this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
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to those of you who get bored at work if there's lots of downtime, why? (linux.community)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I read posts about people quitting jobs because they're boring or there is not much to do and I don't get it: what's wrong with being paid for doing nothing or not much at all?

Examples I can think of: being paid to be present but only working 30 minutes to 2 hours every 8 hours, or a job where you have to work 5 minutes every 30 minutes.

What's wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone... and going home to enjoy your hobbies fully rested?

Am I missing something?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 55 points 8 months ago (3 children)

In the late 1980s, I had a roommate who graduated with a business degree and got recruited for a government contractor right out of college. She packed up her life and moved to the DC area. A month into her new job, the contract was pulled. But because she had a clause in the recruitment contract, they couldn't fire her. But they had no work for her, either. So she had to come to work every weekday, 9-5. She'd sit at her desk with nothing to do. They didn't ask her to look busy, just present.

She read about 3-5 novels a week. Over the next few months, we watched her get more and more depressed. She'd complain about her situation, but it fell on deaf ears. "Must be nice," people said in jealousy. "Get paid to do nothing." She became despondent in the lack of people's sympathy. "Nobody understands how much this sucks!"

Eventually, she got a new job. Her mood vastly improved.

I'll never forget that lesson. People need to feel useful, productive. Sitting at a desk with nothing to do, no purpose, no validation. It will destroy you.

[โ€“] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago

I was in a similar situation. A few weeks after I got hired, the project I was hired for was cancelled, so they "benched" me.

I spent three months being paid to do whatever I wanted, didn't even need to go to the office. It was nice at first, but I felt useless and miserable after a couple of months.

This made me understand why some people keep working long after they have enough to retire.