Ask HN: What would you do if you didn't have to work?

97 points by trvrsalom 3 years ago | 138 comments

So as a result of an extreme example of inefficient bureaucracy, one which is probably unique to the military, I have found myself in the fortunate position of being paid to effectively work 2-6 hours a week for the next 6-7 months. It was preceded by 6-7 months of 60-80+ hour work weeks, so I like to think it all balances out.

I graduated a few years ago with a degree in computer engineering, and I am now located in a small coastal city. If you were in my position, beside the obvious of relaxing, hobbies, etc, what would you do? I have considered trying to find a part time development role (it would be difficult though as I am effectively on-call for when those 2-6 hours are). Alternatively, I could pursue a side project to keep my technical skills sharp, but I can't think of any that call me. Any ideas?

newsoundwave 3 years ago |

Me personally: I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexico-California border to the Washington-Canada border in 2022. While I missed work on trail, it definitely made me realize that once I'm financially independent, I'm mostly going to be living a life outdoors, with occasional indoor time to play music.

Your situation is a bit different from my goals, but honestly if I had that opportunity, I'd be doing my best to explore the woods/mountains nearby in whatever way I can.

I also kind of agree with the "Learn German" comment - learning a non engineering skill that's also either practical or brings you joy is a great way to eat up time. I'm speak a few languages, but as I only regularly use English in my day-to-day life, just maintaining the other ones at a high skill level is a time consumer, though one I enjoy doing.

ar_lan 3 years ago | |

I've always wanted to do this trail! How was it - honestly? I delved deep into one bagging a few years ago which brought me to ultralight groups/blogs, and this is the one trail that always just seems so... hard, but freaking cool.

newsoundwave 3 years ago | | |

I'm not going to say everything was perfect - sometimes it was miserable (mosquitoes, wildfires, close encounters with irresponsible hunters, etc). With that said, it's been more than 3 months since I've finished and not a day goes by when I don't think about it.

The people you meet out there are fantastic too. I'm fortunate enough to live in Colorado, where a bunch of us came from, and we hang out fairly frequently. We actually went for a hike yesterday that I wouldn't feel comfortable inviting just anybody on.

afr0ck 3 years ago | |

I feel like you are describing me. I speak four languages. I love engineering and building stuff, but I have a limitless love to nature and the outdoors, hiking, biking, swimming in the wilds, hunting, and I love Deserts and mountains.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

Hiking the PCT is absolutely a bucket list item. Sadly, the on-call part means I have to remain local. I'm definitely planing to explore though.

newsoundwave 3 years ago | | |

Yeah, I'm extremely lucky to work at a company where I could take an unpaid leave of absence and also I work with a great team that was happy to make sure my oncall shifts were covered until I got back.

nebula8804 3 years ago |

Personally: I'd buy a house in Venice beach (on the beach). Purchase the top of the line Mac Studio + their best monitor...and I'd spend a full year sabbatical meditating and learning how to do proper software reverse engineering alternating with more and more problem sets from Project Euler. With my significantly improved programming and reversing skills, I'd then join a bunch of teams reversing all the classic games so that the code is preserved for all of eternity maybe even try my luck at improving the abysmal desktop experience on Linux(a tall order I know). After that, i'd probably spend as much time as possible meeting people in order to find someone i'd like to spend the rest of my life with.

I know its not exactly your scenario OP but if the 2-6 hrs a week are all on one day, then you could spend the other days on something that really benefits you long term. We don't know what your personal situation is like but for me(as a person in their mid 30s) I feel like focusing on personal development while also understanding how quickly youth and youth health disappears would be my top priority. That could be in the form of really mastering a skill that you will use for the rest of your life, or building personal relationships that will be with you for the long haul. Either will allow you to look back and be proud of the time you spent.

rzazueta 3 years ago |

You will always have to work - you need to feed yourself, clothe yourself, shelter yourself, etc. How you go about doing all of that is what matters. With that in mind, I think you;re asking "What would I do if I didn't have to have a job," which is a more interesting question.

