Just a thought as I’m fairly new here and you’ve obviously put a lot of time and effort into thinking over these issues.

However, I wonder whether you could solve your problem by redefining what you see as a reason to work?

Sounds obvious, but you talk about more emotional things you want out of work – e.g. satisfaction – whereas with the alternative income streams etc you list a cold hard number.

Maybe if you really deconstructed work to see it in the same light – simple as a number to add to another number at the end of the month, it might take some of the sting out of the hours you have to put into it.

It might also lead to your goals being reached sooner. For instance, you might take a simpler job with less responsibility which pays you $75,000 a year and lets you go home at 5pm to spend a couple of hours on your other streams, rather than seek one for prestige or satisfaction that also has you in the office 8-8 and at weekends.

When your alternative income grows to a certain point, you could then run down the job.

Anyway, as I say may be way off base so take with a pinch of salt, but I think you need to realise you’re going back to work for money, so you need to find the simplest way for you to make the most amount of money in the shortest amount of working time.

Get your satisfaction at another time, in another place, when you can better afford it (i.e. because you’re other income can cover the shortfall).

Just MHO,

Monevator

So sometimes there is a choice. You can work in software R&D, have an opportunity for design work and even research but earn less or do less interesting work and earn more.

I choose the former, although 5 weeks vacation that I earned have something to do with my unwillingness to look for higher salary. Some people are lucky to have both an interesting job and high salary, but it doesn’t always work this way.

At any rate, given that I’ve worked for only one company all my life I probably don’t know much about the “real world”.

I’ve put Ruby on Rails on my short list of technologies to learn. That list includes CakePHP and Python. I’ve seen a lot more jobs for RoR though thus far.

BTW, thanks for the honorable mention, and thanks for your financial advice and the guys you link to. With the ideas I’ve gotten here, I’ve been able to lower the interest on my car and my biggest credit card, and use the savings to pay in full my smaller cc and implement a 1-year debt-free plan. Then I can start saving.

I may be an “overpriced consultant”… but I have people knocking down my door to work for them, my schedule is booked through 2009, and I’ll be retiring before I’m 35.

Let me clarify my points further:

Go where the demand is means find a technology that is in demand TODAY. It doesn’t mean move to an location where the jobs are, or sit on a previous hot technology and hope for the best.

I work from home, in an area where the avg. salary is

Anyways – LazyMan – do whatever you want and take your time doing it, it sounds like your wife can pay the bills for a while so you are not a slave to your job or even your career. In my case I’m the only breadwinner so my options are much more limited. In other words – don’t do what I’m doing :)

Mike

The Dividend Guy

After Enron, things got ugly. My line of work has become bureaucratic minute-detail checking monotony. Deservedly so, don’t get me wrong – Enron showed that the ‘fun times’ weren’t that much fun when people lost their life savings. I just mean that things I loved – management consulting, helping businesses out, etc. – were forbidden and now I’m just beating people up for failing to have 86 levels of authorization before someone signs a check for $3.50. I’m still learning a LOT of new things (as Programmer suggested) it’s just that they are boring new regulations and rules and I just don’t CARE.

Anyway, my point is just that things change. People get bored, industries develop, etc.

The big question is – are you tired enough of it to make a significant change – not just a new company?