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Comment by thethethethe | Hacker News Reader

Uhh why? You are at FAANG, you made it, what else do you need to do? Why not relax instead?

Are you struggling to keep your head above water? If so, why not just focus on work? If not, then why don't you just spend less time working and more time doing what you want?

I believe people have limited capacity, trying to stretch yourself will result in burn out. If you can afford it, allocate some of the capacity you are dedicating to work to the non-work things you are interested in. If you can't, then just focus on work until you can

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I have some interests, some of which are related to computer science, such as learning Haskell or working on a side project. These types of activities require a lot of mental energy and it can be difficult for me to have the energy to work on them after spending 8 hours at my job. I'm curious to know how other people manage to do it. Other interests I have, like learning to play the piano, require less mental energy. But to be honest, after spending 8 hours at work, I often find myself doing very passive activities like watching YouTube or scrolling through HN and bookmarking things without actually reading them. I don't want to be like this, but I don't know how to change.

You have to rest, learn to nap (it’s a skill)

I work 4AM to 12 noon every day, then nap 2 hours, then work 2Pm to 6 pm on side projects. 6 to 7 Pm physical exercise, then sleep

Without that 2 hour nap I cannot do anything I’m too tired, you need to rest after work.

No children, no other commitments (I’m married but my partner finds my drive attractive, which is why I selected him)

I understand this might not be possible for people with more commitments

Any pointers regarding learning to nap?

For me the difficulty was switching my brain off. I tried breathing exercises, and meditation, but I couldn’t get them to work (maybe I was doing them wrong)

The thing that worked for me in the end was a static mental imagery, I was listening to a YouTube video and it said to imagine yourself on a lake, in a boat, looking at the sky, with no thoughts - this particular image didn’t work for me, but then they suggested imagine yourself in a dark room in a hammock - this image worked for me, and I was able to silence my mind and sleep quickly

After about 20 days of doing this, some kind of Pavlovian conditioning happened where my body understands that bed + this image means sleep now

Because some people want to accomplish more in life than the minimum required to be comfortable.

Working and grinding harder at $FAANGco (or any company you don't own at least 5-10%+ of) is unlikely to be rewarded with significantly more than the minimum required to be comfortable. Massive raises and promotions for ICs or mid-level managers rapidly drop-off and become rare and underwhelming once you've reached a "senior" level.

Controversial position: Diversify and aim to accomplish more in life than extending zeros in the bank account game. Seek fulfillment elsewhere. Learn a new skill or hobby, invest in relationships, or otherwise find a life and your true soul outside of work. You can always make more money but you can't recover spent time. At all.

Consider not falling for The Big Lie.

Sincerely wish for and want the best life for you, Md

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