a job - among other reasons, because it creates a rhytm in their lives, much like a clock signal in digital electronics.
gravypod 10y ago
> I exercised, read, watched TV, relaxed. I was constantly amazed by the number of people who said they'd hate that sort of routine. I'd be board out of my mind. You'll never pull me away from computer(s), programming, terminals, and all the lot. I know many people in computer science like me. Computers are not a job, they are a way of life so much so that I find ways to fill my free time with more of them. I know many people like me. One such (retired) person, who I will not name, has actually spent money to work for my current employer. He's done construction/demolition, data processing, data agregation, and goes to the north pole for us sometimes. He's a great guy who loves what he does and I don't think he'll be able to stop... ever. I'm very much the same way. I love the work I get to do and I've done a lot of it for free just because I enjoy doing it. I also do freelance work with computers and I'm trying to break into other fields like machining, welding, and electronics. When I retire I'll keep doing that. Making things is just fun for me.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago

ouji 10y ago

hey this got me curious on your life because it sounds like my dreamlife! ^^ do you have a website or anything?

542458 10y ago
I was also curious! I dug through his comments and found this: https://medium.com/@thyselius https://medium.com/@thyselius and https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807934 https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807... I think these are his.
emsy 10y ago
A little bit of comment digging brought me this: https://itunes.apple.com/se/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807934?l=en https://itunes.apple.com/se/developer/inlovewith-ab/id666807...

ClassyJacket 10y ago

Thus frustrates me very much. As someone who has too many things they want to do to possibly fit them all in, I can't even imagine the thought of wanting to go back to 9 - 5 just to kill time. I could name twenty things off the top of my head I'd do if I was you. Working 9 - 5 is a sad necessity so I can pay for rent, bills, my car to drive to my 9 - 5, my dentist, etc. And I have to give up on my dreams because of it. Please please use your time wisely.

pipio21 10y ago

Well, in Sweeden you can't go out and enjoy your country in Winter, it is just so cold and dark to do anything but stay indoors, read a book,play and instrument, play computers...all artificial things, specially after working in front of a computer for hours. This will make you go out of balance or you will burn out. My advice is for you to take a month or so and travel in Winter to other countries if you are young. Go to Argentina, it is now summer there, or Indonesia, or Morocco. Making apps means you are free to travel and even continue working. Your money is worth 20x more or so in Argentina than Sweden. Usually you could stay out of your country 6 months or so without fiscal problems. If you try it odds are you won't believe how you could live without it, but start small taking one month out at first. I did it myself because I also started creating software. Now traveling the world is routine and for me staying in places like Boston, Chicago or Sweden in winter does not make lots of sense.

q3r3qr3q 10y ago

Learn an instrument or craft?

criveros 10y ago

Travel.

kriro 10y ago

Volunteer for stuff and/or teach people. Feeding the poor for a couple of weeks can be really enlightening and rewarding. Teching app development to some kids as extra curricula activity is also quite a lot of fun. If you're just missing the office I suppose the only real alternative is getting a job again. At least you can apply for the "craziest things you've always wanted to do" given your situation :)