Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: What To Do With New Free Time?
An anonymous reader writes "After 25 years of doing IT (started as a PC technician and stayed on technical of IT work through out my career) I've been moved to a position of doing only on call work (but paid as if it is a normal 9-5 job). This leaves me with a lot of free time... As someone who's used to working 12+ hours a day + the odd night/weekend on call, I'm scared I'll lose my mind with all the new free time I'll have. Any suggestions (beyond develop hobbies, spend time with family) on how to deal with all the new free time?"
write apps, contribute to open projects, write a book and or books, volunteer with a non-profit. Or read reddit a lot and play starcraft or something. So many possibilities.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
get a library card, and learn about something you've always been interested in.
Pretty much anything worth doing falls under the 'hobby' category, outside of you know. spending time with the wife and / or taking a second job.
Has work so drained your soul that you have forgotten how to live?
When I am faced with similar problems, the first thing to do is go on slashdot and brag about it to all the people without my priviliges
Allows you to make financial gains from something that is interesting (and dare I say it, fun at times).
Bottom line. Get to work on that golf game.
All that free time would be well used if you could finally go on a date with a real woman...
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
Porn. Furious amounts of porn.
first thing, ask slashdot.
To say I wish I had your problem would be an understatement.
You're welcome to come do my job for me. In return, I'm happy to find ways to spend all the free time you'd otherwise have.
You don't really need to worry about what to do with your new-found free time. Nature abhors a vacuum and whatever you already do will expand to fill it up like it was never there.
I am not a crackpot.
Use your skills (or learn new skills) to help people who can't pay you back.
I am a volunteer firefighter/EMT and the biggest joy is when the frail old lady you just helped thanks you. I'm sure you can find a number of places where you can make a difference.
Learn how to make electronic devices. It's never been easier to get started with this stuff than today. Start out with a breadboard, some transistors/resistors/capacitors/common IC types like the venerable 555, work with AVR or PIC microcontrollers, and perhaps work up to designing digital circuits in CPLD and FPGAs. You can even get four layer PCBs made in a factory for your projects in small runs.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Develop hobbies, spend time with family, and work on expanding your technical skills. Fuck even if you don't want to do any of those, just catch up on some TV or something. Read a book. How did you pass your time before you got this position?
1. Watch Battlestar Galactica, every Star Trek episode, Dr. Who, LOST, Twin Peaks, Larry Sanders, Arrested Development?
2. Learn to write iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, webOS, and Blackberry apps
3. Learn to work with AWS, Hadoop, Wordpress, Django
4. Play an instrument
5. Read all of Stephen King's Dark Tower series
6. If all else fails, go ride a bike or go hiking
If I were in your position, I'd get an old air-cooled Volkswagen and restore it. Probably an old VW camper or bug. There's something appealing about getting to know a machine inside and out.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
why is this on Slashdot? why are YOU on Slashdot if you need to ask a question like this? not being disrespectful, just curious... and then again, not really all that curious, perhaps just sarcastic.
not the IT sort!
Raspberry Pi - nuf said. Or outsource yourself. You can remote into other people's systems to help them out. #envy
In the current job market it's always desirable to keep up one's skills. Learning a new language like Python or (if you haven't already) Java would be great. If your language skills are good contributing to an open source project is smart. Both of these document your continuing education. It's good to show you can benefit the company in multiple ways (or be prepared for another job if necessary).
Get fit. (In a self-respectful, non-wanky way).
It'll change your life.
not sure your job will still exists in 6 month...
You have a chance to train in a new career, to get a degree, to start a personal business. If it were me, I'd get a degree. If your company has tuition reimbursement, then you would be foolish NOT to get a degree.
RTFM
Why in the world are you blowing off trying new hobbies and spending time with family???
My suggestion is to think of something you like but don't know much about (playing an instrument, cooking, speaking a foreign language, golf, etc.) and take weekly lessons to supplement daily practice. Not to be a jerk about it, but there is so much cool stuff to learn and do out there that you'd have to be really mentally stagnant to lose your mind over more time to explore.
Go post your question on a forum for stay-at-home parents. They should have some pretty good ideas as they have a lot of mind-numbing boredom to deal with.
..why would you spend 25 years in such a crappy gig?
Nice try boss.
I really don't have any free time.
(these aren't the droids you're looking for)
I'm totally swamped... really...
We have so much work, you shouldn't even begin to think of headcount reductions. But if you are, I hear Jimmy may have some free time...
I can't help but feel he is only asking us to show off.
Dear /.,
I want some advice. Every time I leave the house more women proposition me. It is getting difficult to find the time to spend with all these ladies. What should I do?
N. Joe Face
Develop hobbies, spend time with family.
How the heck are WE supposed to know what you'll enjoy doing? Try a few things and figure it out.
...you mean besides masturabte?
