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It looks like you have discovered that life is boring. Doesn't matter in tech or any profession, we work to create wealth and get so engrossed in it. Once we co

It looks like you have discovered that life is boring. Doesn't matter in tech or any profession, we work to create wealth and get so engrossed in it. Once we conquer the "wealth" part we feel we don't have a meaning or a purpose anymore. And life is actually boring. To see life is boring and has no meaning is intelligence. I would go as far as to say only fools don't realize that life is boring and go on distracting themselves endlessly. We have never lived with ourselves, we have continuously distracted ourselves with work and alcohol on weekends. When we see the futility of life, we start to get bored, and that boredom can manifest to anxiety and depression. You need to learn to live with boredom. As much as you can. Some people call it meditation, some call if mindfulness but it doesn't matter what you call it. You need to learn to live with boredom because nature intended that way. Work is not absolute reality, games are not absolute reality, they were created by thoughts of people like you and me. What is real is the futility of life, and to embrace that you need to embrace the boredom, or the present. If you are interested, I can tell/help you more, but my comment will get hidden somewhere down below. Still, reply to me, if you want some guidelines, because I smoked weed like you and drank and i am in IT too and now I have quit intoxication and learned to live with myself.

wnolens 4y ago
I don't think life is _necessarily_ boring as you claim. It's just that a lot about life is boring, particularly working at a job you don't intrinsically enjoy as well as things like commuting, preparing/waiting for food, etc. But a best friend? A delicious meal? Making love? Learning something you want to know about? I could go on. If you're bored, it's because your life is structured to not contain any of the things that make you feel alive, or you are a boring person.
- switchbak 4y ago
  I thought his point was valuable, but you're right - life is certainly not all boring. But it's important to be able to dwell in boredom, or "less exciting" things. I think it's fundamentally about purpose. If you know that your work allows you to do the things you love, and you can find any joy in it, then it's possible to be content with the trade. If you can't find joy in the job: you have some soul searching to do. Is it that the job just sucks? (they're out there) Or are you having trouble enjoying life generally? It sounds like it's more of the latter. If so, the job isn't the problem and a new one won't be the solution. When I've felt like that, what's helped is to change my environment. Really seek out things I feel driven to do (hobbies, new sports, exploration, etc). Learn new things, meet new people. Take some vacation. Quit seeking cheap gratification and invest in myself in ways I feel good about (working out, being active, helping people, meditating/etc). Be honest about your situation, is there something secretly driving you nuts that you could fix but are avoiding awareness of? And doing drugs, binging on shows, video games - these will sap you of your own internal reservoir of drive, and probably make you feel bad right after you've done it. Kind of like junk food for the mind. In the interium, I'd say forget about the video game (and don't shame yourself on that) and just pick very small things to play with intellectually. The goal should be something modest and achievable that you're genuinely driven towards. Do something small achievable that you'll feel good about, and just do it. Do this a few times, and congratulate yourself on the achievement (focus on the benefit of the learning or effort). Make this a pattern, and you'll start to dig out of the hole.
switchbak 4y ago
This is actually very important. Learning how to live with yourself, your thoughts, and to cultivate contentment in the presence of (sometimes deep) boredom is hugely important. Boredom is absolutely central to motivation and imagination. Our culture generally treats it as something to be avoided at all costs. And modern tech companies mine your attention for clicks and $$, they don't care about you, and they foster a world that's antithetical to quiet alone (boring) time. Seeing your actions (watching Seinfeld, playing games) in the context of your motivation system is valuable. Andrew Huberman talks a lot about this, and ways to bootstrap getting out of a motivation hole (like it sounds the OP is in).
purist33 4y ago
At one time, I learnt to live with boredom. I felt it was refreshing to not keep doing something to get rid of that boredom. It got me somewhat creative also, which i loved. But when i started hating what i do with my work, I started feeling like the remaining time apart from work is way too important to "waste" on just being bored. I slightly understand what OP means, when he says all things he held quite close like games and creating a game, were now not as interesting as it used to be. I am also going through that. I end up playing games and doing something out of compulsion of "not wasting the precious free time", and end up getting bored of them too. I dont know if it is exactly the problem OP is facing though. Your first paragraph doesnt even apply to me. I am very much in the beginning stages of my pursuit for wealth and the journey looks like it will be mindnumbingly boring, and I am terrified where I am going to end up in this way.

wnolens 4y ago

I don't think life is _necessarily_ boring as you claim. It's just that a lot about life is boring, particularly working at a job you don't intrinsically enjoy as well as things like commuting, preparing/waiting for food, etc. But a best friend? A delicious meal? Making love? Learning something you want to know about? I could go on. If you're bored, it's because your life is structured to not contain any of the things that make you feel alive, or you are a boring person.

switchbak 4y ago
I thought his point was valuable, but you're right - life is certainly not all boring. But it's important to be able to dwell in boredom, or "less exciting" things. I think it's fundamentally about purpose. If you know that your work allows you to do the things you love, and you can find any joy in it, then it's possible to be content with the trade. If you can't find joy in the job: you have some soul searching to do. Is it that the job just sucks? (they're out there) Or are you having trouble enjoying life generally? It sounds like it's more of the latter. If so, the job isn't the problem and a new one won't be the solution. When I've felt like that, what's helped is to change my environment. Really seek out things I feel driven to do (hobbies, new sports, exploration, etc). Learn new things, meet new people. Take some vacation. Quit seeking cheap gratification and invest in myself in ways I feel good about (working out, being active, helping people, meditating/etc). Be honest about your situation, is there something secretly driving you nuts that you could fix but are avoiding awareness of? And doing drugs, binging on shows, video games - these will sap you of your own internal reservoir of drive, and probably make you feel bad right after you've done it. Kind of like junk food for the mind. In the interium, I'd say forget about the video game (and don't shame yourself on that) and just pick very small things to play with intellectually. The goal should be something modest and achievable that you're genuinely driven towards. Do something small achievable that you'll feel good about, and just do it. Do this a few times, and congratulate yourself on the achievement (focus on the benefit of the learning or effort). Make this a pattern, and you'll start to dig out of the hole.

switchbak 4y ago

This is actually very important. Learning how to live with yourself, your thoughts, and to cultivate contentment in the presence of (sometimes deep) boredom is hugely important. Boredom is absolutely central to motivation and imagination. Our culture generally treats it as something to be avoided at all costs. And modern tech companies mine your attention for clicks and $$, they don't care about you, and they foster a world that's antithetical to quiet alone (boring) time. Seeing your actions (watching Seinfeld, playing games) in the context of your motivation system is valuable. Andrew Huberman talks a lot about this, and ways to bootstrap getting out of a motivation hole (like it sounds the OP is in).

purist33 4y ago

At one time, I learnt to live with boredom. I felt it was refreshing to not keep doing something to get rid of that boredom. It got me somewhat creative also, which i loved. But when i started hating what i do with my work, I started feeling like the remaining time apart from work is way too important to "waste" on just being bored. I slightly understand what OP means, when he says all things he held quite close like games and creating a game, were now not as interesting as it used to be. I am also going through that. I end up playing games and doing something out of compulsion of "not wasting the precious free time", and end up getting bored of them too. I dont know if it is exactly the problem OP is facing though. Your first paragraph doesnt even apply to me. I am very much in the beginning stages of my pursuit for wealth and the journey looks like it will be mindnumbingly boring, and I am terrified where I am going to end up in this way.