I would find people in my community to band together to help us build and maintain our community - helping maintain each other's home, build new homes for expanding families and new comers, produce as much of our own food as possible, and adopt various technologies to make it all easier on us so we could also enjoy abundant free time for art, play, relationship, and joy.

This could be us now, but too many people sell their lives at a discount to rich narcissists. If we, instead, turn away from those useless assholes and turn, instead, to each other and form cooperative work environments where the work is equally shared - as are the proceeds - we can start building a better, more freer world where you can answer this question in real time for yourself.

D13Fd 3 years ago | |

> You will always have to work - you need to feed yourself, clothe yourself, shelter yourself, etc. How you go about doing all of that is what matters.

Did you read the post? The person has 6-7 months coming up where they will have a job but only have to work 2-6 hours per week.

earthling8118 3 years ago | | |

Did you read their comment? Work isn't strictly the same thing as a job

jmathai 3 years ago | |

You can definitely stop working (in the traditional sense where someone pays you for your time).

This is a great thread from a 40yo lawyer who quit his job at the start of 2022. It took a lot of planning and patience but his account is a great one to follow if you aspire to do the same.

This was his recap of his first year as a very early retiree.

https://twitter.com/iamlandshark/status/1612912875068346368

nicbou 3 years ago |

I don't have to work. Or more accurately, I can avoid work for a long time without any consequences. Think of a balloon that deflates slowly. I have to blow air into it sometimes, but rarely right now.

The weather ends up being a lot more consequential. Sunny days rarely get wasted. I ride my bicycle a lot in the summer.

I can spend more time on projects with zero economical incentive. That's most of my work these days. I can write better tools for my readers without thinking about how they'll pay for themselves. I get to work on what feels right.

I have the time to do things slowly. I can walk two hours to get somewhere, and stop for coffee along the way. I can overengineer things.

I am a lot more available and I am more generous with my time. I don't need to invest my free time so judiciously. People told me that I've become far more relaxed and easygoing.

However I'm very careful about gaming and mindless browsing. I still have an alarm and some structure in my life. I try not to waste my years aboard the gravy train.

I still don't make time to practice an instrument. I didn't join any clubs or rebuild any old motorcycle. I learned that I don't really care about some of those things. The lack of time was just an excuse.

To sum it up as actionable advice: do more of the things you love. Treat it like two hundred Saturdays. Don't turn this into a job, and don't spend them on the couch either.

markus_zhang 3 years ago |

Context: 40s male who has $wifie and $son. Has some programming skills, half education and half self-taught.

I'll probably do the following if I only need to work 2-6 hours per week:

- Take nap to balance chronic sleep deprivation since $son is allocated;

- Go back to exercise routine to pick up my two 30m of rowing machine every day;

- Spend one more hour with $son every day;

- Plan more gift purchase for $wifie. It actually requires a lot of thoughts;

- Complete my Dragonlance game which is a Ultima-I/II spinoff;

- Complete my CHIP-8 emulator;

- Get serious about designing a series of lab similar to the CPU project of UTokyo, but tailored to my incompetence and steadily increase difficulty with each one. I probably need 3 labs;

- Visit my friends more often. I only spoke to them once per quarter.

Kim_Bruning 3 years ago |

6-7 months of 1 day workweeks is not a lot of time. They'll be over before you realize they started.

Definitely invest time in either/or generating recurring income, learning how to do so, getting other contracts, finding new customers, learning new skills that you think you might need in the near future, etc.

If you want to have a bit of a holiday for some of the time, fine, but try to keep some sort of rhythm to your activities; and don't slouch. This is not an indefinite time period.

You'd be surprised how many people don't mind that you're on call at times (if anything, knowing that you're busy somehow makes you more desirable? ). Just don't overload yourself with additional tasks, make sure you're doing your primary task well.

If you do do a good job doing the on-call, you might be able to negotiate an extension.