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
Write yourself a bucket list. Here's some inspiration: http://www.nerdfitness.com/epic-quest/ And don't forget to start striking things off. :)
My guess (having had a similar job before) is that you have a bunch of restrictions of how far you can go and how far away you can be, so I'd probably suggest getting a hobby - the Car Restoration one actually works well since you can generally make money off of it (considering you time is paid already by your existing job.)
Check to see if your company has an educational program where they reimburse their employees for taking university courses. If so, see if you can sign up for a degree program (i.e. Masters in IT or an MBA). Taking 1 Masters level course at a time, while working, will eat up a lot of time, taking 2 will eat up most of it.
There are a lot of people on here who do not understand the value of university education, so don't let their opinions sway you if it's something that you would like to do. After all, if the company is paying for it, why not take advantage of the opportunity.
Go outside and play, 20 odd years indoors doesn't sound like fun.
Go hiking, biking, camel riding.
This person, "anonymous," clearly needs to read Walden. E-text http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205 Full audio version http://librivox.org/walden-by-henry-david-thoreau/
Lots and lots of porn.. the last refuge of a bored neckbeard.
Silence is a state of mime.
Get another career or position going REAL QUICK!
If you remembered what life was all about you wouldn't be working 12+ hours a day in the first palce. Add sleep, commute, basic living like hygiene, meals and basic housekeeping and it's obvious you don't have a life outside work. I could do it for a short while for lots of money, but in general life's too short to live it later. Not that I'm doing anything "useful" with my spare time in that sense, but I'm certainly enjoying it. You want to be an old geezer with money because all you've done in life is work? Well if you make it that far, most that work all day and all night don't.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Learn shit.
Do shit.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
She ain't getting any younger.
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
I work full time as a DBA but I feel like the Maytag repairman.. I just sit and wait for someone to ask for something or something to break. It's a very "feast or famine" job.. I voluntarily went part-time for a few years and had a much more fulfilling life, but they requested I go back to full-time and I sit here not knowing what to do with myself. Sure the additional money is great but I like having a life, too.
Meditate.
Learn how to be.
Once you know how to be.. you will know what to do.
Hint: Start with the breath.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Just do it.
You can't afford to get complacent, resist the temptation. Your 25 years into your career, which could easily mean your in your 40's and have another 20+ years to go. Your far from done with your career and need to prepare for the next job. Your in IT, that means you have one of the few fields that demands more education after you graduate than before. Look at industry trends and start training for your next thing.
There's a five year difference between someone on the bleeding edge and a dinosaur. Experience makes it easier to give into the temptation of complacency and complacency is how you can far too easily become one of the countless numbers of IT people that can't get a job because their skills are out of date. Age discrimination in IT is entirely too real and you have to stay as hungry for career success now as you were fresh out of school.
A few friends of mine have recently switched jobs so they are working less time. Let me share something that has worked well for them: Make no plans for two weeks.
When you first find yourself with free time you may think you need to fill it up with a hobby or visiting people or getting a part-time job or starting a new project. Don't do that right away. Give yourself a few weeks where you daydream or consider options, but make no plans. Your body is in the habit of working and you will feel a drive to keep moving. Don't. Relax, let your mind and body adjust to your new schedule.
Eventually, two or three weeks into the new gig, you will probably find you naturally gravitate toward certain activities. Maybe you end up playing ball in the park or reading about history or you learn a new language or you start hanging out at the pub. Whatever it is, let it happen naturally. Don't go out into the world with a set plan, let yourself wander aimlessly for a few weeks and something will catch your interest.
If you only exercise your IT skills when called, you'll probably find yourself a lot less marketable if/when this new gig dries up.
Assuming you're on the verge of retirement, I'd work aggressively during this time to stay marketable.
Catch up on old reruns... Nick at nite... Then go to the beach...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Yes: develop hobbies, spend time with family.
I'd do that.
Otherwise, be creative. Start by being creative enough to come up with some ideas to spend that free time creatively.
If all fails, go volunteer.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
Hitch up your pants. Air whittle. Make friends with a Chinese man!
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
What if you didn't have to work for a living?
:-)
Suppose you inherit $5 billion from a long-lost uncle.
What would you do ?
Some people I ask say they would "Move to a tropical island and drink margaritas all day."
Some people I ask say they would "Travel around the world."
Fine... I have trouble imagining doing anything like that for more than 30 days tops.
What would you do with the rest of your life?
What cause would you work for?
What language (human, or programing) would you learn?
What skills would you learn (flying? martial arts? scuba?)
The point of the question isn't to give you a "single right answer".
Instead the point is to help put some boundaries around what you want to focus your life on, to get an idea of what interests you.
And then maybe help jump start some brainstorming about how to make it practical...
Good luck! Sounds like you have a neat opportunity here, do write back in a year and tell us what you did with it
Work on open source projects...You'll learn a hell of a lot..
Seriously, after being cooped up in a basement or server room or cube farm, your body is not likely to be a fit as your mind and it will eventually desert you long before you're ready. Get outdoors, hike in state parks, national parks, local greenways, etc. Listen for wildlife, look for unusual vegetation, apply some brain cells to learning about evolution and our natural history. Sweat is good!
