~/blog/working_doesn't_have_to_suck
Working doesn't have to suck
When I was a child, I always heard grown-ups talk about work like it is the worst thing that ever happened to them. This struck fear in me. I didn't want to grow up to suffer for the rest of my life while working.
At 19 I had my first "real" job. That meant I was no longer working for my parents. I was doing work bites using the app called GoWorkaBit. It was mostly physical work for low salary, but it was something. After a few of these work bites I felt that now I understand what being "grown-up" means: Doing work that sucks.
A year later I got a gig from my friend: a show business gig. We were part of the production team that set up the entire event. This at the beginning felt like a breath of fresh air. It was new, not just physical, but also I had to use my brain to find solutions and fix problems. It was way better and I also could do that with my very good friend, so that made it even better.
For 2 years I did these gigs. But after a while it started to feel like just work again. There were no longer any new interesting problems that had to be solved. I once again felt that I couldn't use my brain in that work and it was just something that had to be done. I felt like this is not at all what I wanted and again I remembered, what grown-ups had said.
A year ago, I and two of my classmates from University created our own company and started to create software. We of course wanted to make money with it, but at the beginning it felt kind of impossible. We made a platform for students to share their course materials. The idea was not something new, but we thought that we could do it better. Also one of our main ideas was that it had to be open for everybody, no login, no subscription, no nothing for viewing the files.
And this is what we did! Now we have OpenAbi.ee up and running and there are users actually using it! But this was just the beginning. From there we got our first client that wanted a website. And right after that we had another and this got the ball rolling...
Today we have six official employees (including ourselves). And this may sound rich coming from a company's co-founder, but I love my job. And on a daily basis I am not some cocky boss, who yells at people and then gets paid. I am just a software engineer like everyone else at the company. We try to keep it as equal as possible amongst ourselves.
But yes, I really do love my job, even if some days do not go as planned, and sometimes I get stuck on a stupid problem for days. I really do feel like that is what I'm meant to do in this world.
I am sure that I am very lucky to have such a feeling this early in my life, but I think anyone can find their calling, they just have to want it enough!
At 19 I had my first "real" job. That meant I was no longer working for my parents. I was doing work bites using the app called GoWorkaBit. It was mostly physical work for low salary, but it was something. After a few of these work bites I felt that now I understand what being "grown-up" means: Doing work that sucks.
A year later I got a gig from my friend: a show business gig. We were part of the production team that set up the entire event. This at the beginning felt like a breath of fresh air. It was new, not just physical, but also I had to use my brain to find solutions and fix problems. It was way better and I also could do that with my very good friend, so that made it even better.
For 2 years I did these gigs. But after a while it started to feel like just work again. There were no longer any new interesting problems that had to be solved. I once again felt that I couldn't use my brain in that work and it was just something that had to be done. I felt like this is not at all what I wanted and again I remembered, what grown-ups had said.
A year ago, I and two of my classmates from University created our own company and started to create software. We of course wanted to make money with it, but at the beginning it felt kind of impossible. We made a platform for students to share their course materials. The idea was not something new, but we thought that we could do it better. Also one of our main ideas was that it had to be open for everybody, no login, no subscription, no nothing for viewing the files.
And this is what we did! Now we have OpenAbi.ee up and running and there are users actually using it! But this was just the beginning. From there we got our first client that wanted a website. And right after that we had another and this got the ball rolling...
Today we have six official employees (including ourselves). And this may sound rich coming from a company's co-founder, but I love my job. And on a daily basis I am not some cocky boss, who yells at people and then gets paid. I am just a software engineer like everyone else at the company. We try to keep it as equal as possible amongst ourselves.
But yes, I really do love my job, even if some days do not go as planned, and sometimes I get stuck on a stupid problem for days. I really do feel like that is what I'm meant to do in this world.
I am sure that I am very lucky to have such a feeling this early in my life, but I think anyone can find their calling, they just have to want it enough!