Whatever you do, make sure you have new/extra profitable things lined up for when this contract finally does peter out.

grecy 3 years ago |

I quit my development job to drive from Alaska to Argentina - an adventure that changed my life. I poked lava with a stick, climbed a 5,897m active volcano, watched kids ride llamas to school, learned Spanish, vastly improved my photography, got into writing (and later published books).

Now it's my life, and I've since driven right around Africa, and right around Australia. I'm saving and planning for then next one now.

Take time to do the things you love, and discover the joy of slowing down to the pace of life that makes you happiest. You really don't need much money to live happily, what you really need is time to do what you want.

braunshedd 3 years ago | |

I read this and wondered "how many other people could be out there that fit this description besides the road-chose-me guy?"

Sure enough -- it's the road-chose-me guy xD

grecy 3 years ago | | |

You got me! xD

cwoolfe 3 years ago |

I see an emerging theme of "exercise and spend time with my kids" which is funny because I currently work 32 hours a week and I spend the "extra" time on that. I don't have to work. I do because my project pursues a worthy goal and has its own fulfillment, smart coworkers. If something more worthy came along, that I could actually be good at, I suppose I'd do that instead, whether it made money or not. I'm mostly concerned that I am the problem if I become too cynical, jaded, or depressed to see an opportunity to make the world a better place and go for it. Cutting out social media and reading the book of John, looking at Jesus helps inspire me and keep me focused on what really matters.

aynyc 3 years ago |

Besides getting myself into good shape. I would get a whole bunch of certifications that are related to your industry. HN doesn't like certifications, but boy, defense industry loves that stuff.

allendoerfer 3 years ago | |

I second this, because you will have a goal to work towards and something measurable afterwards. If you are not really inspired, many other suggestions might be harder to really follow through on, so you might end up with having done nothing in the end.

By all means, do relax, but I‘ve often found it hard to do so, when you are sort of required to do something but actually just waiting. I have often found those situations to be more taxing than actually working.

st4lz 3 years ago | |

Which specific certifications would you recommend?

aynyc 3 years ago | | |

I'm out of defense for more than 2 decades now. Back then, MSCE, Java and Oracle were the rage. Just look up some job descriptions. They love the soft stuff like scrum master, agile, etc.. They need that check boxes for contracts.

afr0ck 3 years ago |

Build a computer from scratch, both hardware and software. Build a wood house in the bush. Get better at extreme mountain biking. Build a very athletic body. Travel the world, explore their nature (deserts, saharas, mountains, safaris, etc) and eat their food. Learn to play Rock music. Learn to drift. Live as a farmer in Scotland for 1 year. Own a ranch in Texas. Hunt in North Africa. Too many things mate.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

I really need to ship my mountain bike out here.

Centigonal 3 years ago |

Personally Synthetic biology startup, possible getting a PhD first. Visit Central/South America and east Asia.

For you: Live the most life you possibly can. figure out what you want to have done 6 months from now, translate those into "first steps," and set weekly goals. That way, you'll actually do the things you want to.

wonderwonder 3 years ago |

For me (mid 40s): Focus on getting in excellent physical shape. Spend time with my kids. Fix up my Garden.

If I was younger and in the military? Learn Chinese. Learn Cyber Security.

cableshaft 3 years ago |

I have a backlog of about 30 board game prototypes to refine, make sell sheets, playthrough videos, Tabletop Simulator versions, and pitch to publishers. Maybe self-release a couple of them.

I have about 7 novel manuscripts from past Nanowrimos that need editing and released. I also wouldn't mind taking a stab at writing serials or smaller books.

I have 6 different video games in various stages of completion (most either small games or very early, only one game that's pretty far along right now), and a backlog of a half dozen ideas to work on besides that, and/or porting my board game designs to a playable web version.

I have been meaning to rebuild my personal website since forever, and include links to all of the above once they get done, as well as past games I have released.

I wouldn't mind playing around with making my music loops for my games again, and getting better at drawing (I know A.I. art is a thing now, but I'd like to be able to get some of the images out of my head better).

I'd also try to drop about 30lbs and train to extend my hiking endurance from about 3 miles at a time to about 6 miles.