First, learn. Learn anything you can. History, languages, geography, philosophy, any and all of it will enrich your life and expand your mind.
Second and perhaps even more importantly, get outdoors, in nature and remember what it is to be a human on planet earth.
When you say 'Any suggestions (beyond develop hobbies, spend time with family) on how to deal with all the new free time?', you're missing the point. Free time is all about hobbies and spending time with the family. It isn't about finding more work.
When I was, more or less, unemployed for ten months, I rode my bicycle. A lot: sometimes more than 200 miles a week. Lost 30 pounds. Felt great. By the time I had to go back to real work, I was in the best shape of my life, was relaxed and had spent wonderful amounts of time with my wife and kid. (Now I'm a fat slob again. But I'm making money. So, I've got that.)
Whatever you do, don't feel guilty about having free time. Don't try to fill your free time with more day-job-type work. You've done day-job-type work for 25 years and are, apparently, valuable enough that you don't have to do that 40 hours a week anymore.
Cheers,
Matt
Try contributing to Wikipedia/Wikibooks (spread some of your knowledge) or LibreVox (reading public domain material out-loud for the blind or just to contribute to Free audiobooks) - http://librivox.org/
I am in a similar situation, by choice (I worked hard this winter and now am taking the summer off - something I did last year as well, but didn't spend my time as well as I could have). So far this summer, I love it - my house is suddenly getting cleaner and more organized, I have lots of time for cooking good and healthy food (and nerding out on Japanese kitchen knives, need to have something to please my inner nerd!).
Another thing I picked up for the first time this year is skating (for which I'm a bit old, but it's a lot of fun now that I'm slowly getting the hang of it). Other sports are fun too and will keep you active as well. I find that my days are better if I get active early in the morning, to prevent lazing around my PC reading slashdot.
Finally, so many fun courses at coursera and the like - or pick up a new language (I'm learning German currently).
So much to do! Enjoy!
Step 1: Get a bicycle.
Step 2: GTFO.
Seriously, get out there. I've so enjoyed cycling, exploring new places, taking pictures, getting kicked out of places I shouldn't be, etc.
Even better if you can find someone to do it with.
No one says go find some women to fuck?
Go to one of those websites that tells you approximately how many days you have left on the planet. Then ask yourself if you were put here merely to satisfy your own selfish, self-centered, egotistical passions. You have been given a gift. Use it wisely.
Time == money, after all.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
KhanAcademy or Udacity or Coursera or CodeAcademy ... time to learn something new
Be love. The dream is over. Start a new dream. Dream again, dream better. You are the player. Wake up.
Until now, your job has directed your life. It has filled your days. I don't know if you were passionate about your specific job or simply liked the fact that you were filling your days with something that you found productive, but it was the focus of your life.
Now that you have free time, you must consciously locate your passion, your raison d'être, your purpose. It may be enough to simply fill your days with tasks, but I strongly suggest that you find something that you are passionate about; something that not only satisfies you but also keeps you interacting with the world. Things tend to get better when other people who share your passions get involved.
The number one thing that I learned about retirement is that you do not retire FROM something. You retire TO something. Maybe it's your hobbies. Maybe it's some humanitarian task. Maybe it's your dream job that pays a pittance, but which you absolutely love. In any case, remember that when you are winding down from the job that has occupied your life for so many years, you will still have 24 hours in every day to experience life. Doing nothing in each of those 24 hours will make them pass very slowly, and it's probably not going to sustain you. Living life that way may very well kill you.
Invent something new. Donate time to a worthy cause. Help somebody who needs help. Learn something new.
Greed is the root of all evil.
Things that you may have avoided doing when you were younger may not be as difficult as you think and there are few things as satisfying as mastering something difficult.
Pick two - something that you've only ever been average or below average at doing and something that you've always been terrible at or that terrifies you.
It doesn't have to be technical, it could be a sport or learning to sing or dance.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Clean your act up, and don't be a slob.
Get it together like your big brother Bob.
I can understand a lot of the comments here suggesting that you write an app, contribute to an OSS project, etc. How about learning a musical instrument. Something you have never played. It's a skill that you can share with others and pass down to your children.
Just my $0.02
Nothing is impossible. It just hasn't been figured out yet.
What's wrong with spending time with your family? If you're married with young kids, lend your wife a hand. Now that you're not working 12+ hours a day, don't make her take care of the kids herself for 16+ hours a day.
If you're single, I suppose you may not want that much time with family. In that case, do the other thing you said you don't want to do. Get a hobby.
If you don't like those options, you can always sit in a quiet room by yourself until you go mad.
nt
... but I find myself far too flooded with feelings that almost qualify as psychotic jealousy about your working hours (while still being paid as a full time worker) to be able to answer your question productively.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Try to take over the world!
