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One of the nice things about having a 9-5ish job is that I have to go into the office on a regular basis (not necessarily every day). Even just being in an envi

One of the nice things about having a 9-5ish job is that I have to go into the office on a regular basis (not necessarily every day). Even just being in an environment (yes, open workspace) with some kind of energy/noise is good for someone who is so inwardly focused they tend to not need headphones in such an environment. As someone who has done mini shut-ins of almost double-digit days at a time (with corresponding spike in News.YC activity), I believe that once you get off a regular schedule it can be hard to recover. Having some facsimile or proxy of human communication, be it Facebook or people 'liking' your News.YC submissions (or even worse comments), is like empty fast food calories for social attention - but still nourishing at some basic level. Like they say for people who may be divorced, keeping busy with some project or activity is a smoke screen for feeling lonely. Ultimately, the smoke may clear and you'll feel intense spurts of sadness. Yet - your friends and acquaintances won't know because they think you're always doing interesting things with different circles of people. People tend to see what they want to see.

doyoulikeworms 12y ago
I left my job to make video games, mostly solo. I'm financially able to pursue this lifestyle for the foreseeable future. > One of the nice things about having a 9-5ish job is that I have to go into the office on a regular basis (not necessarily every day). You hit the nail on the head for me. What I miss most from a normal job isn't money or status, but simply being around other people. I never once thought that I would have felt this way. I'll be joining a coworking space when money permits, to be sure.
- chipsy 12y ago
  Your HN profile says you are in the Bay Area. If Oakland is within reach, we run a free coworking session every Tuesday afternoon. It is primarily social in nature(with occasional "everybody is busy" days). [0] More generally, I try to make my daily routine get me out of the house before I turn on the computer. That is, either I go out of the house and go to the gym, then work when I come back, or I go out of the house and sit down at a coffeeshop and work for two-to-four hours, then go to the gym, then come back. Changing locale tends to matter a lot to me, even if I'm not actually social while I'm out. [0] http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Game-Jamming-Game-Design/events/219976985/ http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Game-Jamming-Game-Design/e...

doyoulikeworms 12y ago

I left my job to make video games, mostly solo. I'm financially able to pursue this lifestyle for the foreseeable future. > One of the nice things about having a 9-5ish job is that I have to go into the office on a regular basis (not necessarily every day). You hit the nail on the head for me. What I miss most from a normal job isn't money or status, but simply being around other people. I never once thought that I would have felt this way. I'll be joining a coworking space when money permits, to be sure.

chipsy 12y ago
Your HN profile says you are in the Bay Area. If Oakland is within reach, we run a free coworking session every Tuesday afternoon. It is primarily social in nature(with occasional "everybody is busy" days). [0] More generally, I try to make my daily routine get me out of the house before I turn on the computer. That is, either I go out of the house and go to the gym, then work when I come back, or I go out of the house and sit down at a coffeeshop and work for two-to-four hours, then go to the gym, then come back. Changing locale tends to matter a lot to me, even if I'm not actually social while I'm out. [0] http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Game-Jamming-Game-Design/events/219976985/ http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Game-Jamming-Game-Design/e...