Wouldn't mind learning some of the new advances in A.I.

I wouldn't run out of things to do if I had the time off. I've wanted to take a sabbatical for quite some time now, but can't, unfortunately. I did get two weeks over the holidays, made some progress on my main project, but then the basement flooded and took away almost half of my break, a hunk out of our emergency savings, and a good chunk of time this month so far, so that sucked.

rsync 3 years ago |

Surf every day.

I’m not sure if you can do this job remotely, but you say you’re coastal … military … San Diego perhaps?

Anyway, the thing to do is the thing everybody else at every other stage of life wishes they could do.

There are billionaires who wish they could just surf every day.

screwturner68 3 years ago | |

That's what I was thinking, I'd go to my favorite break in CR and spend a few months being unplugged and quiet. I'd surf every morning and watch the sunset every evening and not really worry about what I did in between.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

I wish I were back in San Diego, I'd love to get back in the water. Sadly I'm in the gulf coast, so not much here in the way of surf. I'm thinking of building a longboard though.

Nicholas_C 3 years ago | | |

There is a decent amount of surf on the gulf, especially if you like to longboard. I surfed ~50 days a year while living in Houston.

latchkey 3 years ago | |

I'm currently in South Mission Beach. Still working though, so my joy is just taking the dog for long walks on the ocean/bay side every day. ;-)

sjducb 3 years ago |

I only work a few hours a week at the moment (by choice)

The real challenge is staying off your phone. Be disciplined about addictive screen use. Then you'll get bored and think of good things to do. Allowing yourself to get bored is the important thing.

headcanon 3 years ago |

I'm building a tycoon-style game and I would love to be able to work on it full-time. I realize the slim odds of success for an indie game, but I just know in my heart this game could be successful if executed properly. I feel like one of the biggest things holding me back is the fact that I spend my most productive hours earning my salary. I would love nothing more than to give this idea the time it deserves.

brink 3 years ago |

Read good books, get to know people. Don't forget to live. Think about the end of your life and you're looking back, what are you going to wish you had done?

undopamine 3 years ago |

Pretty much all the things I've scheduled otherwise, but at a much faster pace:

- Read textbooks cover-to-cover, which is difficult to prioritize otherwise.

- Catch up on my videogame backlog, do re-runs on my favorite games + aim for 100% completion

- Finish my reading list

- Clean my browser bookmarks + make a plan of action for those worth keeping

- Start my own content pipelines: Youtube, Twitter, blog, etc

- Brush-up my coding skills - solve problems, revisit theory

- Dig up the project ideas I jotted down casually - build one

- Practice silence, calm down the chaos in my mind

- Reduce my internet footprint: delete past data, update privacy settings

- Reduce cloud data - either consume+delete, or self-host on a home server

- Make conscious efforts to socialize - move out often, talk to strangers

- Setup a fitness regime, build the momentum at home followed by a gym schedule

labarilem 3 years ago |

Make music, improve at weightlifting and try new sports. Also write useful free software, as in beer (no ads) and freedom.

bluedino 3 years ago |

Honestly, watch the kids all damn day. Maybe enroll in a couple classes or hack on a couple things here and there.

Now, if I 'won the lottery', I'd have more resources and hire a nanny, giving me more time to take classes, hack on things, and do expensive stuff like build racecars.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

I'm running into the issue of not having won the lottery when I think about the things I'd like to do and the cost of doing them.

distortionfield 3 years ago | |

> build race cars

I have often joked to my wife that my software career only fuels (no pun intended) my project car habit.

ExMachina73 3 years ago |

Buy and live in a houseboat and sail up and down the Pacific coast from the top of North America all the way down to Mexico, Central and South America stopping and living at various ports along the way.

fxtentacle 3 years ago |

In my entire life, I've never run out of side projects that tickle my curiosity. If I didn't have to do it for money, I'd probably be doing pretty similar coding projects anyway ^_^

throwaway81523 3 years ago |

6-7 months is a good amount of time to bone up on a new mathematical topic, and is probably better for your mind than banging out code, unless you have a program inside of you that is bursting to get out. E.g. I'd like to be clueful about AI, which to me I think means studying stuff like high dimensional analysis, rather than "How to use ChatGPT". Blum, Hopcroft, and Kannan's book "Foundations of Data Science" looks really good for that:

https://www.cs.cornell.edu/jeh/book%20no%20so;utions%20March...