It's supposed to be fun...
there are countless activities which consume vast quantities of time and thus are only feasible for a select few. Painting comes to mind. Cooking comes to mouth. I love cooking. It takes very little time to learn how to bake fancy desserts at home.
go grocery shopping at farms. that's a pleasure in itself. aside from supporting farmers, the food is just so much better.
if you've got a motorcycle or a convertible, learn the pleasure of long relaxing drives on spectacular roads -- go find those roads near you.
learn to work on your own car. if you like that sort of thing.
learn to work on your house. learn to work on your neighbour's house.
First, you have to realize that people are not paid to do nothing. Your situation is unique and very likely temporary. You have to consider the very real possibility that at some point in the near future process that lead to your unique arrangement will get optimized and you will be out of job or back at the desk doing 40+/week.
Time is money, and you were given a sizable gift, so your choices conceptually can be categorized into two categories - a) spend it b) invest it. Spending would be anything that you find enjoyable - this will be from browsing cat videos 10h/day, to learning new personal skill (language, music, mechanics, crafts). Investing would be anything that would make you more employable. Polish your skills, take couple coursera online classes, take community college course, study for and pass certification...
My personal suggestion is to not worry about this and just spend days playing computer games and browse cat videos. After all, it is all those other something-wrong-with-them people get fired, and it won't ever happen to you because "PEOPLE SKILLS!". Right?
And I claim my five pounds :D
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
Speaking of audio books :), what about making some? There are plenty of subjects lacking in audio books. Choose one that you think is important and have at it -- leave something significant for others after you shuffle off planet #3.
I come here for the love
Pretty much everything boils down to those two, don't they? How you spend your free time is pretty much the definition of hobby, no?
But, a random list of stuff: golf, painting, photography, topiary, bonzai, knitting, cooking, model rocketry, robotics, sculpting, social/political activism, volunteering, write a book, astronomy, swimming, jogging, macrame, recreate the cold fusion experiments, starring in pornography, celebrity stalking, opening a booger museum ...
It's your free time, what interests you? All we can do is throw out suggestions.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Fill that melon and read!!!!
additionally: Volunteer to a worthy cause. Work on an inane talent, ie: juggling expertise or magic tricks. Do SOMETHING to work that cerebral sponge. That is the ticket.
May I suggest my latest read... a very informative and entertaining history of Bell Labs...
Idea Factory
Without a lot of specifics from your original post, I would have to assume you are ~50, your kids are likely out of the house or close to it, and retirement is close on the horizon. A big unknown in your question, is how your retirement projection is looking. If you are "set", and have invested well, kept your 401k, IRAs, FHA, etc all in good shape, perhaps your house is paid off? If not, :)
I would take a second job, and use that income exclusively to, first and foremost, pay off any debt. The highest yielding investment you can possibly make, is paying off debt. If that's all taken care of, the rest of that cash goes in to maxing out your Roth IRA ($5,000 per year, $6,000 if you're over 50), making sure your employer's 401k is also maxed out ($17,500 per year, and again if you're over 50, you can contribute an additional $5,500), then the rest of your investment funds should be spread out in muni bonds, index funds, mutual funds (consult your financial adviser).
The second job approach will allow you to keep yourself mentally sharp, and financially stable. Your future retired self will thank you
Or even sell it.
http://www.xeromag.com/fvpoly.html
I've always been disappointed by existentialist video games, they just can't live up to the hype.
Learn ballroom dance.
No, really. If you're not in shape it will get you there. If you are, it will be that much easier. You can compete at any level. Practicing technique can happen nearly anywhere you have time. And partner practice is a great way to fill time.
http://ballroomdancers.com/
Yeah, it's actually not uncommon for people to completely lose all sense of self-worth, the will to live, and so on, and so forth. Lose your job and you might lose your friends, even spouse and kids too. Plenty pensioners die in just a few short years because they fail to keep themselves busy.
(And digressing, but let's face it, pension was originally assurance against living past your life expectancy without the means to support yourself--can no longer work, still lifespan left. The idea of permanent vacation is quite at odds with what it originally was ment for.)
The trick is in finding something useful to occupy yourself with, and do that actively. With income, though, it's vastly easier because you still have disposable income to spend on hobbies, books, whatever.
These days, well, with an internet and MOOCs and bazillions of FOSS projects to devote time to (not necessarily programming!), you needn't ever watch TV. If that's too newfangled, there's books, sports, so many other things to try.
Personally I have the reverse: I know how to lose time, but for the life of me cannot get a job any longer. Been out too long. Very, very occasionally I land one and lose it in less time than it takes to land it (months, finding a fit has become *hard*), which just gets really depressing really fast. And with no income, no benefits whatsoever, and savings slowly running out... yeah.
For the asker it's a solvable problem, especially since supporting himself is not a problem, in fact he has money to burn. Find something to do, then do it, and keep doing it, is all.
Create your own Kickstarter project, there is the technical realisation (perhaps team up), the marketing, the budgeting, all the good things to be knowledgeable about.
