# Do you ever feel you are wasting your life at your job?



## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

So a bit of background. I spent 5 years of my life to get a software engineering degree, learned a lot of cool things and thought with myself that I'm gonna get a good job and build something awesome.

but currently, I'm working in a "not very good company" where most of the people just do tech support or accounting and from those few of us who do programming, not a single person is more experienced than me, so I have nobody to learn from.
while the salary is alright and the job is easy, I really feel like I'm wasting my time here, especially since I'm getting closer to 30.
I wanna get another job, but with this corona sh!t almost nobody is hiring and most people say I'm lucky I'm not losing my job.
again, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to put it off my chest.


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## andy1984 (Aug 18, 2006)

jesus at least you're not working only part time in a dead end job that everyone looks down on lol. and ur still young. and since its programming you can always contribute to other projects in your free time if you want to.

I guess I dont mind my **** job so much because humans in general arent working towards anything good. and capitalism doesnt reward good acts, it just feeds the market etc. so everything is pretty pointless anyway.


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

andy1984 said:


> jesus at least you're not working only part time in a dead end job that everyone looks down on lol. and ur still young. and since its programming you can always contribute to other projects in your free time if you want to.
> 
> I guess I dont mind my **** job so much because humans in general arent working towards anything good. _*and capitalism doesnt reward good acts, it just feeds the market etc. so everything is pretty pointless*_ anyway.


why you gotta be so nihilistic fam? 
I mean capitalism gave us google maps, google translate, GPS and iPhones, without them I have no idea how i would survive in a foreign country.


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## andy1984 (Aug 18, 2006)

KangalLover said:


> why you gotta be so nihilistic fam?
> I mean capitalism gave us google maps, google translate, GPS and iPhones, without them I have no idea how i would survive in a foreign country.


I care about the future, the opposite of nihilistic. but i wont get into that because my post will get deleted again :haha those things are pretty convenient. but its leading toward the New Screen Deal etc. theres nothing virtuous about google or Facebook etc they're merely convenient.

but anyway hope you find a new job soon.


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## either/or (Apr 27, 2020)

KangalLover said:


> I'm working in a "not very good company" where most of the people just do tech support or accounting and from those few of us who do programming, not a single person is more experienced than me, so I have nobody to learn from.
> while the salary is alright and the job is easy, I really feel like I'm wasting my time here, especially since I'm getting closer to 30.
> I wanna get another job, but with this corona sh!t almost nobody is hiring and most people say I'm lucky I'm not losing my job.
> again, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to put it off my chest.


It could be worse. You're probably making more than me. But yah, I feel stuck in my current job and don't know how to get out of it. I'm over worked and under paid and my company lays people off all the time so I got that hanging over my head. Problem is I'm just terrible at interviews, I panic. So that's why I haven't been looking for something else. And I'm also worried I might find a new job and that will end up requiring far more social interaction than I anticipate and I'll fail at it.

Why weren't you looking for a new job before the outbreak? Everyone was hiring back then.


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

either/or said:


> It could be worse. You're probably making more than me. But yah, I feel stuck in my current job and don't know how to get out of it. I'm over worked and under paid and my company lays people off all the time so I got that hanging over my head. Problem is I'm just terrible at interviews, I panic. So that's why I haven't been looking for something else. And I'm also worried I might find a new job and that will end up requiring far more social interaction than I anticipate and I'll fail at it.
> 
> Why weren't you looking for a new job before the outbreak? Everyone was hiring back then.


I was keep telling myself "for now just wait, some recruiter will send you request on LinkedIn" and I was also a bit afraid of job interviews.


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## rabidfoxes (Apr 17, 2016)

Pandemic won't last forever, you'll get your opportunity to move on. And it sounds like you're ready to move on to something good.

I've felt as if I was wasting my life at every job. It's probably because I _was_ wasting my life. The longest I've ever managed to stay in a job without quitting was 2.5 years. Now I work for myself and it's still wasting my life, but I get to keep a little more of it.

I see zero value in doing the same thing for 40 hours per week, every week. I've heard of 'job satisfaction' but can't confirm it exists.


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## RSxo (Apr 19, 2018)

Hey 

A lot of people feel this, esp about work. I think it's so important to think about why you're doing all this. Why are you working? Why are you earning money? Why are you doing tech support/coding? What is your personal purpose behind all this? Answering these questions really helps to provide some internal motivation and fulfilment in what you're doing x

And about moving jobs, I think you're right to sit tight for now. Wait until job opportunities open up again before moving - it's better to have a okay job than none at all!x

Much love <3


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

RSxo said:


> Hey
> 
> A lot of people feel this, esp about work. I think it's so important to think about why you're doing all this. Why are you working? Why are you earning money?* Why are you doing tech support/coding? What is your personal purpose behind all this?* Answering these questions really helps to provide some internal motivation and fulfilment in what you're doing x
> 
> ...


