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I don’t understand view points like this. Why the constant itch for change? What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and goin

I don’t understand view points like this. Why the constant itch for change? What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and going home? People are so caught up in the rat race and keeping up with each other. Career does not have to be the definition of success. I wish I could give perspective on working in the same job for decades but I’m only 7 years in. 34 to go and zero intention on changing employers or careers unless I have to.

chillacy 8y ago
> What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and going home? Depends on what the job is, how much that check is for compared to CoL, and how much I have going on at home. I imagine if someone hated their job and didn't make enough money, they'd want change. I've been in both camps at different stages of my career.
brianwawok 8y ago
> What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and going home? You spend more time at work then anything else, perhaps tied with sleeping. More than with your spouse. More than with your kids. More than relaxing. Why not make work mean something? If work means something, you can't just do it for 40 years as a punch in, punch out. That sounds horrible.
- SenHeng 8y ago
  Agree. I dislike adopting a braindead attitude to any activity because my experience is that it eventually spreads out to other activities that I find boring. I like attempting new challenges. The problem is that I often don't get to use the new skills gained while attempting those challenges. That's why I switch.
- bronco21016 8y ago
  I suppose I’m looking at it from the perspective of someone who already thoroughly enjoys what he does and finds it new and challenging every day. You don’t need to constantly change jobs to have this though. Many jobs are largely what you make of them. If you’re going in and just punching the clock and doing the bare minimum then sure, it’s like you say, mind numbing. However, if you go in and constantly find new problems to tackle and ways to change and improve your role then why can’t it be fulfilling within the confines of a normal work day? I’m also unusual because I spend less time at work vs home. I’m significantly out numbered amongst other workers in the US but when you travel abroad you realize many other places take a similar attitude. Employment is a means to an end. There’s no reason to accept that work is where you spend most of your time. Reframe your mindset and find a lifestyle where work does not define you and how you spend your time.
  - lopatin 8y ago
    > Many jobs are largely what you make of them Most jobs don't allow you that freedom, nor do I think they have an obligation to. Lots of people are academics, not in profession, but in spirit. Why would an academic go do physics for a fraction of the paycheck than they would doing analytics for a bank or trading firm? Because they can't not. That's not to say that their work is more important than family, but it's more than a means to an end. It's the work of their life. From that perspective, if someone is not able to extract that level of fulfillment from whatever the situation is at their day job, then assuming they are just punching in the clock, or telling them to reframe their mindset, is a bit preachy IMO.
    - confounded 8y ago
      It didn’t come off as preachy to me. bronco21016 makes an excellent point (not made often) that you don’t need to spend all your waking hours focused on making your company successful in order to have a job which you find fulfilling and pays well.
    - rjf72 8y ago
      On the other hand many of Einstein's greatest ideas, discoveries, and publications came while working at a patent office as a low level inspector because in spite of years of effort, he couldn't find any academic position that would have him. That did change quite rapidly afterwards however, but it's certainly a great example of somebody making of his life and work what he wanted to make of it.
      - samstave 8y ago
        Who do you think is better/brighter/more meaningful impact on modern civilization: Einstein or Tesla?
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  I find meaning in having enough resources that my partner and kids are happy, regardless of the challenge or enjoyment of the work I do. It would be selfish (and borderline irresponsible) for me to prioritize excitement and self-actualization at work over a comfortable, stable life for my family. That’s what holidays and hobbies are for.
  - farresito 8y ago
    I think it's fine to have a bit of selfishness in your life. I'm not saying that you need to make very irresponsible decisions, but if all your decisions are made based on what others need, you end up living for others.
    - deleted 8y ago
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deathanatos 8y ago
> What’s wrong with just […] doing your job You're not being rewarded for your success or your hard work in any meaningful way; you're not learning new things or barely keeping up with the status quo; you're forced to work with other individuals who do not care about the quality of their work, or the effect it will have on others, or do not offer enlightening conversation, views. > collecting the check The check is not keeping up with the ever increasing cost of living. > People are so caught up in the rat race […] Career does not have to be the definition of success. I don't want it to be. I want to be able to make enough to meet my (reasonable) life goals. If your company is giving you meaningful work, compensating you well for it, and you would not find better on the market, then more power to you. Not all of us are so lucky.
