Happiness squared

Filemon has been reflecting on IT as a business, money, work and fun.

I like programming, and I think I’d program or at least be interested in IT even if it weren’t in fashion. But I
know by now that if it didn’t pay so well, I’d choose another job. I suppose I am a bon vivant. I’d rather tinker with cars, read blogs, study history, play games professionally, make music or just talk to people. I work in IT because it gives me enough money for the things I do outside work.

For me, any kind of IT work is above all fun. I don’t know whether “fun” captures it exactly. “Hobby” might be better. I can’t imagine doing a job I didn’t enjoy in some way. It’s also undeniably fun that pays fairly well.
Money matters to me, but I wouldn’t want to do a job purely for the money.

The monotony Filemon mentions is a big problem and a source of frustration for me too. I have some reservations about the way things work at my company, but my managers give me a lot of room to do things my way and a fair amount of freedom, which matters to me. The people I work with matter a lot as well.

Turning work into a hobby has its downsides, at least for me. You put in the usual ten hours at work, come home and turn on the computer again. Getting up at six in the morning and going to bed around midnight to fit everything in can be tiring.

There’s also a social side to working in IT that I call the pub syndrome. Try talking about work with friends in other professions over a beer. Nine times out of ten, they won’t understand what you’re on about. Then again, my favorite band Chinaski sings in Kutil, “My job is my hobby. Lucky are those who have it that way”… and I’m happy.