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That's...alarming. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think you might be in the wrong line of work if that's the case. Work can suck, but it shouldn't be th

That's...alarming. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think you might be in the wrong line of work if that's the case. Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.

scirocco 8y ago
Yep. I actually like Mondays
Aaargh20318 8y ago
Oh, it's not the wrong kind of work, it's just having a job at all. I'm autistic, having to be among people is just so exhausting. It's the cost of acting like a normal person. Fortunately my current employer is very understanding, I work from home at least one day a week or more if I need it. I can tone down the act a little here, which is very helpful. Unfortunately I can't completely turn it off (I wouldn't be able to function that way). If it were up to me I wouldn't leave the house at all, unfortunately I need to eat, pay the mortgage, etc. > Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing. Every job is soul crushing. Not because of the work, but because of the fact that you have to do it. The fact you have zero say in how you spend your time. The fact that you have to interact with human beings. etc. There's no way around it.
- ghaff 8y ago
  >Every job is soul crushing. It really isn't for everyone. If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today albeit with more pure pure leisure mixed in. I realize I'm in a privileged position in that regard but nonetheless that's how it is for me.
  - Aaargh20318 8y ago
    > If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today Same here. The problem is not the core of the job, I love writing software. What kills me is meetings, having to sit in an office surrounded by humans (the sound of people talking especially easily causes sensory overload), having to work during the day (I'm a night person by nature and bright light is problematic for me), having to stay in the office for 8 hours even though I'm spent after 5, bullshit social events (I usually skip them, but you can't skip all of them), having to work with others (sometimes I spend more time convincing others of how I want things done than actually doing them). Programming is great, having a job isn't.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      As I say, I'm fortunate. (Also I'm not a programmer.) I work mostly remotely and actually don't have a huge number of meetings etc. I travel a lot but a lot of that is to conferences, etc. most of which are on my own volition and I actually enjoy.
- Rooster61 8y ago
  I'd argue that it still might not fit you. If I'm hearing you correctly, you are in a software engineering position. That job unfortunately requires human interaction, as the problem of correctly designing and deploying software is HARD. It sounds like that isn't lost on you, though, and I can imagine having autism would make this job exceedingly difficult. It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. I honestly hope you find one. I just got out of a bad job and I know how taxing it can be. I disagree that every job is soul crushing, though. At least not intrinsically so. Different jobs are good or bad based on the situation of the one performing it. We do have a choice in that we can choose not to perform that job (although for many that isn't really a true choice). In any case, I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. There are too many hard-ass managers with a "business mindset" that would rather avoid working with perfectly productive individuals such as yourself.
  - Aaargh20318 8y ago
    > It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. So far I have mainly worked for small startups in R&D type of roles, which suits me well. The problems start when the company starts to grow. At my current job I was the only developer when I started, now we’re at a dozen developers and they are talking about hiring a scrum master. That’s kind of my sign to start looking, which is a bit sad because this employer has been really good to me. Experience has shown me, however, that sticking around too long when a company gets over a certain size is not a good idea. > I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. They do. Honestly they’ve been great about it, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

That's...alarming. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think you might be in the wrong line of work if that's the case. Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.

scirocco 8y ago

Yep. I actually like Mondays

Aaargh20318 8y ago

Oh, it's not the wrong kind of work, it's just having a job at all. I'm autistic, having to be among people is just so exhausting. It's the cost of acting like a normal person. Fortunately my current employer is very understanding, I work from home at least one day a week or more if I need it. I can tone down the act a little here, which is very helpful. Unfortunately I can't completely turn it off (I wouldn't be able to function that way). If it were up to me I wouldn't leave the house at all, unfortunately I need to eat, pay the mortgage, etc. > Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing. Every job is soul crushing. Not because of the work, but because of the fact that you have to do it. The fact you have zero say in how you spend your time. The fact that you have to interact with human beings. etc. There's no way around it.

ghaff 8y ago
>Every job is soul crushing. It really isn't for everyone. If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today albeit with more pure pure leisure mixed in. I realize I'm in a privileged position in that regard but nonetheless that's how it is for me.
- Aaargh20318 8y ago
  > If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today Same here. The problem is not the core of the job, I love writing software. What kills me is meetings, having to sit in an office surrounded by humans (the sound of people talking especially easily causes sensory overload), having to work during the day (I'm a night person by nature and bright light is problematic for me), having to stay in the office for 8 hours even though I'm spent after 5, bullshit social events (I usually skip them, but you can't skip all of them), having to work with others (sometimes I spend more time convincing others of how I want things done than actually doing them). Programming is great, having a job isn't.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    As I say, I'm fortunate. (Also I'm not a programmer.) I work mostly remotely and actually don't have a huge number of meetings etc. I travel a lot but a lot of that is to conferences, etc. most of which are on my own volition and I actually enjoy.
Rooster61 8y ago
I'd argue that it still might not fit you. If I'm hearing you correctly, you are in a software engineering position. That job unfortunately requires human interaction, as the problem of correctly designing and deploying software is HARD. It sounds like that isn't lost on you, though, and I can imagine having autism would make this job exceedingly difficult. It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. I honestly hope you find one. I just got out of a bad job and I know how taxing it can be. I disagree that every job is soul crushing, though. At least not intrinsically so. Different jobs are good or bad based on the situation of the one performing it. We do have a choice in that we can choose not to perform that job (although for many that isn't really a true choice). In any case, I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. There are too many hard-ass managers with a "business mindset" that would rather avoid working with perfectly productive individuals such as yourself.
- Aaargh20318 8y ago
  > It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. So far I have mainly worked for small startups in R&D type of roles, which suits me well. The problems start when the company starts to grow. At my current job I was the only developer when I started, now we’re at a dozen developers and they are talking about hiring a scrum master. That’s kind of my sign to start looking, which is a bit sad because this employer has been really good to me. Experience has shown me, however, that sticking around too long when a company gets over a certain size is not a good idea. > I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. They do. Honestly they’ve been great about it, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean it’s easy.