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Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

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Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#111

Post by wprapido »

lojack wrote: post #64
jiblylabs wrote: post #27

As a freelancer, I understand where some of the comments "As a freelancer this won't work" are coming from. However, the last year I've flipped my freelancing model where I offer a more productized service with a clearly defined scope and set price. Instead of doing design work for $XXX/h, I'll deliver A,B,C within Timeframe Y, for Price $XXXX. With clearly defined services, I've actually been working for the last 12…

Alternatively, consider charging by the day. It's unconventional, but it makes sense for a number of reasons.

in the UK contractors / consultants / freelancers do charge daily and i definitely prefer it over hourly rates or fixed per project prices

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#112

Post by ams6110 »

MarcusP wrote: post #29
JacobAldridge wrote: post #7

If I told you that every car needed 8 gallons of gas to drive 100 miles, you'd point out I was wrong - so many different makes and models, not to mention variables from tire pressure to driving style. Yet for the potentially even more complex range that is different people, it amazes me that so much of the advice is didactic - we all need 8 hours sleep, 8 glasses of water, and 8 hours of work with breaks is optimal.…

I agree with your point, one size certainly doesn't fit all. However, people should also be aware that they are not special snowflakes and there large groups of people who have the same tendencies and benefit from the same advice. Therefore, even though I appreciate that this isn't a solution for everyone, I don't think it's fair to say that this boils down to just a personal experience with no external value.

I think maybe the larger lesson is to timebox work so that it's not overwhelming. This can tend to reduce procrastination and time-wasting distractions in some people, as it's less intimidating to start a three hour work session than an all-day one, and easier to stay focused with a clear ending time already known. Whether that's three hours, or four, or two sets of two hours, maybe is less important.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#114

Post by a-saleh »

Nice!

I actually had similar routine while at school, but it was 6 hours a day total. 3 hours in the evening, usually just before I went to sleep, might be 19-22, or 21-24 and 3 hours in the morning when I woke up and continued for ~3 hours and then left for lectures.

I started doing this because I realized that I am no longer capable of pulling all-nighters. And it worked surprisingly well :-)

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#115

Post by vmorgulis »

vram22 wrote: post #85
err4nt wrote: post #39

I have experienced a similar thing while freelancing or design and web development. I used to work 16 hours some days and less hours others, but then sometimes I would need to work and found it hard to kick it into gear. I think creativity is like a well, and when you do creative work its like drawing that water out. If you use too much water one day, the well runs dry. You have to wait for the goundwater to fill it…

Do you think this is related to biorhythms? I meant to post an Ask HN on it recently, then saw your comment. I know a lot of people will dismiss it as pseudo-science, but my reply to that kind of answer, is sometimes this: if we could go back in time and describe to a cave man or even a person of two or three or ten centuries ago, some of the inventions that we take as commonplace today, like airplanes, computers, la…

In a similar comment of mine, someone points me the Theory of Complexity:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organiza...

> So, many of the things that are dismissed as pseudo-science, may just be things that actually work or are true, but we just don't happen to know how they work or the physical laws that govern them, as of now.

I would say the opposite. Systems we use (like money, laws or politics) that we see as natural or inevitable are based on pseudo-science because we don't know their nature or rules.

We use the discoveries of our ancestors and think we are better than them. We are still in the matrix waiting for the red pill without knowing it.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#116

Post by nommm-nommm »

dkopi wrote: post #50
jiblylabs wrote: post #27

As a freelancer, I understand where some of the comments "As a freelancer this won't work" are coming from. However, the last year I've flipped my freelancing model where I offer a more productized service with a clearly defined scope and set price. Instead of doing design work for $XXX/h, I'll deliver A,B,C within Timeframe Y, for Price $XXXX. With clearly defined services, I've actually been working for the last 12…

This approach has a lot of pros and cons. By committing to a fixed price for a project, you're taking a lot of risk on yourself. What if it takes more than Y? What if you weren't able to expect the true scope of the project? What if the customer isn't cooperative and wastes your time? What is considered a reasonable delivery? How many bugs do you continue to fix for free without charging more? How many changes to you…

In the contracting world these types of contracts have more risk but are more profitable. The key is to get you ducks in a row beforehand. Your project management has to be very good. There is some type of work fixed price isn't suited for, obviously, but lots of work where fixed price makes a lot of sense.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#117

Post by spatten »

wilblack wrote: post #74

I started contract work last fall. I set me rate assuming a 25 hour work week. At first I tried working ~4 hrs / day everyday day. I quickly realized this did not work for me. Working everyday, even just a little is not sustainable for me. I have a family and they are still on the 9 to 5 schedule, so working even a few hours on weekends cut into my family time which is important to me. So now I force myself to take a…

I agree with everyone else about the physical hobbies, but I find you need something else to fill the evenings when you don't necessarily want to go outside, or when you just want to spend half an hour doing something that's not coding and not reading.

Music does that for me. If you're at all interested, check out justinguitar.com (no affiliation, just love what the guy does) and try it out. There's something about the meditative aspects of playing music that really works for me.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#118

Post by jschwartzi »

mattmanser wrote: post #37
Kenji wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really want alcohol, why waste the next day with hangover when you can just drink one or two drinks and be well?

Getting drunk is part of the point. There's no gain in pretending it's not.

There's a spectrum: tipsy, drunk, pissed, belligerent, shitfaced, and finally poisoned.

From pissed on you're probably going to get a hangover.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#119

Post by nommm-nommm »

mattmanser wrote: post #37
Kenji wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really want alcohol, why waste the next day with hangover when you can just drink one or two drinks and be well?

Getting drunk is part of the point. There's no gain in pretending it's not.

I really like drinking but I hate being drunk. I am happy with a buzz but if I drink more after that is unpleasant to me.

My apologies to Xg15 for down voting him or her. It was accidental, my finger slipped and there's no "undo" button that I know of.

Re: Work for only 3 hours a day, but everyday

#120

Post by jdietrich »

artursapek wrote: post #97
katzgrau wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Not only did I begin viewing creativity as a limited resource I create and have access to over time, but I noticed that some activities, like reading about science, listening to music, and walking around town actually increase the rate at which the well fills up." +1, many times over. Taking breaks and having fun are very important to maintaining high productivity and creativity when I am working. Unfortunately it's…

> "there's someone out there who is working harder than you on the same thing and they're going to win if you let up." I've heard Elon Musk say this a lot. It seems to work for him, at least. https://youtu.be/GtaxU6DZvLs?t=79

The training and diet regimen of an elite athlete would kill most of the population. What works for the 0.001% is not necessarily the best approach for everyone.
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