At some point a bean counter is going to ask "Why are we paying this guy for 40 hours a week and only getting 40?"
You're just here to rub it in everyone else's face that you have a sweet deal (for as long as it lasts, anyway). Fuck off and go do something useful with all your free time instead of being a douchebag bragger.
As if anyone doesn't know what to do with free time.
A few comments to the comments (I'm the anonymous cowered poster): :-) ;-) ) :-(
1. I suffer of asperger's syndrome and among other things I'm also dyslectic... Books are out of bounds for me (and probably higher education)
2. I already do a lot of outdoors About 150 miles a week of bicycling (road bikes mostly)
3. Spending time with the family. Even after spending time with my family I would still have a lot of free time (they have their own lives and activities that don't include me for some odd reason
4. I can't go off beyond being an hour or two away from the office
5. I'm European
Write an Edward Snowden biography.
Verbum caro factum est
These posts.. people in their 40's or 50's who have no idea how to live their lives, and have to ask others what to do with spare time. How life? Do you also need help with go toilet and do poopy?
Signature intentionally left blank.
Why are you rejecting out of hand the two best suggestions I could think of? I'd encourage you to reconsider that position.
* Everyone I've ever heard express regrets about their career started with "I wish I'd spent more time with my family".
* I can't think of a single time-wasting activity done outside of work that wouldn't qualify as a hobby. Exercise? Yep. Gaming? Yep. Home improvement? Yep. Writing a novel? Yep. Fishing? Yep. Transcendental meditation? You betcha. [1]
For each person the answer to "what should I do" is different. The way to answer it is to think of any time you've ever said "I wish I could do that" or "I'd do that if I had more time", then go and do it. For me, a while ago, it was knitting armor out of stainless steel. I finished one shirt, am halfway through another, and have enjoyed making jewelry for my wife as small projects. More recently I've expanded that skill using knot-tying techniques (it becomes challenging when you use stainless steel instead of rope or softer metals). I can't tell you what will float your personal boat.
What I can tell you, though, is to do what you've always wanted to do. Figure out what that is, then do it.
Also, for everyone else who doesn't suddenly have 8+ extra hours in their day, I'd give you the same advice:
1. Decide what's important to you
2. Do that.
What I've found is that whatever I really want I can make time and find resources for, regardless of my work schedule or other circumstances. I still waste too much time in each day and money on things that aren't really important. When I decide that there's something I really want to learn or to do I can cut back on video games/TV/sleep if necessary.
Don't wait to do what's most important. Start today.
[1] Incidentally, going the exercise/meditation route in addition to whatever else you do is likely to do wonders for the damage to your body and psyche inflicted by long hours in the server room. Give it some thought.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
Mentor a local FRC robotics team. Many need programming/technical help and it's a lot of fun.
BEER
Obviously, pick something that hasn't been written about before, but you can find a niche and become the definitive book on the subject.
Alternately, get into creative writing - poetry, novels, short stories, etc. Even if it never gets published.
I am officially gone from
the least thing I want to do now off-work is to look at the monitor, or read anything in general.
no apps, no code, no book, no game. so I'm left with nothing to do!
I am sorry, I try to be the level headed one around here, but this is just wrong. I could not care less about your free time.
If you are not creative enough to think of something on your own, you thought /. would help?
Seriously, WTF?!
Isn't this like several magazine's monthly "Top Ten" lists; "Top Ten Things to do if you had more free time"?
What ever you do, DO NOT contribute to the open source community, your posting this question here has proved you are not capable.
You have made my day sad :(
I have never heard of it....
Take up hiking and backpacking -- discover nature, if it suits you.
Pick up an instrument, or if you used to play an instrument when you were a teenager, time to get it out of the attics.
(Re-)learn how to play (we have great softwares and books/CD for this, nowadays) and learn by listening to the masters. Learn also some theory.
At some point, get out and find yourself a band, suited to your skills (a bit better, ideally) and taste. At the very least, you'll have fun but you could even end up being a good musician. Depends on the time you want to spend on it.
...because your current situation will not last forever, or even necessarily long.
You've been given the gift that not many get: Time to gain the skills you'll need for where you're going next.
Use it.
Wait.... what? Are you gloating? Time is the most valuable commodity in the universe. Travel the world and try new things. If you don't have enough money to do that, take on some side work until you do. In fact, now would be a pretty good time to look into starting your own business.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
25 yrs. of what can go wrong in the realm of software environments will serve you well in framing a future that's not much different but uniquely designed and engineered.
Let's be real here. Work was your escape from life. And now that the work isn't there, you are scared of life. Nothing anyone suggests is going to be good for you.
You don't want to hear about hobbies and family, so that suggests that you don't have any hobbies and don't find them interesting. As for family, you worked to hide from them. So what sort of things do you really want? I mean, obviously you could try to find another job, or volunteer. Except that isn't what you want to hear.
