Sensible Tirade We were not meant to stare at a screen for all our waking hours. For many of us this has become our entire career. By the time we are sufficiently middle aged (45 or so), minds go to thoughts of leaving the rat race, retiring early, going out on our own – maniacally entrepreneurial.
In the 70s the promise of a computer on every desktop seemed a novel idea with the promise of easing our workday, making life easier and more organized. Perhaps it has, but that block on every desk has tied us to the desk in a way we never dreamed. We are capable of more so we must do more. We’re not doing less work, we’re doing much more work faster.
Sure that seems productive. It’s just that most of us have screen fatigue after we have made another excel document, made those charts, written that report, and analyzed that data. These aren’t different stations where we can perform work. It is the same chart, the same keyboard, and the same screen. The apps have different colors.
For some of us who spent years in the software or web development worlds, we put in some serious time. Ten to twelve hours a day locked into that screen. The money may be fine, however the damage to our health and sanity can not be compensated with a yearly bonus.
An option to work from home is a great benefit. I worked from home before people heard the word pandemic. When 2020 came my life didn’t change much. I wonder if the burnout comes from the loneliness of working isolated. I’m one of those who would benefit from a hybrid situation(although I understand why people want to work from home.)
The burnout is real. Fast paced environments often see coders burnout within two years. And that brings us here. I’m tired of staring at a screen for money. Many of us entered this field because we liked problem solving, were good at tech, and didn’t want to break our backs on a line somewhere.
Now that’s changed. I long to do something with my hands. After twenty years of sitting in the same chair and staring at the same screen, doing something with my hands sounds pretty great. Now we’re back to maniacally entrepreneurial. It’s time to do something else.
I opened a recording studio as a side hustle and realized that this is sitting in a different chair, staring at a different screen, but still staring at a screen for money. Later we were offered a gig doing live sound for a festival. This was more like it! My love of tech and music in one gig! Great! How do a make a living at this without going on tour all the time.
A close colleague said I had career ADD. I couldn’t disagree. Because what happened next was a slew of potential career moves to get me out of the house. I could… wait for it… mow grass! The sound company works weekends and has a truck and a trailer. Not a whole lot of gigs on Monday through Wednesday so why not do something with that time that gets me outside.
This is where those years of business process and technical training kick in because I know exactly how to operate and market it.
As I’ve been planning the future needs of the sound company it occurred to us that we may need a cargo van. I can run deliveries!
By the end of the week I had a few more ideas that would get me traveling, moving, and doing something new with my day. I know the grass is always greener – and it better be if I’m mowing.
I look at this whole thing as a way to stretch out and take control of my life. I’ve always been independent, would rather working on a project alone or with one other person. I don’t like big teams. Small, simple, nimble – that’s the way.
Building a small business is the next logical step for those who have spent time in and are tired of corporate life. Those big enterprises shift slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it feels like nothing you do makes any measurable impact.
So where will this land? I have my blogging, my business planning, and my business activities. I would like to do them in another place besides a chair and a screen. I can do the computer parts of my empire for a couple hours a day. I can delegate as need. Hell, maybe a some point I won’t have to stare at anything at all.