7 ms·

I have nice boring job. Few years ago I was upset with the boring part. But with kids and mortgage I don’t really care anymore. I am very happy to be paid more

by lnsru 6y ago

I have nice boring job. Few years ago I was upset with the boring part. But with kids and mortgage I don’t really care anymore. I am very happy to be paid more than a manager in a small company being only individual contributor in big Corp. I also have approval to sell my hardware from big Corp. So I can explore new things with commercial potential without a fear. Life is good.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
Stability and work life balance are terribly underrated.
- plutonorm 6y ago
  Depends on personality. For some its poison and burnout and depression are not far behind.
  - username90 6y ago
    Yeah, personally having a large chunk of the day be simple tedious tasks I don't have any control over makes me depressed and every day becomes a fight to keep the mental breakdown just out of reach. I envy people who can stay sane in such environments, makes life a lot easier.
    - ipaddr 6y ago
      I feel that way about meetings. Boring tasks can be automated away if they have a pattern.
- Taylor_OD 6y ago
  I'll take a boring stable 40 hour a week job over a fun job that somewhat frequently requires 50+ hours. Time is the only thing I cant get back. Money really is just a number after a certain point.
  - username90 6y ago
    Why do you still work for others if money is just a number at this point? I worked for Google for a while and quit to do my own projects once I had enough money that I felt it didn't matter any more.
    - Taylor_OD 6y ago
      I'm not exactly at that level yet. I couldnt stop working forever. But I realized that making money isnt all that difficult and its really a make believe number after a certain point.
    - kyawzazaw 6y ago
      What kind of projects are your own projects?
  - toomanybeersies 6y ago
    For me, interesting and fulfilling work is hardly work at all. 50 hours of fulfilling work essentially kills two birds with one stone (intellectually fulfilling, and pays my income), as opposed 40 hours at a job that I don't care for, but at least it's only 40 hours and pays alright, and then I have to try and sate my mind alongside everything else I want to do outside my working hours. There's nothing worse than being stuck in a job where you're watch the clock, waiting for it to strike 5 PM.
    - Taylor_OD 6y ago
      Right. I guess I'd be in the same boat if I found something truly interesting. I've had interesting projects but I find that the fun parts of most projects are short. Worse most companies are not going to be able to provide you with something fulfilling for very long.
AshamedCaptain 6y ago
After kids and mortage, you will be upset with the boring part again :(
- tenacious_tuna 6y ago
  not OP, but at that point I imagine the equation changes: stability becomes less important when you aren't the sole provider for a pile of people, and/or once cost-of-living goes down (e.g., paid off mortgage).
  - bikingbismuth 6y ago
    I was able to pay off my mortgage about a year ago (I am in my late 30s), and work has taken on a new aspect for me. I feel a bit more comfortable challenging the status quo and trying to take on more "interesting work". With that in mind, I am still attentive to the fact I need to maintain a sustainable career for another 25/30 years.
    - foobarian 6y ago
      Many people in my circle are proud of paying off mortgages, so I kind of assumed by default that it is a worthwhile thing. But looking at the numbers I'm not so sure: it seems much better in current market to cash out as much as possible and let that money sit in an index fund. I guess the main issues are some risks with downturns and/or liquidity.
      - ISL 6y ago
        That reality is a property primarily of the present-moment. Index funds don't always rise and property values sometimes fall. Interest rates are rarely this low. Leverage multiplies both the upside and the downside.
        jedberg 6y ago
        > and property values sometimes fall While this is true in the short term, except for very rare exceptions, you'd be hard pressed to find a property in the United States that is worth less now than 30 years ago (which is the standard length of a mortgage). I don't know about other countries, but I suspect it's the same in any modern economy. Land is scarce, and no one is making more of it.
dv_dt 6y ago
Work balance, and some reasonable freedom to self determine is pretty nice and likely more important for the stability in a long term working engagement than being "interesting" work.
sturgeongeneral 6y ago
I may be conflating 'boring' with 'rote', but how do you think the nature of your work may affect your job security? This is something I worry about sometimes, because I find that the work I'm doing could eventually be de-valued or automated. Still, I very much appreciate your position as I'm in a similar boat.
- lnsru 6y ago
  Big Corp lost a big project few months ago. Big Corp will loose another one soon. I hope, I can get senior title before shit hits the fan. Contribution does not matter for the title, only employment duration is important. However I am consulting a cool startup for free, do code reviews for them for free and could start immediately there with ~8% lower salary but 100% home office. That’s my plan C. Plan B is my own small hardware business selling Raspberry Pi based lidar and radar. I am not far away from the first product. I love these topics and compensate boredom at day job this way. As I mentioned, big Corp does not see interest conflict and I may sell these cool gadgets for wide Raspberry Pi community.

