

What would you rather be doing? - coglethorpe
http://www.chadfowler.com/2009/5/2/what-would-you-rather-be-doing

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mildweed
Many people can't even imagine correctly what they'd rather be doing, some
because they've never had the opportunity to have a taste of what they want to
do. Finding your calling is an iterative processes.

My recommendation: try many, various, wide-ranging things. Then just like
software design, refine, refine, refine. It doesn't always mean starting your
own company.

~~~
imp
I absolutely agree. In the past four years I've switched from scientist (well,
grad student) to mechanical engineer to software developer. Transitioning can
be stressful and difficult, but I'm really happy with where I am now. I look
at it as if I'm focusing a microscope. When you begin, you use large, coarse
refinements until you get approximately the right focal length. Then you can
worry about focusing in on smaller details.

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bad_user
While working for my last employer, a big software company, I had lots of free
time ... milestones lasted a month, and the work we did in a milestone could
have been made in 3 days of hard work by talented engineers with no endless
meetings, and no internal systems to integrate to. And we used the worst tools
ever.

Having free time was great, but in my contract was specified that everything I
worked on in my free time belonged to the company.

Now I'm working at a small consultancy company that's run by an old friend of
mine. It's not bad, but we offer consultancy services and that means ... \- at
least 3 projects I have to work on simultaneously \- the projects have to be
finished as soon as possible, such that we can collect the money :) This means
we can't give too much love to those projects (although I'm learning a lot
about meeting customer expectations and cutting features that aren't essential
... which is great)

When I joined I thought it would be great since I will have enough time to
work on my own projects, and no contract to stop me from doing it. That's not
the case :(

At home, when I feel like working on something, I end up working on tasks that
are late at work.

~~~
schtog
"Having free time was great, but in my contract was specified that everything
I worked on in my free time belonged to the company."

Wow that is sick.

~~~
eelco
Actually, that's the law: if you're employed as a programmer, any programming
you do in your free time is copyrighted by your employer. At least in the
Netherlands. (More info at
<http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/crashcourse/ownership/> .) And yeah,
that's pretty sick from an employee perspective, but great if you want to
protect yourself as a company. When I was employed, I actually read my
contract, so I had a side-note added with exceptions. If you're involved in
any open source project, that's probably a smart thing to do. (Again, at least
in the Netherlands, but I'm pretty sure that's not unique, since copyright
laws tend to be very old.)

------
marcusbooster
Some advice that's stuck with me, "In your 20's you should try everything you
can, in your 30's you should focus on what you like best, and in your 40's
figure out how to make money doing it."

~~~
randallsquared
This advice is best if you plan not to have children. I believe it's well
understood now that the best time to have kids (for the health and development
of the children) is when you're young, since autism and other problems have
much higher risk when the parents are older. Unfortunately, knowing this won't
help me now, since I'm in my later 30s already. :)

~~~
Chocobean
correct me if I'm wrong but the age of the father matters much less to the
developing fetus than the age of mother, no? I guess I am also assuming you
are of the male gender.

~~~
randallsquared
It probably matters less, but it matters for risk of birth defects:
<http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jul/23/health/he-25555> and
[http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-
reproduction/news/20030...](http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-
reproduction/news/20030701/dad-age-down-syndrome) and others you can google
for.

------
petercooper
My first thought was "Your mom!" but that only goes to show how juvenile my
sense of humor is.. :)

Seriously, though, it's a powerful question and I've seen so many people
redefine themselves and their lives by answering it. One alternative way to
frame it that seems to have worked for others is by planning out your "ideal
_average_ day" in detail, hour by hour. Your _perfect_ day might involve a
date with Jessica Alba, skydiving, and winning the Monaco Grand Prix, but you
couldn't do that _every_ day so the word "average" is key.

Now, I've heard people complain that it's taken them _hours_ to come up with a
plan but that it's opened their eyes. Me? I'm currently on the _weeks_
timescale.. indecisiveness, indecisiveness..!

------
mahmud
Writing songs with my girlfriend.

~~~
tdavis
Killing zombies.

------
JabavuAdams
What if it changes every 4 hours?

------
pookleblinky
I would rather be building the first GAI, just to torture it by giving it a
segfault.

------
mrbgty
I'll tell you what I'd do, man: two chicks at the same time, man.

------
transburgh
working at a startup :(

~~~
stewiecat
same here. Instead I read HN and try to not work on side projects while being
bored at work.

~~~
cubedice
Me too. But why not work on side projects if you're bored? I'm building a web
site in my downtime (compiling, honest! :p). Might as well plan for the future
if you're not happy with the present

~~~
stewiecat
legal issues. The company owns the idea and the product if I thought of
it/worked on it on their time/equipment.

I do play around with new languages/libs/tools/etc. though.

~~~
akkartik
In the past I would build stuff and rapidly open source it. One of those cases
where it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, I figure. If you're not
looking to profit from it most companies don't care to come after you.

------
jodrellblank
Dead. It's just the ways of getting there that look unpleasant.

~~~
JabavuAdams
Why?

~~~
jodrellblank
It seems both significantly less effort and less unpleasant than all the
effort and time required to build a new life, or to become happy and accepting
with this one.

It is, in short, the easy way out. And who isn't tempted by the easy way out?

------
Allocator2008
Generally I want to work for my rational self-interest. My goal is to attain a
state of non-contradictory joy, i.e., happiness. I want to preserve my life,
and my liberty, and my property. If I preserve my life, liberty, and property,
I at least have a chance to be happy. This is what it is all about. The
individual pursuing his own happiness.

So, if I am working towards my own rational self-interest, there is nothing I
would rather be doing.

If however I working for the Collective, then I would rather be working for my
own rational self-interest.

That is all there is to it. Work for your own rational self-interest. And if
you are not, then I would suggest changing that, because you cannot exist for
others. You can only exist for yourself. So if you are not working for
yourself, for your own self-interest, then it is time to do a re-think. If you
work for an employer, that is fine, so long as it is to your mutual benefit.
Everything you do must be to your own benefit in the end, and as soon as it is
not, then you should cease and desist.

In brief, I will work for me. If I cannot work for me, then I will go Galt, I
will disappear, and I will stop the motor of the world (or at least my part of
that motor).

~~~
philwelch
Thank you, Ayn Rand.

~~~
vicaya
But no thank you.

------
access_denied
I think many people don't "find" their passion, because they are afraid of
what happends when they commit to follow through. So they find many things
interesting, but deep down they are just dishonest to them selves out of fear.
I want to argue that a good way to not only find your passion but to living
it, is to tackle one's fears and eliminate them. Kill your inner daemons and
the dream will appear.