jlarocco 8y ago
I don't know what "the rat race" and "keeping up" have to do with it, but being bored or otherwise unhappy is reason enough for a change, as far as I'm concerned. Life's too short to waste 8 hours a day being unhappy. Nobody's going to reward you for it, it's not impressing anybody, and companies won't hesitate to lay you off anyway, no matter how long you've been there. Besides that, a person can do their job, collect a check and go home regardless of which company they work for, so why stick with a one that isn't satisfying? Why not see what the other options are and get a fuller perspective? The software world is huge, and you'll never experience it all working at the same company forever.
- astura 8y ago
  Unless you're going to be bored and miserable everywhere you go because you're looking for meaning and fulfillment in your 9-5 and the vast majority of paid work can't offer that.
voycey 8y ago
As someone who has been in and out of small companies it is usually for a number of reasons: 1) I feel like I can effect more change with fewer barriers in a smaller company - the idea to goal conversion is much more condensed vs when I worked at IBM and the number of processes and approvals it had to go through. 2) If you are in small companies there is usually very little room for progression, smaller companies = smaller budgets - when I was an employee of these the only real way to get any kind of pay increase as experience increases was to switch companies. 3) Some of us enjoy the change, I loved the work I did at IBM but it was still mostly BAU work, there was very little scope for personal innovation over the long term. Sure you could switch departments quite easily and that was a huge benefit but back to point 1 - the innovation momentum is hard to keep up. At the companies I have been working at for the past 7 years, every day is different, every day is researching the next best thing or how to improve the current things we have with a view to squeezing out more performance, or decreasing costs. Sure I have some BAU work but it's mostly meetings and developer mentoring, hardly painful! 4) To your final point, I am lucky to be doing something I have always been passionate about - this isnt a rat race for me, its not about keeping up with others, my definition of success is how much I enjoy going to work in the morning and not having to fret the little things.
muzani 8y ago
It's not always about keeping up. One of my main indicators of success is how much I improve the lives of others. You can't get that working somewhere like Facebook for 20 years. There appears to be diminishing gains the longer you stay somewhere.
- SZJX 8y ago
  Why would you immediately "make an impact" as soon as you switch jobs though? If you're not taking that new position, somebody else will be and I'm not sure you're that unique enough to do something totally different from the job done by that other person. Plus, it's usually the case that the longer you stay, the more influence you gain, and I don't think you can effect changes in a new organization rapidly, unless you're hired as a CEO or something. Maybe the only thing you get by switching jobs is to actually have products that you touched reach more users, but I don't think that equates to "improving the lives of others". Have you actually switched many jobs and felt happier afterwards? I can't really get your reasoning.
purplezooey 8y ago
This is a great point, however, at most companies you have to put on an "act" that you are "nimble" and not just doing your job well. Nobody cares if you're doing your job well. If you put too much energy into that, you'll be viewed as stodgy, stuck in your ways, resistant to change, and ushered out. Excellence is not valued as much as skills in the latest market transition. And it's not your company's fault, they're trying to stay in business until they're roadkill for Amazon or a company in Asia.
- SZJX 8y ago
  I don't get your point. Surely an excellent worker is also somebody who is eager to learn and keeps up with the newest developments keenly? Why would they be two contradictory traits? Perhaps you confused "stubbornness" with "excellence".
TACIXAT 8y ago
I get restless. I think I'm just a pretty dissatisfied person. I want to do great things.I want to make more money. I want to have the choice to retire young. I want to be happy. If I was sentenced to 40 years of randomly assigned work then I'd just clock in and clock out, but I get to do something I love at an exorbitant salary. With a taste of that I'm going fight for positions where I can do more of what I love and make more money. I don't really care about keeping up with people or prestige, I care about freedom. I'd be making less than half of what I do now if I had stayed at my first job. This buys my freedom sooner.
soneca 8y ago
Well, the same mindset you have there with "What's wrong with just going to work...", you should also apply to the opposite point of view: "What's wrong with wanting to change jobs every couple of years?". There's nothing inherently wrong with either option. You might not understand, but I think it would be worth to exercise empathy and try to understand it, instead of passing judgement. The OP is doing precisely this, not passing judgement and asking for help to exercise empathy.
packetpirate 8y ago
Because doing the same thing every day for decades is incredibly dull and some people want to do something new and exciting? Maybe someone started off in a high-pressure environment, but now wants to focus on their personal life and wants more freedom to actually... live their life?

