A Hacker News reader recently posed an interesting question:
How do you find a "boring" tech job? Not exactly something most of us would be interested in doing but the reader does explain the reasoning behind the request:
"I've worked at startups as an engineer for several years now and I'm sick of it. The stress vs. what I get out of it isn't worth it anymore, and it significantly impacted my health in the process. I want a boring job with boring tech at a larger boring company with stability and predictability. I just don't know where to begin looking. How do I figure this out?"
Personally, I have never enjoyed working at a job that others would consider 'boring'. I have more of a creative mind than I do a mechanical one, so I like variety, which is part of the reason I enjoy doing newsletters. If every week is different. I don't feel like I'm ever in a rut.
Nonetheless, I'm sure there are others who would prefer a less stressful job, so you might want to check out the thread for some of the answers.
I will point out, however, that the reader is directly associating high stress with working as an engineer at a startup. So maybe it's the overall engineering/startup culture that needs to change. I'm sure some startups have already started encouraging a less stressful environment but it does seem as though startup culture is often associated with higher levels of stress at work.
But maybe you've had a different experience? I suppose it depends on a lot of factors, so no blanket statements here.
Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!
