Things to do on Earth When You're Bored (or Depressed).
Stephanie: "You need to write an intro for your post, and put it on your webpage. Then I can send it off to people."
In a thread on depression in the Joel on Software forum (which I spend way too much time in), I posted a list of things to do. Here it is, uncut and unedited. (Well, with some spelling corrections.)
I don't know if this is good advice, but think back to when you were happier and start doing the things you were doing back then. If those things were programming it may not work so well, but if those things were spending time with friends, playing video games, exercising, and so on, go on and do it. Some of this stuff needs to wait for warm weather, but not all of it. I heard recently about an indoor basketball court you can rent by the hour.
A lot of this is probably breaking out of the inertia you're currently experiencing. Once you do that, things should start to pick up.
Start doodling comics, you can be the next User Friendly or Dilbert. :) Start a Weblog about how miserable the bureaucracy is at your work place. Detail all the intricacies, and I'm sure you'll shoot up to #1 in no time. Find a nearby gym and start exercising on your lunch hour. Start working on your dream product (I have 3 or 4 things I'd love to see made, probably more if I thought about it more). Be determined to eat lunch in a different location every day for a month. Find a local bar and go there after work, it might start giving you something to look forward to every day. Adopt a puppy, well, a kitten may make more sense if you live alone, and take a week off to spend with it. Take a vacation the "remind me why I don't just quit my job and live here?" type. Develop conspiracy theories and blog about them (just don't choose the same fake ones I choose). Start coding hidden "features" into your companies apps, like video games that will only become available in 2010. Read a good book. Start sending flowers to someone at work as a secret admirer. Make them out of Post-It Notes. Rather than make your code look functional, make it spell out interesting things in ASCII art. Write a program that will format any code this way. Come up with a really long list of silly things to do. Try and figure out whether or not your boss would pass the Turing test.
Write a killer app (an app that kills other apps, but only other killer apps, see who can write the strongest app). Have a contest with the other programmers in your company to see who can write the best (fill in the blank) application in 1 week. Publish your weekly apps to a pseudo anonymous website. Write a program that, based on scientific principles, will help you get out of your depression. Create a networking site called Fukit that allows you to leave anonymous hate messages for anyone.
Paint.
Build a kite and fly it from the tallest building you have access too. Paint forks and knives next to every manhole cover in your city. Put an X-10 camera in a bubble and tie a brick to it and throw it into a body of water. Build a robot that you think could go to Mars. Make a home movie about the Martians that attack it. Plot your revenge on the Martians.
Stephanie has promised me "Everyone and their dog will be reading it." If you know any dogs who read it and find it inspirational, please let me know.
from a thread on The Prisoners Dilemma:
There's a point at which you turn human behaviour into a mathematical formula. At that point it's time to go play with your children, or sit in the sun on a beach or in a bar and look at attractive women. It's time to reconnect with your body.
Statistics in human behaviour are only important when the outcome is statistical, which it should never be. Human interaction should be messy and emotional, and you should love every minute of it.
and Happiness & Occupation
I think it's simple.
Work with people + see the benefits of your work = happy.
Work alone + nobody really benefits from your work = unhappy.
How complex do you have to make this?
Other articles in this series
- More Ideas
- Social Networking IM Client
- More Things That Should Exist
- More Brainfarts
- Even More Things I Thought Of
- Other Things I Thought Up
- Amazing Inventions That Were
The original thread
Other threads dealing with burnout & depression
Stephanie's Homepage
page first created on Sunday, February 15, 2004
© Mark Wieczorek