

Ask HN: I am doing nothing with my life - throwmean

I am a developer. I am just doing simple CRUD applications at work which pays quite well and has great perks. But I am doing nothing useful to the society really... I&#x27;d love work something related to space, or brains, or artificial intelligence, or something amazing. I want to do something great, but I am too average for that. Recently graduated. I just don&#x27;t know... I probably just have it too good or I&#x27;m just meant to be miserable.
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v_ignatyev
I disagree with @skorecky below.

\- Look for a new job that you haven't ever worked before. If you do CRUD
applications, start doing mobile software or whatever else is new for you

\- Stop spending your time with your colleagues and start looking for new
friends, learn from them about the world, about problems, about realworld
problems and try to solve them using your mind

\- ...and yes, try to contribute to open source projects, stop
procrastinating, go and fix the annoying bug in your beloved library or
propose pull-request

\- ...or make something just for fun

Try to get break. Stop and turn another way. Open your mind. Blah-blah do!

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skorecky
I've felt this way before too. There are quite a few options.

\- Look for a new job that satisfies your desire.

\- Work on open source projects in your free time.

\- Start a new project which you feel could contribute to x.

For my personal experience there was something deeper for me, I wasn't happy
with the 'do good' job I found and ended up going to just a better job even
though it mean making some product for profit.

I did however become a certified personal trainer and train clients on the
weekend. Which helps me fill that void of doing good with my life by helping
myself and others live a healthy life and be fit.

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ghufran_syed
I'm doubtful that any advice here would make any meaningful difference, but as
a pathological optimist, I hope I'm wrong :-) . Try reading "The seven habits
of highly effective people" by Steven Covey, at worst you've wasted a few
hours, but I think there's a lot of useful advice in there about how to change
your circumstances.

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hardwaresofton
Do something amazing on your nights and weekends. If you're a recent grad,
then you probably should revel in the whole reliable-paycheck thing for a
while, but it doesn't stop you from innovating and pursuing what you're
passionate about on the nights and weekends.

I personally have never looked to work to satisfy my passion (for computers).
No matter the job I am working at, I have a steady stream of side projects and
try my hardest to keep up with a small bit of the massive firehose of change
that is modern computer science/programming.

Don't worry about being average. Many of the people who have created great
things weren't that far from average. They just seem like geniuses in
retrospect. Also, it's about 5 billion times (give or take) easier to do
software these days, you have a huge leg up on geniuses of the past.

Find a project to do that makes you happy, and do it until it doesn't make you
happy anymore (hopefully, after it's finished)

~~~
maccam912
Yay. I sort of do that. Take things that people like, make them into docker
containers, get bored, and move on to the next thing that people like. For
anyone reading this, github.com/maccam912 projects are all available to be
played with. Obviously forked, but if you want to submit a pull request I'll
more than likely accept it. I'm one of those average people who has a lot to
learn about programming. Your pull requests will educate me a bit.

~~~
hardwaresofton
That's pretty much it. If you love docker/devops, then this is the kind of
thing that makes you happy, and definitely makes all the people that find it
happy (unfortunately, you're probably just not seeing/aware of all the people
that find your products and think "wow, someone awesome must have made this").

If you like docker, then you can also contribute to it, extend it, all that
stuff.

Personally I like to keep a notebook of ideas I have, and then find time to go
through them all and implement them. That is keeping me more busy than I could
ever imagine (or finish)

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wallflower
What do you fear? Fear is telling you what you should be doing instead of
staring at a screen...

Diversify your time. Don't put all your emotional/time investment into
technical skills/work.

Organize something at work like a potluck or a karaoke night. You don't have
to be the center of attention once the event gets going (but you'll have to
get the event together). The host has the power..

Be part of something bigger than yourself, be an active part of a community
(doesn't have to be tech). Belonging is a big part of happiness.

Volunteer. Someone once told me that to be a true volunteer with no selfish
overtones you would need to a) volunteer for the blind and b) not tell anyone.
You don't have to do that.

Also: [http://www.nerve.com/advice/miss-information/miss-
informatio...](http://www.nerve.com/advice/miss-information/miss-
information-209)

------
jf22
I started volunteering a lot in my spare time and its been great.

There are probably hundreds of charities in your area that need your help from
stocking shelves at a food pantry to helping them setup a printer.

I find it very rewarding and helps me feel calmer about the SSDD aspects of my
job.

------
mikestew
> But I am doing nothing useful to the society really... I'd love work
> something related to space, or brains, or artificial intelligence, or
> something amazing.

There's your first problem: looking for a meaningful existence in an activity
that is also supposed to pay the mortgage. Good luck to you in making those
two intersect. But look at what you're asking in another way: "I'd like to tie
my identity to my vocation, but finding a vocation that allows that while
supporting my 'software money' lifestyle is difficult. What to do?"

I've given up on doing that. I'm not saying everyone should, don't get me
wrong. But finding a job that gives me purpose and meaning in life, _and_ pays
six figures is fighting strong opposing odds. That's fine, of the work I do I
usually enjoy it even if I'm not finding the cure for cancer. If I had my way,
I'd work full time at the NPO animal shelter I spend a lot of time at. But
even the director (IOW, the big boss) only pulls down $65K a year. I'd settle
for that, but I'm not getting her job anytime soon. The best I could probably
do would be a little above minimum wage, and probably not 40 hours.

So what do I do? I work whatever software job keeps me interested and pays the
bills. With the wheelbarrows of money that brings in, I donate to causes I
feel should be supported. Sure, that might cut into my BMW M5 money but you
don't get your cake and eat it, too. I mean, what nobility is there in a job
that pays the salary that many of have become accustomed to, and still allows
us to feel that there's "meaning" in our work? Where's the sacrifice? Quit
trying to tie the two together and you'll get on much better, IMO. Sometimes
the two coincide, most of the time they don't; don't force it.

I'm not just a checkbook volunteer, either. In the case of the animal shelter,
I've logged over 200 volunteer hours this year. Though not a professional dog
trainer (though at this point, going pro would merely involve a test and a few
other hoops), I train dogs with behavior problems to make them more adoptable.
Sometimes it's not that glamorous: taking a stream of dogs out for a walk and
picking up their shit. One after another, repeat for two hours. Am I changing
the world? Depends on who you ask. The dog who came in a mental basket case
who I trained to be a civilized member of society, and later got adopted,
might argue that I may not have changed the world but I changed his world.

Meaningful volunteer opportunities abound. Coach a kids team. Help your local
church's homeless outreach. Whatever your "thing" is, there's an organization
that can put you to work. Sports, animals, computers, whatever. Personally
speaking, I go home every time feeling like the world is just an eensy, weensy
bit better due to my actions, rather that hoping we find that big breakthrough
at work in a few years so it'll all be worth it rather than just another day
at the office.

> I probably just have it too good or I'm just meant to be miserable.

To use an over-used cliche: it's definitely a first-world problem. Most people
in the world go to work so that they and their children don't starve and have
to live on the streets. If we find meaning in it, we're fortunate. For a large
part of history the vast majority stayed one step ahead of the wolf by working
whenever the sun was up.

I'll close with this: if you think working on things that you classify as
"amazing" or "great", all while pulling down 'software money', is noble then I
think you're looking at it backwards and will never find satisfaction. Once
you learn to see the greatness in picking up dog shit, for free, your answer
will come to you much more quickly.