I got a page or two into it and had to put it aside, but someday. The book is officially published now ( https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/foundations-of-data-sci... ) but I'm satisfied with the PDF.

There is an HN thread about similar books:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34312248

Added: I would also like to know how homomorphic encryption works, and I think that would be less of a commitment, but it's only because I'm into crypto.

hprotagonist 3 years ago |

I’d find your community nonprofit/mutual aid/… group of choice, and spend 6 months there. whatever i’d leave behind in terms of infra i would design to be self-sufficient: you’re going to find the usual unholy mess of google docs and stuff that you’ll want to clean up, but do it humanely.

otherwise, wire yourself into your neighbors. be up front about your time allotment.

IBM used to do this all the time in the 80s; as a child i don’t think i appreciated what that gave my town but i do now.

bluefirebrand 3 years ago |

I think if I didn't have to work but also didn't have to worry about affording my needs, I'd really like to meet new people and work on indie games.

I try now and then to get an evenings and weekends project off the ground but I genuinely don't understand how people have the energy for it. I'm exhausted.

azhenley 3 years ago |

Write and create educational content.

anon291 3 years ago |

I would do the same thing I do now... program computers. The things that would change is that I'd be more flexible and my kids would play with me all day, instead of me having to kick them out of my office for meetings and the like.

dutchbrit 3 years ago |

If I didn’t have to work I’d be breeding rare pigeon and growing rare plants. Possibly take up watch making as a hobby. But that’s not the question you really asked haha.. I have too many side project ideas, but not many that really mean a lot to me on a personal level. If the latter doesn’t matter much, just look at what tools you use and think on how you could do a better job. What is your real goal? To make money? If so, building alone won’t get you far. There are a lot of “boring” tasks you need to do or outsource to achieve that. If making money isn’t that important it makes it a lot easier. Stick to what you enjoy.

etempleton 3 years ago |

Personally, If I was in your situation I would probably exercise a lot more and just spend time with my hobbies until I really get bored. I have been burning the candle at both ends for over a decade and see no way out, so it is kind of the dream for me at this point to just relax until I can’t take it anymore.

Once I got good a thoroughly bored I have always wanted to get into making pixel art, but have never had the time or energy to learn.

If I didn’t have any responsibilities at all I would do as others have said and do a thru hike or maybe try road tripping and camping out of my car.

sysadm1n 3 years ago |

> What would you do if you didn't have to work?

Probably do more deep dives into archiving internet data. The web suffers Library of Alexandria[0] type events every day and there's an excess of bit-rot that doesn't need to happen if people dedicated more time to scraping and archiving data. Maybe joining the Internet Archive is a good bet here. Since it's volunteer-only, not having a job would be a good fit.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria

dysoco 3 years ago |

I'm still young and don't have a lot of work-years under my belt, but I would first finish my CS degree and then maybe go to Med School and into medical research, sounds the most appealing to me right now. Education here is free but I don't know if I could keep up working fulltime and studying for so long, besides research probably doesn't pay decently at all.

Also I would try creating a startup, maybe a small gamedev company with friends or something, but I don't have any ideas atm and I'd probably need extra funding for that, so it's more unlikely.

Malky 3 years ago |

I would catch on some meaningful activities for the community and did some interesting physical activity, as in hiking in great locations, surfing, etc. When I work 60 hr work week, it doesn't leave much space for doing something beyond bare necessities in terms of exercise.

goalieca 3 years ago |

I would spend a lot more time outdoors and doing sports. I would also have more energy for my kids when they are at home. I’m such a better dad when I’m not burned out.

tomcam 3 years ago |

My philosophy has always been to study up on my next job while I am working my current job. Using that logic, if I were you I would be going full tilt studying some thing challenging and high paying so that I could level up for the next gig. This was extremely successful for me financially, but I will cheerfully admit I am much more paranoid than most people.

jakelazaroff 3 years ago |

Spend more time with friends and loved ones. Work on a video game. Work on a board game. Record music. Start drawing again. Build side projects that don't seem monetizeable. Cook more ambitious meals.

