
Between Workaholism and Procrastination (2015) - jamalx31
https://www.jamalx31.com/post/between-workaholism-procrastination
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zozin
I get the sense that digital nomadism is akin to a multi-level marketing scam;
the only people making actual money are the ones recruiting others to the
"lifestyle" by advertising their blogs, books and guides (see OP).

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digitalhobo33
Years ago I sort of did the digital nomad thing for about 8 years in Western
Europe, but I managed to spend a good amount of time in every continent but
Antarctica. I earned between $25k and $100k a year working about 10 to 20
hours a week and spent most of the money on alcohol and women. I had to work
pretty hard the first couple years just to kick-start the whole thing though.
The final year was a total blowout and I played video games all day and
partied 5 or 6 nights a week. I ended up killing the business through neglect,
but that final year of total freedom was worth it.

The bad part was that I ended up in my early 30's with no money, no job, and a
very unattractive CV/Resume. The good part is that I was socially transformed.
I'm way more confident now, especially around groups of strangers.

I never wrote about this before nor have I ever written a blog, but I met
plenty of people living similar lives. Anyway I guess my point is that there
are plenty of people out there doing things without blogging about it. But
you're not going to meet them online.

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bythckr
a serious question, what "work" did you do?

I am curious to know what kind of profession has the option to be a digital
nomad. They only one I figured is being a journalist or a writer.

What types of business do you do being a nomad?

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steveklabnik
I don't know if I ever identified with "digital nomad," but I have traveled a
_lot_.

Roles that are what is now called "developer relations" or similar effectively
force you into an adjacent lifestyle.

Freelance development can often support this kind of thing.

Basically, any sort of remote job.

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ghaff
Similarly, I've never thought of myself as a "digital nomad" and actually do
own a house. But prior to travel shutting down, it would absolutely have been
practical for me to put my stuff in storage, ask a friend or family member to
let me use their address as my home address, and live at least around the
Americas or Europe as I saw fit. Given that I was traveling 1/3 of the time
anyway, what's another 2/3rds?

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steveklabnik
Yep, exactly.

What's kind of amusing/terrible is that while doing this I was almost always
living in very high COL areas, while a digital nomad would be off somewhere
extremely inexpensive. Oh well, money isn't everything.

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ghaff
I actually did this for someone who was basically living on the road for an
aerospace company for a number of years. They shifted most bills etc. online
and I kept my eye out for anything critical such as drivers license renewals
and forwarded that kind of thing to her company's mail forwarding PO Box.

~~~
steveklabnik
Yeah. Some of it I was only able to make work because a partner was willing to
work with me on the money side. In the long term it wasn’t fair, though.

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ghaff
It's almost certainly easier than it used to be because you can do so much
online, everyone has a mobile number, etc. There are even basically "address
as a service" services for mail forwarding and the like. Still, there's
probably more peace of mind (and it's probably somewhat more legit) to be
officially living somewhere with someone reliable even if you just happen to
almost never be there.

When I was doing it for my friend, it was never that big a deal. But stuff did
come up every now and then that needed to be handled.

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duncanawoods
What is the thesis of the book?

Instead of opposites, I would consider both Workaholism and Procrastination as
forms of experiential avoidance coping strategies. Instead of a golden-mean
between the two, the ideal point is off the line, where you have the
psychological flexibility to live a valued life despite difficult feelings and
avoid both traps i.e. Acceptance and Commitment theory.

n.b. I see you are using ideas from Tim Urban, I would suggest referencing him
properly rather than just copying.

~~~
cdrake
was about to say the same thing about the refs... seems to forget to reference
other concepts and ideas in his other blog posts too.

"Instant Gratification Monkey...Panic Monster"
-[https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-
procrasti...](https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-
procrastinate.html)

~~~
jamalx31
could you please tell what other refs you see in other posts? I will update
them

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pantalaimon
> I wake up around 6 am, go to the gym with my buddy, come back to my room to
> take a shower, eat a bowl of salad and then leave for work. I get to work
> around 9 am, leave around 5 to meet friends, hang out, or do whatever
> activity I was planning for that evening.

Where do people get that energy?

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digitalsushi
I remember that kind of energy was normal when I was content

~~~
alltakendamned
and 23

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pizza234
This seems to me the idea(s) of a young person who's working (no pun intended)
on the small picture, but missing the big one. In short, somebody who doesn't
know yet what to do in life, however, not what to do in the planning or
business sense (which is what described in the post), but more precisely, what
they _want_ to do.

To me, rather the conceptualization(s) proposed, the words of John Carmack are
immensely more powerful: when asked about what's the difference that being
rich made to him, he replied "not much, I wake up in the morning, I go to
work, and I do my best"¹.

¹=I can't find the reference. I don't think it comes from Masters of Doom.

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Chris2048
TBH though, Carmack gets to choose what work he does in virtue of being
wealthy.

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pizza234
I don't really get this, but Carmack's wealth has been, and is, completely
disconnected from his software career.

I can take that he may not have founded his aerospace company without plenty
of money, but that's not what he's mostly known for, or even better, what he
represents (one of the greatest software engineers).

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tingletech
(2015) in the title is an error. 2015 in just the first heading in a
chronological story, the last heading being "March 2020"

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fizixer
I have this idea where I can work my neck off for 4-6 months (including
weekends; essentially eat, sleep, restroom, and work 24x7). And then I need
the rest of the year off.

I'm not sure how to find this kind of work. Some have advised that I should
seek contract work. But contract work is hell, no thanks.

~~~
stronglikedan
Aside from contract work, I think you've pretty much limited your choices to
consultant or commercial fisherman.

~~~
ghaff
Even consultant is tough. You have a business that you need to run and
typically can't just disappear for 6 months at a time and largely ignore
everything going on in the industry.

It's actually almost certainly easier to consult part-time (whether you intend
it to be part-time or not!) than it is to go 120% for 6 months and then
rapidly ratchet it to zero for another 6.

I think the only person I know who has done something like this was a lawyer
who worked as a contract lawyer for some big finance company (I think) for
about half the year. Which doesn't sound like a bad gig. But it's hard for
most white collar jobs.

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intrepidhero
I think that if you can find a way to intrinsically value yourself and your
life you may find it easier to get balance with your work. The graph of
Procrastination vs. Workaholism has many more dimensions.

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battery423
huh?

A weird blog post becomes an ad for a book?

Whatever this example should demonstrate, it doesn't make me curious about the
book.

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jamalx31
it wasn't meat as an ad, just for context. In some places I say "this
chapter.." which doesn't make since in a blog post without context.

also appreciate your honest feedback. Any personal thoughts on how to deal
with procrastination without turning to a workaholic

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battery423
It simplifies procrastination and throws in happiness with procrastination and
workaholic.

You also assume your worldview. When i hear your digital nomade lifestyle i'm
not envy it and i'm not connecting to your worldview.

Procrastination doesn't mean 'not working'. Workaholic doesn't mean 'unhappy'.

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mxmzb
Workoholic doesn't mean 'unhappy', yes, but how does procrastination not mean
'not working'? In this context, it litterally means 'postponing the work'.

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tobr
Small warning: There’s a slightly shocking gif in this article, which possibly
depicts animal cruelty. (Hard to say exactly what’s going on in it).

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talideon
Unlikely: there's no visible motor on the wheel (it appears to just be a clip
holding it in place, so all that speed is the hamster's doing. It's no more
animal cruelty than tripping and faceplanting while running would be the
ground assaulting you.

