Work, Study, and Shopping

Posted on Views: Waline: Word count in article: 617 Reading time ≈ 2 mins.
A person who has been in the IT industry for three years, driven by a sense of crisis, spends a lot of spare time learning technology but neglects the people and things around him. After reading "One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch, he reflects and realizes the need to balance learning with life and family, hoping to make adjustments.

Anxiety

As I’m in the IT industry, on one hand, due to some of my own experiences, and on the other hand, with the internet full of talk about mid - life crisis (even though I’ve only graduated for three years and can’t really be considered middle - aged), I’ve always had a strong sense of crisis. I’m worried that one day I might be left behind by this era and the industry. Maybe it’s not exactly anxiety, but there always seems to be something nagging at me. So, apart from working, I spend a lot of my spare time learning technical things. Whether this “learning” is actually useful or not aside, it definitely takes up a great deal of my time. I even don’t want to go back to my hometown to visit my parents and relatives on weekends (it takes 2 - 3 hours by car), thinking it’s a waste of time. Let alone accompanying my wife shopping. Sometimes, even when I do accompany her, I’m reluctant in my heart. During the shopping process, I can’t really relax and enjoy myself. I always want to buy things quickly and go home. But I guess wives all over the world are the same, they always like to take their time, browsing one store after another…

The More You Learn, the Narrower Your Vision Becomes

Recently, I’ve been reading the book “One Up On Wall Street”. One of the viewpoints in the book is that if you pay more attention to the products you often come across in daily life, work, and consumption, as well as the companies that provide these products, you may have the opportunity to discover a great company before the market does, and then buy its stocks in advance to earn substantial profits.
It was when I read this viewpoint that I suddenly realized that although I’ve been learning technology in my spare time, I’m actually not that familiar with the people and things around me. Because I’m always in a hurry to finish what I’m doing and then rush to study, without paying attention to the changes happening around me. Looking back now, I think it’s not worth it.
To put it in a more utilitarian way, I learn to earn more money. But if I just keep learning technology blindly without noticing the changes in the company and my colleagues, and can’t apply what I’ve learned, what’s the point of learning so much? Maybe my technology has improved, but if I can’t bring benefits to the company and can’t be noticed by my colleagues and superiors, how can I expect a promotion and a raise? Or how can I discover high - quality companies and earn substantial profits as the book says?
Leaving money aside, from a family perspective, if I put all my time into work and study and spend too little time with my family, problems are bound to occur in the long run, especially between husband and wife. This feeling becomes even more obvious after getting married. A family needs the joint care of both people to be happy and long - lasting. Even from a “benefit” perspective, if a person wants to achieve something but doesn’t have the support of their family, it’s going to be extremely difficult. But if you don’t spend time interacting with your family, how can they understand you and what you’re doing? And how can they support you?

Change

I hope I can adjust my mindset in this regard in the future and strike a good balance. In the IT industry, learning is extremely important, but it’s not the only thing that matters. Life, family, and the things and changes happening around us are all equally important.