There are so many things I want to do, and so little time. Whenever someone tells me that UBI would be bad because people would feel meaningless without work, I just cannot relate at all.

more_corn 3 years ago |

I’d build a workshop, explore some interesting scientific advances that haven’t yet been productized, build a cabin, take up fly fishing, launch three companies I have ideas for, hire the half dozen Capable people I know who want work. Wait that’s more than six months. I suppose I just planned out my next five to ten years. Thanks!

codegeek 3 years ago |

- Travel and meet all my old friends/family that I haven't for years or even decades even though we are all on "social media" and "like" each other's posts.

- Setup 100% free Quality Private Primary education in developing countries like India and actually be on the ground for the most part doing it initially myself.

tw98521358 3 years ago | |

Wouldn’t it be more practical to pay someone Indian wages to actually do the teaching?

em-bee 3 years ago | | |

not if you want to improve the quality. you need to train the teachers but to do that you need to have local experience teaching yourself.

personally, if i were going that route i would learn and then train montessori method

r-bryan 3 years ago |

Be an engineering mentor for your local high school robotics club. From personal experience, I can guarantee that you will come upon aspects of engineering where you are a rank newbie, yet wish you had even a little competence. It's exhilarating when external and internal motivations coincide to push you to develop new skills.

BizarroLand 3 years ago |

If you are able to, I would consider getting a second job that is remote for those 6-7 months. It's a good opportunity for you to stuff your mattress and having a small trove of extra cash on hand (or 6 months worth of income of bills paid off, if you're in a decent amount of debt) could do wonders for your future.

clioharper 3 years ago |

I was in the very same situation a while ago and have a similar skillset. The pool sucks but I think I made the best of it. Happy to connect with you if you're interested. You can email me at: pompano-patella.01@icloud.com (iCloud forwarding email because god knows how many bots are scraping this website).

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

Navy or Marines?

clioharper 3 years ago | | |

Marine Corps

madmonk 3 years ago |

Play piano, write music and learn more musical instruments. As a side effect, I would actually get 8 hours of sleep per night as I wouldn't have to fit my unprofitable interests in after 8 hours of work.

I would probably continue to develop, but only to scratch my own itches. Most likely musical tools that don't currently exist.

matt_heimer 3 years ago |

Learn a foreign language (probably Spanish), learn to draw (well), learn to play an instrument (piano then guitar), go to the gym (train for a triathlon), learn a new tech stack (android and ios for me), learn wood carving, learn Inkscape and Blender, build a social media presence, build a home workshop/maker-space.

incomingpain 3 years ago |

I started multiple python open source projects which were useful to my employer. I did some blogging, newsletters. Low on the self-education side of things :(

The one thing I've been considering for retirement is a videogame. Godot engine most likely. I have a few ideas I'd love to put together.

bigwavedave 3 years ago |

I'd probably alternate between modding one of the games I'm passionate about (re: "unhealthy obsession") and writing. I love doing both, but between career and family time constraints, I usually only have time to make small steps towards one or the other each week.

dpkirchner 3 years ago |

Oh, so many things. Learn more about CS-y topics, play games, figure out how to write gooder, read books, bike more (I want to get to a century before I'm too old), learn to cook better, relax, probably do a couple short contracts a year to try to keep up with the industry, exercise more, volunteer.

time0ut 3 years ago |

Exercise more. Spend more time with my family. Hike the back country of a few more national parks. Hunt more. Fish more. Get a PhD in CS. Find an open source project to be passionate about and work on that.

Not necessarily things that can fit in 8 months, but my short list of things I'd do if I had the time.

