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        riddles >> general problem-solving / chatting / whatever >> How to get your  sh*t together
        
(Message started by: puzzlecracker on Mar 23^rd, 2010, 8:02pm)

Title: How to get your sh*t together
Post by puzzlecracker on Mar 23^rd, 2010, 8:02pm

OK, I can't force myself to study. Sunday was supposed to be the day I study programming and finance. Instead, I spent the entire day doing nothing: playing video games, browsing social networking websites, eating sh*t, and wasting my life away. This pattern has been going on from weekend -to -weekend. I am so pissed!!! After I finish writing this I will go to get some booze.

Here is an interesting part. I am not some Joe, who is a bordering F-student, avoiding algebra and all its merits. I am 28 years old, a former Ivy league student with a graduate degree in CS, and now a working professional making a lot of $$$ (way over 6 six figures) at a hedge fund in NYC. (I am not bragging at ALL, just want to put everything into a perspective) I can't seem to get my sh*t together and start improving myself as a professional. I realize that in order to succeed in the career, I have to study and improve myself --as well as the code and build models at the firm -- daily.

Even at work I waste a lot of time browsing, thus I avoiding work -- cheating the company as they pay for work and NOT browsing the web. I do some work, but not enough. Over the years, I have become so lazy and have no idea how my career still remains mobile. Perhaps I have some disorder, whereby I can concentrate on one thing for more than 5 minutes. I attribute most of jobs I have landed to luck. Thus I consider myself worse than Joe...

Now I want to get my sh*t together. The question is how.

Title: Re: How to get your sh*t together
Post by Three Hands on Mar 24^th, 2010, 8:02am

First off, not sure truth is the right forum for this one - seems better suited to General Problem-Solving / Chatting / Whatever in my opinion.

To answer your question, I'd suggest a first step for you is to work out what you want from life. If you don't have any goals to aspire to, or a sense of purpose for doing what you are doing, you're not really going to be motivated to do anything.

Why did you go in to Computer Science in the first place? What led you to start work for a hedge fund? If you can remind yourself why you got to where you are, it might help you re-focus on where you want to go.

Also, how many people outside of work do you meet up with on a regular basis face-to-face? What do you tend to do when you meet up? If you're not finding your work fulfilling, and you haven't got other things you enjoy - really enjoy - going on, you're not going to feel all that great about life.

Maybe give yourself a break from focussing completely on work and improving how you work and instead go out and do something different - head around a museum or take up a sport, or something like that. Or just re-connect with some of your old friends if you can, and find out what they're up to.

Hope some of this helps

Title: Re: How to get your sh*t together
Post by Noke Lieu on Mar 24^th, 2010, 9:01pm

alternatively, you could try becoming a Youth Ambassador...(I'm not sure what your local equivalent is.) http://www.ausaid.gov.au/youtham/

In Aus that 's a pretty common thing to do- you take a massive pay cut, go work in a less affluent part of the world and help out there. I have a friend who has done Curriculum development in Vanuatu, one that helped tell the Philipines all about rice, one that was in Laos doing something or other, China, Tanzania...

It seems to really help them collect their thoughts.