chillacy 8y ago

> What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and going home? Depends on what the job is, how much that check is for compared to CoL, and how much I have going on at home. I imagine if someone hated their job and didn't make enough money, they'd want change. I've been in both camps at different stages of my career.

brianwawok 8y ago

> What’s wrong with just going to work, doing your job, collecting the check, and going home? You spend more time at work then anything else, perhaps tied with sleeping. More than with your spouse. More than with your kids. More than relaxing. Why not make work mean something? If work means something, you can't just do it for 40 years as a punch in, punch out. That sounds horrible.

SenHeng 8y ago
Agree. I dislike adopting a braindead attitude to any activity because my experience is that it eventually spreads out to other activities that I find boring. I like attempting new challenges. The problem is that I often don't get to use the new skills gained while attempting those challenges. That's why I switch.
bronco21016 8y ago
I suppose I’m looking at it from the perspective of someone who already thoroughly enjoys what he does and finds it new and challenging every day. You don’t need to constantly change jobs to have this though. Many jobs are largely what you make of them. If you’re going in and just punching the clock and doing the bare minimum then sure, it’s like you say, mind numbing. However, if you go in and constantly find new problems to tackle and ways to change and improve your role then why can’t it be fulfilling within the confines of a normal work day? I’m also unusual because I spend less time at work vs home. I’m significantly out numbered amongst other workers in the US but when you travel abroad you realize many other places take a similar attitude. Employment is a means to an end. There’s no reason to accept that work is where you spend most of your time. Reframe your mindset and find a lifestyle where work does not define you and how you spend your time.
- lopatin 8y ago
  > Many jobs are largely what you make of them Most jobs don't allow you that freedom, nor do I think they have an obligation to. Lots of people are academics, not in profession, but in spirit. Why would an academic go do physics for a fraction of the paycheck than they would doing analytics for a bank or trading firm? Because they can't not. That's not to say that their work is more important than family, but it's more than a means to an end. It's the work of their life. From that perspective, if someone is not able to extract that level of fulfillment from whatever the situation is at their day job, then assuming they are just punching in the clock, or telling them to reframe their mindset, is a bit preachy IMO.
  - confounded 8y ago
    It didn’t come off as preachy to me. bronco21016 makes an excellent point (not made often) that you don’t need to spend all your waking hours focused on making your company successful in order to have a job which you find fulfilling and pays well.
  - rjf72 8y ago
    On the other hand many of Einstein's greatest ideas, discoveries, and publications came while working at a patent office as a low level inspector because in spite of years of effort, he couldn't find any academic position that would have him. That did change quite rapidly afterwards however, but it's certainly a great example of somebody making of his life and work what he wanted to make of it.
    - samstave 8y ago
      Who do you think is better/brighter/more meaningful impact on modern civilization: Einstein or Tesla?
toomuchtodo 8y ago
I find meaning in having enough resources that my partner and kids are happy, regardless of the challenge or enjoyment of the work I do. It would be selfish (and borderline irresponsible) for me to prioritize excitement and self-actualization at work over a comfortable, stable life for my family. That’s what holidays and hobbies are for.
- farresito 8y ago
  I think it's fine to have a bit of selfishness in your life. I'm not saying that you need to make very irresponsible decisions, but if all your decisions are made based on what others need, you end up living for others.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

deathanatos 8y ago

> What’s wrong with just […] doing your job You're not being rewarded for your success or your hard work in any meaningful way; you're not learning new things or barely keeping up with the status quo; you're forced to work with other individuals who do not care about the quality of their work, or the effect it will have on others, or do not offer enlightening conversation, views. > collecting the check The check is not keeping up with the ever increasing cost of living. > People are so caught up in the rat race […] Career does not have to be the definition of success. I don't want it to be. I want to be able to make enough to meet my (reasonable) life goals. If your company is giving you meaningful work, compensating you well for it, and you would not find better on the market, then more power to you. Not all of us are so lucky.