SCdF 3 years ago |

I would like to say that I would work on contributing to open source.

I would probably just play a lot of video games though.

nh23423fefe 3 years ago |

Probably work on quality of life stuff. I would work on under prioritized job related automation. Essentially invest in personal, at work, projects that make work less annoying, but which dont get buy in from anyone else.

If I was gonna slack off and not work, then I would just play golf

thefz 3 years ago |

Sport! Hiking, mountain biking, running, weight lifting.

Trail maintenance in my region. I'd probably camp overnight a lot.

Catching up on all the books I havbe left behind.

I always wanted to pick up woodworking and I'd like to learn how to sew with a sewing machine. Practical stuff keeps me engaged.

Drinking beers? :)

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

Oh there will be plenty of beers consumed to balance out all the sport.

pantsforbirds 3 years ago |

1. Woodworking. I'd like to timber frame a cabin or workshop and fill it out with my own furniture.

2. open source programming. I wish i had more time to give back to some of the ecosystems i enjoy using and there are many problems i'd love to work on in them.

trykondev 3 years ago |

Make video games and write books

petodo 3 years ago |

Spend more time with kids, study language, exercise, watch movies and tv shows I don't have time for, listen to podcasts, cook more sophisticated meals, maybe translate movie/tv shows subtitles for others.

anonu 3 years ago |

Probably an unpopular opinion given that most suggestions here are "take it easy": Start a business. Ideally web-based service that can scale without you - except for marketing focus. Try to monetize it.

distortionfield 3 years ago |

I have been writing lot of small libraries as a way to flex technical muscles. Small as in “finished in a day” small. It might be worth considering. Also, learning a new language or tool is always a good idea.

vax425 3 years ago |

I’d form an online vigilante group like Perverted-Justice, but focused on disrupting the operations of financial scammers who prey on people who are gullible, technologically unsophisticated, or demented.

paulcole 3 years ago |

> beside the obvious of relaxing, hobbies, etc, what would you do

If I didn’t have to work? That’s it! That’s all I’d do. Hobbies and relaxing.

drc37 3 years ago |

Build robots of different sorts to help people around the house/farm.

thangalin 3 years ago | |

I'm working on a near-future sci-fi novel that revolves around automating food to the point that work is no longer a necessity. Would greatly enjoy your thoughts on the subject.

dzek69 3 years ago |

Quick list, because noone has time to read anyway:

- I'd build entirely DIY smart home - I'd do a lot of woodworking - I'd make an awesome garden

Oh... and one more thing: I'd finally make Linux desktop be useable

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

Well, I have time to read.

bag_boy 3 years ago |

I would do interviews with interesting people and publish them in written form.

I like the ability to go on/off record during an interview.

I have done a few interviews with local business owners and they’re always a good time.

Finnucane 3 years ago |

If it was a temporary situtation like that, I'd probably spend more time practicing my banjo and guitar, and also scanning and archiving the 50 years-worth backlog of film on my shelf.

flandish 3 years ago |

Oil paint. It’s SO very good for my mental health. But alas - I cannot afford to do it as much as I’d like. Nor have I sold a painting, to help the process. (Though that’s not my goal.)

0xabe 3 years ago | |

Have you seen Rebelle?

https://www.escapemotions.com/products/rebelle/about

flandish 3 years ago | | |

No. But thats cool! I use meatspace oils. Mostly by utrecht or gamblin.

Theory42 3 years ago |

https://aia.mit.edu/about/ has programs for volunteers from active duty.

surfsvammel 3 years ago |

The most important thing would be to find some kind of community. Find a cause that I could engage with together with others. Be that non profit or for profit, doesn’t matter.

lazyeye 3 years ago |

https://reddit.com/r/overemployed

autotune 3 years ago |

Volunteer at the local public library for 8 hours a day. Spend the rest of the time meditating, drinking tea, and taking my dog out for walks as a part time monk.

