5 ms·

All of my personal 5 whys like the one in the article end the same way. "I'm always busy but I don't feel productive with my time" Why? "Because I get distrac

by ajkjk 5y ago

All of my personal 5 whys like the one in the article end the same way. "I'm always busy but I don't feel productive with my time" Why? "Because I get distracted by email, refactoring, slack, .." Why? "Because I don't really want to be doing any of this, but I feel like I should be at my computer trying to force myself to do it." Why? "Because I have a job and therefore some responsibilities, and I wasted a lot of time last week so I guess I need to get things done this week" Why? "Because I'm sitting at a computer at home, surrounded by nobody, writing code for projects I don't really believe in, that are being mismanaged outside of my control, and what rewards there are (salary) are totally decoupled from the work, and I have lots of money saved up from doing this anyway but the modern world makes no sense and there's nothing I really want to be doing so I guess I'm working." ... ah, you say, you can't work because you're burnt-out and depressed. Yeah, probably. But I mention this to make the point that: if you can't focus, perhaps you just _don't want to be doing whatever you're doing_. It is sometimes hard to admit that in this modern world where you're supposed to be a hard-working adult. But you don't .. have.. to be employed, or working a 9-5, and for many people it's deeply unnatural, I think, to be doing this your whole life day-in and day-out. Related, this article about writer's block that was posted on HN a few weeks ago: https://sashachapin.substack.com/p/if-you-have-writers-block-maybe-you https://sashachapin.substack.com/p/if-you-have-writers-block...

np- 5y ago
> if you can't focus, perhaps you just _don't want to be doing whatever you're doing_ This is the thing that always gets me when reading things about productivity, how to get more done at work, etc. At first glance, the issue seemed to just be compensation—if you just pay us workers a fair wage we will be happy. But as software engineers we are generally fortunate with high salaries. So, what happens when that compensation comes and you still feel extremely unfulfilled? I don’t think the problem is the depressed workers, it seems like the whole entire system is built to slowly drain the life out of us.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ajkjk 5y ago
  I was talking to a coworker who said to me -- what do you think about asking for bonuses like my friend at FB gets, to get us to do more work? I said: I'm paid more than I know what to do with already. It's not a problem of money, it's a problem of managers who aren't leaders, and lack the ability to inspire anybody to do anything. It's no surprise we don't get much work done if nobody is inspired or proud of what they're doing. She had apparently never thought of this, but agreed. I guess a lot of people think it's about the money and then wonder why they can't get much done. imo the money determines who works where, but has almost nothing to do with the amount of work that gets done. ... so yeah, I agree.
  - hallway_monitor 5y ago
    This and your previous comment really resonate with me. Even if you're solving interesting problems, it's hard to stay motivated in the long term if you don't feel like you're providing a useful service to other humans and in some way making their lives better. Even though personally I certainly don't have more money than I know what to do with, a deeper purpose is much more valuable than doubling my salary.
    - kungito 5y ago
      Guys, what are we going to do? I have the exact same problem. I don't need the high salary anymore but I don't know what to switch to. I't doesn't help being in a country where nothing interesting is happening. How do we find something which feels worth fighting for? I want to work extra hours because it's somthing I believe in but it can't be a webshop backend or an ad optimization engine. Is there something people really need that programmers can help with from around the world? It feels like most issues are political or psychological
      - grozzle 5y ago
        I joined a trade union, we're always doing lots of really valuable work, helping people who need help. I'm the union's IT officer now, daily work is just managing email lists and arguing with MS 365, ongoing projects are updating our website and dues payment system. Doing this work helps our activists, organisers, and retained lawyers do their extremely valuable work. I'm not paid, I do it in spare time around an unrelated full-time job. I feel good about it. If you've got any useful skills, or just some free time, you can support anyone you see out in the world doing good.
- brainzap 5y ago
  time is life
hinkley 5y ago
> perhaps you just _don't want to be doing whatever you're doing_ There’s a balancing act between doing things that need to get done and doing things that you want to do. Too much of the former is miserable for you. Too much of the latter is miserable for everybody else. I’ve had to go to bat for people to work on things that maybe aren’t the absolute most efficient short term use of our resources because working on it will make them either happy or less unhappy. But only rarely can I state it so plainly, so I often wonder what takeaways people are coming to.

by ajkjk 5y ago

np- 5y ago

> if you can't focus, perhaps you just _don't want to be doing whatever you're doing_ This is the thing that always gets me when reading things about productivity, how to get more done at work, etc. At first glance, the issue seemed to just be compensation—if you just pay us workers a fair wage we will be happy. But as software engineers we are generally fortunate with high salaries. So, what happens when that compensation comes and you still feel extremely unfulfilled? I don’t think the problem is the depressed workers, it seems like the whole entire system is built to slowly drain the life out of us.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ajkjk 5y ago
I was talking to a coworker who said to me -- what do you think about asking for bonuses like my friend at FB gets, to get us to do more work? I said: I'm paid more than I know what to do with already. It's not a problem of money, it's a problem of managers who aren't leaders, and lack the ability to inspire anybody to do anything. It's no surprise we don't get much work done if nobody is inspired or proud of what they're doing. She had apparently never thought of this, but agreed. I guess a lot of people think it's about the money and then wonder why they can't get much done. imo the money determines who works where, but has almost nothing to do with the amount of work that gets done. ... so yeah, I agree.
- hallway_monitor 5y ago
  This and your previous comment really resonate with me. Even if you're solving interesting problems, it's hard to stay motivated in the long term if you don't feel like you're providing a useful service to other humans and in some way making their lives better. Even though personally I certainly don't have more money than I know what to do with, a deeper purpose is much more valuable than doubling my salary.
  - kungito 5y ago
    Guys, what are we going to do? I have the exact same problem. I don't need the high salary anymore but I don't know what to switch to. I't doesn't help being in a country where nothing interesting is happening. How do we find something which feels worth fighting for? I want to work extra hours because it's somthing I believe in but it can't be a webshop backend or an ad optimization engine. Is there something people really need that programmers can help with from around the world? It feels like most issues are political or psychological
    - grozzle 5y ago
      I joined a trade union, we're always doing lots of really valuable work, helping people who need help. I'm the union's IT officer now, daily work is just managing email lists and arguing with MS 365, ongoing projects are updating our website and dues payment system. Doing this work helps our activists, organisers, and retained lawyers do their extremely valuable work. I'm not paid, I do it in spare time around an unrelated full-time job. I feel good about it. If you've got any useful skills, or just some free time, you can support anyone you see out in the world doing good.
brainzap 5y ago
time is life

hinkley 5y ago

> perhaps you just _don't want to be doing whatever you're doing_ There’s a balancing act between doing things that need to get done and doing things that you want to do. Too much of the former is miserable for you. Too much of the latter is miserable for everybody else. I’ve had to go to bat for people to work on things that maybe aren’t the absolute most efficient short term use of our resources because working on it will make them either happy or less unhappy. But only rarely can I state it so plainly, so I often wonder what takeaways people are coming to.