by lnsru 6y ago

toomuchtodo 6y ago

Stability and work life balance are terribly underrated.

plutonorm 6y ago
Depends on personality. For some its poison and burnout and depression are not far behind.
- username90 6y ago
  Yeah, personally having a large chunk of the day be simple tedious tasks I don't have any control over makes me depressed and every day becomes a fight to keep the mental breakdown just out of reach. I envy people who can stay sane in such environments, makes life a lot easier.
  - ipaddr 6y ago
    I feel that way about meetings. Boring tasks can be automated away if they have a pattern.
Taylor_OD 6y ago
I'll take a boring stable 40 hour a week job over a fun job that somewhat frequently requires 50+ hours. Time is the only thing I cant get back. Money really is just a number after a certain point.
- username90 6y ago
  Why do you still work for others if money is just a number at this point? I worked for Google for a while and quit to do my own projects once I had enough money that I felt it didn't matter any more.
  - Taylor_OD 6y ago
    I'm not exactly at that level yet. I couldnt stop working forever. But I realized that making money isnt all that difficult and its really a make believe number after a certain point.
  - kyawzazaw 6y ago
    What kind of projects are your own projects?
- toomanybeersies 6y ago
  For me, interesting and fulfilling work is hardly work at all. 50 hours of fulfilling work essentially kills two birds with one stone (intellectually fulfilling, and pays my income), as opposed 40 hours at a job that I don't care for, but at least it's only 40 hours and pays alright, and then I have to try and sate my mind alongside everything else I want to do outside my working hours. There's nothing worse than being stuck in a job where you're watch the clock, waiting for it to strike 5 PM.
  - Taylor_OD 6y ago
    Right. I guess I'd be in the same boat if I found something truly interesting. I've had interesting projects but I find that the fun parts of most projects are short. Worse most companies are not going to be able to provide you with something fulfilling for very long.

AshamedCaptain 6y ago

After kids and mortage, you will be upset with the boring part again :(

tenacious_tuna 6y ago
not OP, but at that point I imagine the equation changes: stability becomes less important when you aren't the sole provider for a pile of people, and/or once cost-of-living goes down (e.g., paid off mortgage).
- bikingbismuth 6y ago
  I was able to pay off my mortgage about a year ago (I am in my late 30s), and work has taken on a new aspect for me. I feel a bit more comfortable challenging the status quo and trying to take on more "interesting work". With that in mind, I am still attentive to the fact I need to maintain a sustainable career for another 25/30 years.
  - foobarian 6y ago
    Many people in my circle are proud of paying off mortgages, so I kind of assumed by default that it is a worthwhile thing. But looking at the numbers I'm not so sure: it seems much better in current market to cash out as much as possible and let that money sit in an index fund. I guess the main issues are some risks with downturns and/or liquidity.
    - ISL 6y ago
      That reality is a property primarily of the present-moment. Index funds don't always rise and property values sometimes fall. Interest rates are rarely this low. Leverage multiplies both the upside and the downside.
      - jedberg 6y ago
        > and property values sometimes fall While this is true in the short term, except for very rare exceptions, you'd be hard pressed to find a property in the United States that is worth less now than 30 years ago (which is the standard length of a mortgage). I don't know about other countries, but I suspect it's the same in any modern economy. Land is scarce, and no one is making more of it.

dv_dt 6y ago

Work balance, and some reasonable freedom to self determine is pretty nice and likely more important for the stability in a long term working engagement than being "interesting" work.

sturgeongeneral 6y ago

I may be conflating 'boring' with 'rote', but how do you think the nature of your work may affect your job security? This is something I worry about sometimes, because I find that the work I'm doing could eventually be de-valued or automated. Still, I very much appreciate your position as I'm in a similar boat.

lnsru 6y ago
Big Corp lost a big project few months ago. Big Corp will loose another one soon. I hope, I can get senior title before shit hits the fan. Contribution does not matter for the title, only employment duration is important. However I am consulting a cool startup for free, do code reviews for them for free and could start immediately there with ~8% lower salary but 100% home office. That’s my plan C. Plan B is my own small hardware business selling Raspberry Pi based lidar and radar. I am not far away from the first product. I love these topics and compensate boredom at day job this way. As I mentioned, big Corp does not see interest conflict and I may sell these cool gadgets for wide Raspberry Pi community.