DanielVZ 3 years ago |

Develop a new side project each month until something sticks

fotta 3 years ago |

Personally, I would probably try to teach in some capacity. I have this pipe dream of retiring from FT SWE and teaching high school CS sometime in the future.

sidcool 3 years ago |

Be a part of a community that teaches kids or adults. I would also learn Physics. And music. Spend time with friends. Make some simple and dumb software.

samtho 3 years ago |

Two general things: Build cabins and teach woodworking/welding/electronics/aviation. I would also like to learn another language or two.

JoelMcCracken 3 years ago |

Write. I would investigate things that interest me, especially historical/little/less known things, and bring them to a wider audience.

prettyStandard 3 years ago |

Build things that will make the world better but wouldn't get built because the financial incentive is too small or too far in the future.

cheapliquor 3 years ago |

Catch up on sleep you missed from those 60-80 hour work weeks. Then maybe find a new hobby that could potentially spark a new project idea.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

Yep, that's the one thing I got started on quickly.

robotburrito 3 years ago |

I'd basically do nothing. Just walk around, ride my bike, read books and work on a few software projects for fun.

ErikCorry 3 years ago |

Work.

brink 3 years ago | |

And that is largely why some people are successful and others aren't.

jakelazaroff 3 years ago | | |

When I look back on my life, my most meaningful memories are not the ones I've made on someone else's payroll. "Successful" doesn't have to mean "worth a lot of money".

eatsyourtacos 3 years ago | | |

"successful"

acid_burn 3 years ago |

Definitely get your daily exercise in. Bonus points for a home gym or calisthenics routine since you're somewhat on-call.

xtiansimon 3 years ago |

Gentleman scientist, inventor, explorer, and artist. Oh wait. That’s the list of I win a billion dollars.

robohoe 3 years ago |

Farm vegetables in my garden during summer and woodwork in the winter. Travel to all the small towns in America.

beej71 3 years ago |

Write programming guides and ride my dual sport making maps for other riders.

Would be good times.

elzbardico 3 years ago |

I would do things people usually call work, the way I want them to be done, in my own schedule.

inoffensivename 3 years ago |

I was in a similar position a few years ago and I used the opportunity to learn how to fly.

trvrsalom 3 years ago | |

I'm looking into paramotoring or potentially gliding.

Krisjohn 3 years ago |

Gardening. You're going to want that veggie garden producing real soon now.

tw98521358 3 years ago | |

So much to learn and so much garbage info. Gardening is heard

jdthedisciple 3 years ago |

Do you have a spouse or family?

Spend time w them and travel?

Other than that, finishing side-projects.

atum47 3 years ago |

I'll probably program for myself (as I often do). I do like to program a lot.

roflyear 3 years ago |

I would have more time for exercise and I would probably spend more time sailing.

lylejantzi3rd 3 years ago |

I'd build things. Big things. Furniture, cars, motorcycles, trebuchets, etc.

taoufix 3 years ago |

Workout, watch a ton of old movies and TV shows, and build Legos.

daviesiesies 3 years ago |

Publish my book. Buy a sailing boat and cross the Atlantic in it.

jackvalentine 3 years ago |

I would ride my bike around the countryside and enjoy nature.

iamthepieman 3 years ago |

Teach my kids. Take them on field trips. Make the future.

eigilsagafos 3 years ago |

Definitely still work

eunoia 3 years ago |

Ski and write music.

mgarfias 3 years ago |

I’d be in the garage working on my car (big project)

Ftuuky 3 years ago |

Build a boat, sail around the world, write about it.

UniqueUsername0 3 years ago |

Argue with strangers on the Internet more.

bicepjai 3 years ago |

Get more education and travel world on land

technolo-g 3 years ago |

Continue to pursue a career in sculpture

jjgreen 3 years ago |

Learn German.

MerelyMortal 3 years ago |

Volunteer in the community.

lostmsu 3 years ago |

Research in deep learning.

user-extended 3 years ago |

Watch a lot of YouTube.

samelawrence 3 years ago |

Make art.

scombridae 3 years ago |

Besides two chicks at the same time? Nothing. I would sit on my ass all day. I would do nothing. -- P. Gibbons.