Look, you will probably become a drunk or druggy and die in a few years. It's okay, some people are just one track minded and can't think beyond what they have been doing for the last 25 years.
I'll tell you what, life isn't that bad, it's the people in it that suck, can't escape that. But you can blow them up, or stab them with a sword online. If that doesn't make life a bit sweeter, I don't know what could. Oh, yes I do. Start smoking weed. It's a gateway drug.
Be seeing you...
I am in the same position. I worked at a start up with 60+ hr weeks that went south. My next gig was a simple 9-5 position, so I have so much more time on my hands.
Somehow I managed to fill that time with all sorts of crazy adventures and meet many new cool people. The key: get out of the house and be daring.
Last night my evening consisted of a transvestite (with one hell of a good voice), a bad cross-dresser, a human pincushion, want to be poets, and a phone conference with the writer of Naked gun, hot shots 1 & 2, and police academy.
Point is, life is awesome. Enjoy it
Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
Dedicate your free time to researching minutia, and be an exceptional troll on forums such as slashdot.
You've been working all your life, maybe it's time to think about what you really enjoy doing besides work that you want to bring to the market
Learning to become an entrepreneur is very challenging, thought-provoking, status-quo challenging, BUT immensely fulfilling.
It's time to do something for yourself after working for that long :)
You really can not figure that out for yourself! Please. Thank you editors of /. for another lame posting.
And I know what will happen.. people will respond to this with helpful meaningless suggestions that you could not think of yourself.
Or funny, witty replies.
If I wanted BS, I would go over to Reddit.
Invest in yourself, and in your relationships. That death-bed "I wish" stuff. Work out (put off that death-bed). Cook, rather than drive-through. Do things with friends, family. Go someplace and make it better (volunteer outside your field (unless you're planning on going back to 12 hours of doing what you were already doing for 12 hours a day).
Yoga or Martial Arts will not only improve your skill-set but bring your life together as a whole.
Could you do any worse than the current management?
If the number of hours you are being *called* is minimal and you are worried about what to do with your time, then it is doubtful you will have that job for longer.
Read Rivelli's book on Loop Quantum Gravity. Then explaiin it to the rest of us.
done right that can take up three or four hours a day.
You worked 12+ hour days for 25 years? Did you at least get paid overtime? If not we have a name for people like you: "sucker". I genuinely hope you were appropriately compensated for that kind of work and dedication.
Although nearly everyone I know has not realized that fear. If they have the money and health, some travel more. Some volunteer at museums or park management. Some audit classes. Some write open source software.
I've heard some complain they've are too busy and have taken on too much.
Masturbation! There's tons of it on the internets! You got free time!
( I know, I know but having great karma means you have to burn some occasionally ).
Brew beer, or make wine and cheese. When I retire, I'll be swimming in homebrew after a while.
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
No imagination?
Take your pick:
* 2045 intitiative
* pesky cure for cancer
* world hunger
* cheap cell phone service
* browser patches
* Linux desktop fixes
* stray adoption website
* carpool website
Go through old books and papers - stuff going back to the victorian era is well represented.
Find the animal/plant that interests you and cut out the photos and grab test and curate them properly into the web.
That stuff could very easily go away. A lot of it already has.
I wouldn't pay much attention to copyright either. There's no point in protection of information that goes extinct.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Start a beehive :)
Heh, that was a full-bodied rant with mustard, ketchup and various spices. Nice!
There's a subreddit for the OP's problem. ;)
I'm not usually one to violate the first rule (never talk about X on X), but, seriously, Ask Slashdot is for technology and related advice, not a First World Problems thread.
Boy, I wish I had the problem of being *paid* to sit on my ass and wonder what to do my time. Don't quit or fuck it up, you have it good, man.
Write the book you picture in your head. That one you always wanted to read but no one has written yet. Once you get into it, it is very engaging.
Start to learn how to program for mobile devices - Android & iOS.
Quantify the problems you had to deal with over the years, and the standard things you did to fix or develop a solution. Make a log of all of them over the years, look at the smaller bits that you did, and automate it. Repeat till you have something, whether a guide book or program, that does the little nitpicky or non-nitpicky things automatically. Simultaneously, look at your businesses and others in the fields direction. And prepare for any and all future probabilities, from getting laid off, to needing to know a new C language, to better use of logarithms, to the more immediate like improved security of data, networks, and such against attack. Get preemptive and when one of these scenario's occurs. Tada!!! You saved the day and not only your job, but several other peoples as well. All that work can and will be useful if you go and start your own firm/ business as well. It will also help to increase your worth to your employers, and even lead to you writing a book or two that would be worth some money and connections forged. Lot to do, but you yourself said you have the time. That and learn a related field of knowledge, like computer electronics, and figure out how to use all the resources that your hardware has available.
Take a rider's course (I recommend Harley Davidson Rider's Edge) buy a sport bike and tour.
