obv_throwaway_

It is pretty high, I agree.

I started 5 years ago on a 110k salary with no bonus. Over those 5 years I've worked my ass off, done some questionable things and never once asked for a raise. I work in a department on my own, in a small office. In the past 3 years I have done an average of 80hrs a week, occasionally getting in 12-14 hours on the odd weekend, other than my bonus I don't have any other benefits. I don't question why something needs to be done or the ethics behind it. I just do as I am asked and I et left alone to do it however I see fit.

I don't have a 'project manager', stand-ups or a kan-ban board. I rarely need to attend meetings. I have very few days off, take around 10 days holiday per-year ( we are permitted 32 ) and never question a task given too me. I don't know if there is any correlation in these things and my wage, just laying out the facts.

Its also not like they couldn't get in someone cheaper. The work I do isn't that hard. Its just fast-paced. In this place, time is literally money.

1st year - 110k, no bonus 2nd year - 140k, no bonus. 3rd year - 190k + bonus. 4th year - 220k + bonus. 5th year - as stated above.

I'm 34 and make £270,000 a year before taxes and bonuses. My bonus is measured against company profits, last year it was £70,000. This year it should be close to £100,000.

I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. I'm working towards a retirement that will put me in a place as far away from human contact as possible. I get a lot of anxiety from being around people so it's kind of perfect for me.

I don't think those drugs are great for escape. I strictly stick to Sativa strain for cannabis as to not get bogged down with the high and still work. LSD is only when I need to power through the weekends and it's a pretty small dose.

I've made a throwaway account to comment on this, and I've not scanned down through all the comments so you may already have similar stories.

I am a software developer based in London, UK who uses several stimulants / drugs in my day-to-day work, I also understand that I am the exception to the rule and whilst I do use a number of substances for many reasons, there are very few of my colleagues that do the same - in fact I have very few colleagues that I work closely with anyway.

To give you some context - I work for a financial group and mostly work on software to aid their day to day workflows. The simplest terms I can put it in is that I give a lot of rich city boys the tools to make them a lot of money and in return they pay me what I consider to be an obscene salary. I spend most of my days in the basement of one of those buildings in the city, in a small office, pretty much alone with headphones on and sometimes going days without actually talking to people. I like it.

I am diagnosed with ADHD which is not as commonly diagnosed in adults in the UK ( but becoming more commonly reconsised ) - for that I take methylphenidate ( commonly known as Ritalin in the US ) and that helps immensely with focus. I also vape cannabis regularly that also helps with the focus as my dose wears off. Sometimes, for those long weekend sessions of coding, I will use LSD.

The effects are - I dont have to loathe myself whilst doing my job. In all honesty, I hate my job and the people I work for, but at the same time, I got bills to pay and want to retire at a younger age than most. I also find that the drugs make me zone-in on a task and I am just able to get it done quicker. I write significantly better code high, than not.

I'd love to have a story for you, but in all honesty my life is pretty boring beyond the fact that some of the stuff I have to do is questionable, especially for those people who might be using online trading software.

Other than that, picture a guy, standing ( yeah, im one of those standing desk people ) in a small, fairly dimly lit office in the basement of a multi-billion pound financial bohemoth, with headphones on blasting some music whilst bashing away at a keyboard and thats pretty much my life.