Since Facebook employees are (almost) required to have the website open for chats and groups while working, I'm just curious:
how distraction-free are you able to keep your pomodoro work intervals?
Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
11–20 of 38 posts
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#129:30 AM: Arrive at office. 11:30 AM: Stop working 11:50 AM: Go to lunch. 1:30 PM: Get back from lunch. 4:55 PM: Go Home. 2 hours a day.
Wow, what sort of job to you work in that's so laid back? :P
I've only seen these sorts of hours in government jobs.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#13Since Facebook employees are (almost) required to have the website open for chats and groups while working, I'm just curious: how distraction-free are you able to keep your pomodoro work intervals?
I usually keep one tab with Facebook open, but I simply ignore any messages or notifications during the work period and check them during the 5 minute rest period.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#14I average about four hours of programming per day. That's been pretty consistent over the past ten years. Attempts to increase this over the last couple years have been in vain.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#15I think the average person's capacity for deeply focused work is generally considered to be around 6 hours per day. I've found that to be the case for me as well. However, I can be maxed out at my day job, but go home and work on an unrelated side project for several more hours. I highly recommend Cal Newport's blog as he writes phenomenal content on "deep work", the importance of focus, and how to maximize your "dee…
> I highly recommend Cal Newport's blog as he writes phenomenal content on "deep work", the importance of focus, and how to maximize your "deep work" output. --> http://calnewport.com/blog/about/
I used to read his blog quite regularly in college - perhaps I should go back and reread some of his stuff again.
I found his piece on deliberate practice also worth a read: http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/11/11/if-youre-busy-youre-do...
> Separate out "deep work" (design, coding, problem solving) from "shallow work" (email, social media). Do as much deep work as possible every day, but then fill in the rest with shallow but necessary work.
That's an interesting thought - in general I've noticed writing email and attending meetings tend to require far less mental strain than focused work.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#16I run my solo bootstrapped SaaS business and have put in consistent 80-100 hour weeks (total computer time) for the past 4 years and am 60-85% "productive" (according to RescueTime). Of course there have been some odd weeks of only 20 hours (...and some 120). Not really proud of it. It is what it is. It's been working. I think in the next 2 years I'll be able to figure it all out and taper down (which I really look f…
I feel this sort of thing depends from person to person - I enjoy programming and would probably enjoy it even more if I were doing it for myself, but I still can't imagine putting in 80-100 hours a week Elon Musk style.
I guess my stamina is just lower than yours.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#17That's exactly my problem, I can't work for more than 5-6 hours because of exhaustion. But in my case, I'm still in school and work full time, so that may be part of the problem.
> I'm still in school and work full time
That sounds incredibly stressful. Out of curiosity, how many hours do you typically put in at school (attending classes, studying, working on assignments, etc.)? What sort of work do you do?
I've thought about studying for a Master's degree while I work here - always wanted to experience a 'real' education since my undergrad was really disappointing as far as academics were concerned. A top school from a developing country still doesn't come close to an average school in North America or Europe unfortunately :(
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#18I run my solo bootstrapped SaaS business and have put in consistent 80-100 hour weeks (total computer time) for the past 4 years and am 60-85% "productive" (according to RescueTime). Of course there have been some odd weeks of only 20 hours (...and some 120). Not really proud of it. It is what it is. It's been working. I think in the next 2 years I'll be able to figure it all out and taper down (which I really look f…
I can understand the motivation of investing so much time when you personally get to reap all of the rewards, but do you ever worry about burnout? Seems like you've been going at 100% for two years now, how long more can that continue before your mental or physical health takes a beating? When was the last time you took a vacation/holiday?
Worrying or thinking about burnout would condition me to inevitably burnout. It doesn't really even enter my mind, because I know it will just make me and the business weaker. I simply look at it like: I want a successful business that gives me freedom to do what I want. Bootstrapped, staying small, and making money is the path towards that for me. I've been going 100% for 4 years, so I think if I were to ever burnout then that would have happened already. I take "workcations" somewhat regularly.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#19[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How many hours do you work?
#20Around 5 billable hours a day.