A few comments to the comments I read here:
1. I cannot get far from work, maximum a couple of hours (I am on call).
2. I do get out a lot: I bike (bicycle) to work and back (15 miles each direction) + mountain biking on the weekends
3. I suffer from Asperger's and I'm also dyslectic (so no reading, writing and higher education).
Be an activist. Change the future for the better. Sign petitions, write letters to your representatives/senators.
I scramble for it, I wish there was more hours in the day... and at least one more weekend!
I have probably 10 years of deferred stuff to take care of. What, you been living in a packing crate all these years? I have drywall to replace (after first learning how to do drywall). House painting. Junk squirreled away all over the property to figure out what to do with. Carport needs remodeling. Attic full of junk to figure out what to do with before I get too old to go up there. A busted weed eater to try to fix. Many square yards of weeds to get rid of. Deferred electric and electronic repairs. Unfortunately, I go to work every day because SS doesn't pay enough to cover the cost of all the above. So, no time. You got time and money. Why don't you drop by and I can put you to work until you drop dead.
Try meditation.
Go discover America. See things, meet people. You may find inspiration to do something specific along the way.
...there's that word again!
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
You may find a cushy job and I hope that you go far
But if you really want to taste some cool success
You better learn to play guitar
The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to be plausible.
As someone who has worked for the same company for a long time, my advice is to develop your extra-work identity. Not doing that can cause you to fall into a deep depression if you should lose your job, since your personal identity will have been bound so closely.
Edit wikipedia. We need more smart and thoughtful people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial
Relax.
Find a MakerSpace/HackerSpace to hang out in and make, learn, or help others. And if there isn't a suitable one near you, start one! You could learn a new hobby every day, have other techies to hang out with, get ideas for projects, and be able to hang out with peers.
when I sold my software company and went from a 60+ hour work week to a variable one with maybe 35 hours. A few of the more rewarding things I've tried are learning a foreign language (in may case Japanese), taking a class on Udacity, coaching middle school debate, and doing gifted and talented math pull outs in an inner city elementary school. I'm starting a chess club in that same school next fall. I know the plural of anecdote is not data but learn about things that interest you and give back by teaching things that interest you.
I need to pitch the ever-on-call-but-never-working idea to my boss. If I did, I'd golf 10 months of the year and snowboard the rest. Stay outdoors.
Take up kayaking, rock climbing, bicycling.
volunteer with the fire dept, coast guard, search & rescue - they always need daytime callout people.
Smoke weed. It will help pass the time. You may not make yourself a better person, but at least you won't be bored.
Walk, move weights around the gym. Get in shape. I program and make it a priority that I keep myself in shape. Even if work has to suffer a little bit.
There're a lot of fun things that can positively to your mental and physical health. If I had extra time, I would try and learn a few trades like blacksmithing and wielding. There're a few languages I'd like to learn. There're some musical instruments that I'd like to learn as well. We were designed to work and play outside, not sit at a desk for hours on end. People that do stuff regularly outside generally are healthier from the activity, vitamin D production, and breathing some fresh air.
Start a side business that doesn't directly compete with your employer if your downtime isn't still on their time. If you do go this route, structure your company in a way that removes you from any liability; you may need to find a good lawyer for that since there're other good lawyers that are adept at legally seizing the company owner's assets that aren't related to the company. A former colleague of mine started a site that he sold fantasy and reproduction props from. He didn't maintain any inventory and just dropped shipped from suppliers. He'd advertise his side on a couple of enthusiast forums that he engaged in and also did SEO work on his site to get at the top of Google results. He said he spent one hour a day working on fulfilling orders with the suppliers, answering e-mail, SEO, and engaging the community. He ended up with about $2k/mo in profit.
If you're not interested or can't do that, try finding a fun video game. I suggest the X series from Egosoft. Those games are a blackhole of time. The latest one is X3: Albion Prelude.Each new release has gotten better and you really don't need to play the previous games in order to play the current one, however the back story from the previous games is interesting and explains WTF. You can still read the plot on Wikipedia IIRC. Another option is to play some MMO. Grind away and sell virtual wares for real currency.
Apparently the mods are on crack again.
Then, go visit that country.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I'm the original poster: Take a look at the mirror. Are you talking about me or about yourself??? You know nothing about me and my history and you jump to conclusions that have no grasp in reality. Just so you know: there were times in my life that I worked 17+ hours a day in 2 jobs: as as sysadmin the 2nd one as a dish washer in a restaurant, or as a consultant for an ISP during the day and a waiter during the evenings and/or movie theater operator some other time or last year I worked at my current work + fixing people's PC in homes because my wife was fired from her work. Not being able to pay rent, buy food or pay bills is something I'm familiar with very well.Not eager to go back to those days at all :-) I'm not making a lot of money in this new gig, just enough to get by (thanx to my wife working too). I am lucky that I'm considered smart (my wife would argue genius) and that I successfully navigated myself to the position where my expertise is very specific and hard to achieve (I'm the social engineer in the systems' security engineering group in a large international financial institution) and was offered to do only on call work for a normal paycheck. As some other posts in the thread pointed out: it's a time limited position: 4 years... After that god knows what will happen, I hope it will be extended (but I doubt it). As a last note: between my previous gig and this on call one I've been home for 2 months with no paycheck living from a single paycheck of a reception secretary, savings (which are now at 0) and a loan from the family.