jlarocco 8y ago

I don't know what "the rat race" and "keeping up" have to do with it, but being bored or otherwise unhappy is reason enough for a change, as far as I'm concerned. Life's too short to waste 8 hours a day being unhappy. Nobody's going to reward you for it, it's not impressing anybody, and companies won't hesitate to lay you off anyway, no matter how long you've been there. Besides that, a person can do their job, collect a check and go home regardless of which company they work for, so why stick with a one that isn't satisfying? Why not see what the other options are and get a fuller perspective? The software world is huge, and you'll never experience it all working at the same company forever.

astura 8y ago
Unless you're going to be bored and miserable everywhere you go because you're looking for meaning and fulfillment in your 9-5 and the vast majority of paid work can't offer that.

voycey 8y ago

As someone who has been in and out of small companies it is usually for a number of reasons: 1) I feel like I can effect more change with fewer barriers in a smaller company - the idea to goal conversion is much more condensed vs when I worked at IBM and the number of processes and approvals it had to go through. 2) If you are in small companies there is usually very little room for progression, smaller companies = smaller budgets - when I was an employee of these the only real way to get any kind of pay increase as experience increases was to switch companies. 3) Some of us enjoy the change, I loved the work I did at IBM but it was still mostly BAU work, there was very little scope for personal innovation over the long term. Sure you could switch departments quite easily and that was a huge benefit but back to point 1 - the innovation momentum is hard to keep up. At the companies I have been working at for the past 7 years, every day is different, every day is researching the next best thing or how to improve the current things we have with a view to squeezing out more performance, or decreasing costs. Sure I have some BAU work but it's mostly meetings and developer mentoring, hardly painful! 4) To your final point, I am lucky to be doing something I have always been passionate about - this isnt a rat race for me, its not about keeping up with others, my definition of success is how much I enjoy going to work in the morning and not having to fret the little things.

muzani 8y ago

It's not always about keeping up. One of my main indicators of success is how much I improve the lives of others. You can't get that working somewhere like Facebook for 20 years. There appears to be diminishing gains the longer you stay somewhere.

SZJX 8y ago
Why would you immediately "make an impact" as soon as you switch jobs though? If you're not taking that new position, somebody else will be and I'm not sure you're that unique enough to do something totally different from the job done by that other person. Plus, it's usually the case that the longer you stay, the more influence you gain, and I don't think you can effect changes in a new organization rapidly, unless you're hired as a CEO or something. Maybe the only thing you get by switching jobs is to actually have products that you touched reach more users, but I don't think that equates to "improving the lives of others". Have you actually switched many jobs and felt happier afterwards? I can't really get your reasoning.

purplezooey 8y ago

This is a great point, however, at most companies you have to put on an "act" that you are "nimble" and not just doing your job well. Nobody cares if you're doing your job well. If you put too much energy into that, you'll be viewed as stodgy, stuck in your ways, resistant to change, and ushered out. Excellence is not valued as much as skills in the latest market transition. And it's not your company's fault, they're trying to stay in business until they're roadkill for Amazon or a company in Asia.

SZJX 8y ago
I don't get your point. Surely an excellent worker is also somebody who is eager to learn and keeps up with the newest developments keenly? Why would they be two contradictory traits? Perhaps you confused "stubbornness" with "excellence".

TACIXAT 8y ago

I get restless. I think I'm just a pretty dissatisfied person. I want to do great things.I want to make more money. I want to have the choice to retire young. I want to be happy. If I was sentenced to 40 years of randomly assigned work then I'd just clock in and clock out, but I get to do something I love at an exorbitant salary. With a taste of that I'm going fight for positions where I can do more of what I love and make more money. I don't really care about keeping up with people or prestige, I care about freedom. I'd be making less than half of what I do now if I had stayed at my first job. This buys my freedom sooner.

soneca 8y ago

Well, the same mindset you have there with "What's wrong with just going to work...", you should also apply to the opposite point of view: "What's wrong with wanting to change jobs every couple of years?". There's nothing inherently wrong with either option. You might not understand, but I think it would be worth to exercise empathy and try to understand it, instead of passing judgement. The OP is doing precisely this, not passing judgement and asking for help to exercise empathy.

packetpirate 8y ago

Because doing the same thing every day for decades is incredibly dull and some people want to do something new and exciting? Maybe someone started off in a high-pressure environment, but now wants to focus on their personal life and wants more freedom to actually... live their life?