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Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

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Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#71

Post by endswapper »

malux85 wrote: post #36

It was just brute force. I worked every evening, every weekend, on the tube on the way to and from the office. During my lunch hours. My coworkers knew not to interrupt me during lunch, because I always took a sandwich to the same desk, put my headphones on, and worked. Have you seen that comic "You must burn", that's exactly it. It's painful, there's moments of crippling self doubt, there's moments when you'd rather…

Brute force describes it well. At some point you have to take the plunge. You will likely learn fairly quickly if it's for you.

Expect to fail. And while it shouldn't be a goal, my failures have always been more beneficial, more productive than any success. Success always has the risk of promoting complacency. Failure will test your character and grit. In the end you will know more about yourself having tried than not. I also recommend doing it as young as possible. It helps to teach you the possibilities. If you decide it's not for you then you have time to start over and rebuild. Maybe with maturity and a different perspective you have the opportunity to pursue it again later on.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#72

Post by blisterpeanuts »

vi1rus wrote: post #18
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #6

I didn't escape my 9-to-5 job to start my own business (hoping to, eventually) but I did become full time work-from-home which is about 75% as good. I pretty much set my own hours, start work between 8am and 9am and end between 5pm and 6pm. Some days I really get nothing done -- right now we're in the midst of buying a house, and I must confess I'm spending lots of time communicating with the lender and broker, packi…

I can also work from home pretty much every day. I avoid it because I have 4 kids at home, and it's kind of a zoo.

Yeah, we have kind of a strict rule here that during business hours I'm not to be disturbed. Luckily, my daughter's in school 8am-3pm now, and then she often is ferried around to after-school activities, so the house is pretty quiet during the school year. So you have something to look forward to, hopefully :)

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#73

Post by matell »

I was working 9-5 for five years as web app developer which allowed me to create financial buffer to live for several years without work if needed. I live in a cheap country.

At the end I actually took one year off, and during that time I learned to code mobile apps and then successfully joined Toptal and work as freelancer. And since I am in Toptal I receive also many freelance job offers from other sides, just because I mention I am their member in my linkedin profile. I was surprised that they have such a good reputation.

Anyway, I credit my success at joining Toptal mostly to the amount of free time I had during the hiring process (which took cca 1 month), so that I was able to fully focus on it.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#74

Post by mohsinr »

vi1rus wrote: post #39
malux85 wrote: post #36

It was just brute force. I worked every evening, every weekend, on the tube on the way to and from the office. During my lunch hours. My coworkers knew not to interrupt me during lunch, because I always took a sandwich to the same desk, put my headphones on, and worked. Have you seen that comic "You must burn", that's exactly it. It's painful, there's moments of crippling self doubt, there's moments when you'd rather…

Is this the article you are referencing? http://www.feld.com/archives/2011/10/be-on-fire.html Cause that picture is now my new wallpaper... Also it sounds like you have a similar path to mine. Launch stuff, fail, launch again stop mid way when no traction, launch, fail. Mind if I ask what you are doing that having 5 clients is all you need to be self-sufficient?

Great thanks so much for sharing. Here is video version I found in the comments https://youtu.be/z1x3BZjU5Pw

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#75

Post by mohsinr »

vi1rus wrote: post #39
malux85 wrote: post #36

It was just brute force. I worked every evening, every weekend, on the tube on the way to and from the office. During my lunch hours. My coworkers knew not to interrupt me during lunch, because I always took a sandwich to the same desk, put my headphones on, and worked. Have you seen that comic "You must burn", that's exactly it. It's painful, there's moments of crippling self doubt, there's moments when you'd rather…

Is this the article you are referencing? http://www.feld.com/archives/2011/10/be-on-fire.html Cause that picture is now my new wallpaper... Also it sounds like you have a similar path to mine. Launch stuff, fail, launch again stop mid way when no traction, launch, fail. Mind if I ask what you are doing that having 5 clients is all you need to be self-sufficient?

Great thanks so much for sharing. Here is video version I found in the comments https://youtu.be/z1x3BZjU5Pw

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#77

Post by skadamat »

csallen wrote: post #48

I did remote contract front-end development for about 3 years. Working contracts gave me a TON of flexibility to work on my own projects on the side. I also tried to take high-paying contracts and save as much money as I could. When my last contract ended, I had enough money in the bank to survive for ~18 months without another paycheck, even while paying rent in SF. Currently, I'm about 9 months into that. I've work…

Super cool! I used to use Taskforce and actually cold emailed you way back in the day (4 years ago?) back when I didn't know much about web development!

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#78

Post by hbhakhra »

codegeek wrote: post #5
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting story, codegeek. I'm curious as to what type of business you bought, and how you discovered it. A website of businesses for sale? Is it in your same field which I assume is coding?

Yes, my field which is tech (duh!!). I am actually an addict when it comes to sites like flippa, feinternational etc. Both are mostly useless but every once in a while, you get a real gem there. I found one. It was funny because I was accidentally browsing flippa that day (labor day weekend and I had to stay home which was not the plan originally). I liked what the seller described and the way the seller described it…

Do you have any more information on how you filtered business and what made the one bought stand out?

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#79

Post by tachibana »

Diligent savings over many years combined with low-risk investments. The stable income it generates now covers all living expenses for my family. I'm still part of the 9-5 crowd by choice while I search for my next calling in life. However, the main job is now more of a training ground and networking center than a primary source of income.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#80

Post by lowDs »

codegeek wrote: post #66
sliverstorm wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does wife like it now? Is she happier despite the income disparity, or has it been a permanent sacrifice she has made for your happiness?

It is mixed feelings. She is happy that we are now close to the income we wanted even though progress has been slower than expected. Every once in a while, she does question if I did the right thing. Mind you though. Our expenses were very high when I quit. We got accustomed to a certain lifestyle back then and never had to think too much about money. That has changed but it does not mean we are poor. She is practica…

I'm glad you made the switch. I remember when you're thinking about it on HN.
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