Before you start flaming I suggest you get you head out of your butt and check the facts before you jump into the wrong conclusions!
Moron...
"Time is money" is the myth fed to workers so that that naively think they have to work 12+ hours a day for 25 years. When they realize that they get paid the same amount if they work 80 hours a week as if they get paid 40 hours a week then they'll start giving their own time more value than the corporation's time.
Okay mr-now-I've-had-hard-times-too-really-man, can you possibly explain your complete lack of critical thinking skills when you devised this question about your LOADS of free time?
Its either a thinly-veiled boast, a completely narcissistic navel-gaze, or you're just too fucking dumb to understand why people might think you're a complete TWAT for asking it.
Keep asking those questions - and I hope your employer sees this farcical thread and does the right thing, hires someone who's SMART enough and HUNGRY enough to keep his special ego-centric "problems" to himself.
I program all day at work so in my free time I like to repair and restore 1980s arcade games. It is nice to work on actual hardware.
and get a real job.
...(beyond develop hobbies, spend time with family)...
Develop hobbies and spend time with your family.
Programming (or learning to program if you don't already know how) is a productive hobby. Get a train set. Repaint your house. Buy and restore a classic car by hand (although that can be quite expensive). Go hiking/kayaking/skiing/biking/fishing. Learn to play the guitar/bass/drums/piano/sax/trumpet/sousaphone. Have a barbeque. Build a barbeque. Go geocaching. Go geohashing . And get your kids/parents/spouse/siblings/friends/neighbors involved.
I only wish I have free time for these things
Re-education.... Or youpr0n
Give me your free time...
I only work 37.5hrs a week (standard in Australia or New Zealand for fulltime employment) and I still don't have anywhere near enough time to do all the things I try to do. Maybe I just have too many hoobies and addictions (gaming).
When I was unemployed for 2-3 months I had so much free time and loved every second of it. It takes a couple weeks to adjust to so much free time but you will.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
Purchase HOOKERS! Sorry if someone already suggested this, but I didn't want to read all the comments!
"My immediate reaction is "WTF? What kind of moron doesn't make things 64-bit safe to begin with?" Linus
What job is this and how do I get it?
...it's a pleasure to be able to, and you'll soon be busier than you know.
Talk to anyone who's called it a day and retired, and there's a very good chance you'll be told that they're so busy they don't know how they ever found time to work. They didn't plan it that way; it just happened. A bit at a time they found things they wanted to do, and suddenly their time was full. It happened to me; I got pushed into early retirement maybe 7 years before I expected. I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride, and now I'm buys with plenty of stuff I enjoy.
I don't know what you like to do; i don't know what you'll do. But i do know that, if you just relax and enjoy the novelty, you'll soon be as busy as you want or need to be. Have fun.
You may have already got that one out of the way
plenty to do to keep you busy. Try volunteering for something you care about.. at a local church, boys & girls club, etc.. gardening?? learn about plants, become a Master Gardener ( Extension service in your county)...
Time to evolve as a human being - more then just IT out in that big world
As someone who will soon be registering for the Miami Pro World Championships (scheduled for 6th April 2014) as a personal goal, is a regular lurker on r/Fitness and r/Keto on Reddit, my exceedingly biased suggestion is that you lift heavy.
First, just get your basic form in Starting Strength or Strong Lifts.
Then once you are comfortable, aim to get in the 400 club: that's lift 400lbs with any one lift.
Then aim for the 3/1K club: lift a total of 1,000lbs with any different 3 lifts.
Why? Well why not? You have all the time in the world now. It will keep you busy at least 2 hours for 4 days a week.
Other than that, the only other thing I'd do is learn a language with the intention of visiting that country after a set amount of study. Now that is a minimum of 1 hour everyday.
Do nothing. Observe the meaningless nature of this world. Realise that you want to live nonetheless(or not). Living is all about avoiding boredom. But why do anything when everything is meaningless? Because, just, you have decided you want to live nonetheless.
Mentor a kid who is interested in programming.
I am anarch of all I survey.
i know a couple of people who where so brainwashed that they really believed that "" we are only on this planet to work " this i find is sad , and i feel very sorry for them ! ! i am in agreement with the person who posted " we work to live " ie earn to pay for food , acommitation , boils down to "work to live " or " live to work " my advice to this person is , volanter for something , does a family member ( or friend ) need a hand . try to enjoy nature ( go for walks , or hiking ) the sky is the limit , so many options , if able get a pet , i recommend a dog , hours can be used daily playing , looking after . then there are a lot of people needing help ie reading and writing for them , helping them with shopping ! most people want more free time to do the things they enjoy ! 60perih