Hey thank you for this nice comment 

and the reason, when I was 8 or 9 years old, I went to my dad's office and touched a mouse on a Windows 98 computer for the first time. since that day I knew I wanted to work with computers for the rest of my life. it was love in the first sight :grin2:


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

rabidfoxes said:


> Pandemic won't last forever, you'll get your opportunity to move on. And it sounds like you're ready to move on to something good.
> 
> I've felt as if I was wasting my life at every job. It's probably because I _was_ wasting my life. The longest I've ever managed to stay in a job without quitting was 2.5 years. Now I work for myself and it's still wasting my life, but I get to keep a little more of it.
> 
> I see zero value in doing the same thing for 40 hours per week, every week. I've heard of 'job satisfaction' but can't confirm it exists.


Can I ask what kind of job you do?
maybe you just haven't found the one that satisfies you yet.


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## rabidfoxes (Apr 17, 2016)

KangalLover said:


> Can I ask what kind of job you do?
> maybe you just haven't found the one that satisfies you yet.


Currently I write web content and do SEO.

My problem is not the work itself, but that I don't believe in 'employment' - workplace hierarchies, full-time hours, job interviews, etc. I can have the best manager in the world and I will still fantasize about strangling them with an electrical cord. To me, employment is essentially exploitative. I know where the money goes and no amount of free coffee makes it ok.


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## GermanHermit (Sep 6, 2008)

Yeah, but it pays the bills!

I'm working to live and don't live to work. 
I'm not my job! 
There's still enough time left to do something useful with one's life! 

I feel much better about it since I gave up my inner resistance and apply my moral standards where I believe I can influence something.


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## blue2 (May 20, 2013)

Probably, roads won't be needed in the future everyone will be either hovering or exterminated or be an alien zoo exhibit


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

GermanHermit said:


> Yeah, but it pays the bills!
> 
> *I'm working to live and don't live to work.
> I'm not my job! *
> ...


That is not a very stereotypical German person tbh 

As for me, I wouldn't mind dedicating most of my life to work if it has a meaning, i.e: if it makes the life of thousands of kids in Africa or Syria better or it leads to a new useful/creative product.

but doing repetitive, dumb sh*t for long hours is not something that I would be able to do for long.


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## KangalLover (Dec 26, 2012)

rabidfoxes said:


> Currently I write web content and do SEO.
> 
> My problem is not the work itself, but that I don't believe in 'employment' - workplace hierarchies, full-time hours, job interviews, etc. I can have the best manager in the world and I will still fantasize about strangling them with an electrical cord. To me, employment is essentially exploitative. I know where the money goes and no amount of free coffee makes it ok.


hmm, I think working as a freelancer would be better for you?


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## GermanHermit (Sep 6, 2008)

KangalLover said:


> ...That is not a very stereotypical German person tbh &#128578;...


&#128514;


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## rabidfoxes (Apr 17, 2016)

KangalLover said:


> hmm, I think working as a freelancer would be better for you?


That's kind of what I'm doing (I'm one of the owners of our tiny business). It is better! But it would be even better if I didn't need to work to eat. My current occupation offers me an optimal work-life balance (i.e. much life and little work) and enough money to feed myself, but it's not what I would be working on if money wasn't an issue.

Like you, I would like to do meaningful work. But meaningful work that doesn't come with workplace hierarchies. That's a tough thing to achieve.


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## John Belz (Jun 20, 2020)

my work is not boring, but sometimes it happens ((


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## either/or (Apr 27, 2020)

rabidfoxes said:


> My problem is not the work itself, but that I don't believe in 'employment' - workplace hierarchies, full-time hours, job interviews, etc. I can have the best manager in the world and I will still fantasize about strangling them with an electrical cord. To me, employment is essentially exploitative. I know where the money goes and no amount of free coffee makes it ok.


Wow, you summed up my sentiments precisely. I don't mind working, what I mind is the infrastructure around work. I just do not like being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. It's just my nature. I'm just naturally obstinate, I suppose.


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## rabidfoxes (Apr 17, 2016)

either/or said:


> Wow, you summed up my sentiments precisely. I don't mind working, what I mind is the infrastructure around work. I just do not like being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. It's just my nature. I'm just naturally obstinate, I suppose.


Or not naturally servile?  There's more than one way to look at it. Sometimes questioning things makes certain structures that we're born and raised into seem absurd (the title of Irvine Welsh's "If You Liked School You'll Love Work" comes to mind). To be ok with being told what to do, you have to believe that there's a good reason for it.


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## either/or (Apr 27, 2020)

rabidfoxes said:


> Or not naturally servile?  There's more than one way to look at it. Sometimes questioning things makes certain structures that we're born and raised into seem absurd (the title of Irvine Welsh's "If You Liked School You'll Love Work" comes to mind). To be ok with being told what to do, you have to believe that there's a good reason for it.


Right...amazingly a lot of people are more comfortable being told what do to an how to live. Just being one in the flock. They are comfortable being part of systems and with direction. I personally don't need a boss to tell me what to do. I think my boss has only assigned work to me like a handful of times over the last few years. If something needs to get done, I'm on top of it. I don't need the infrastructure around me. But a lot of people aren't independent like that. They either want to be the boss or they want to be told what to do (and think.) I just want to do my own thing, and the appropriate thing given the need at the moment. Thank god the last two bosses I've had were very hands off and didn't micromanage.


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