Before I started my current MSc course, I was looking forward to the many pleasures commonly associated with student life: lots of time (or, in my case, lots of programming), lots of parties (or, in my case, lots of programming), etc.
How wrong I was! I could simply blame it on the workload, but I have to admit I don't really work that hard. No, it's the flexibility that really kills you.
When you're in a stable job, you can use your evenings and weekends as you please, you get real holidays, and you don't have to feel guilty about using those for non-work stuff. In fact, people will tell you off if you do use them for work stuff.
When you're a student, things are very different. Even during evenings, weekends and holidays
, a cloud of guilt looms over you all the time, this feeling that you really should be reading some research article or text book. Even if you don't put in as many hours as in working life, you actually feel busier and more stressed because of this.
Thus I haven't been able to work nearly as much on my software as I was hoping to. I know, I know, it sounds like I'm just making excuses. But anyway, to make up for some of my creative absence, I put in a few hours to get Namely 2.0.3b1 ready for release. If you have an Intel Mac, please try this out and let me know if it works. If you don't, try it anyway.
hey Amar! I have been following up on your work since PeopleBook for OS 9.x!
ReplyDeleteI used to work in advertising creative, then left to study films. I couldnt agree with you more, about student life being full of a weird irony, flexibility, and the resultant stress! Every single moment which could have been spent 'enjoying' the mythical stress-free student life, was full of stress and guilt about not reading as much as I could have! Films are a weird field, inasmuch one can read anything and everything, and this open brief is a killer! Now trying tofind work as an independant filmmaker, I envy people with 'real' jobs and as you put it 'real holidays'! I miss not being able to plan my life with a clear demarcation betweeen Work Time and Play Time. Its work 24x7, with no guarantee of results. For all those with 'regular' jobs : Enjoy! Its probaby the best way to live. Just get a fancy degree (and work hard of course, which we do too) and increase your pay and pick up the Jag on EMIs!