161–170 of 530 posts
Stop believing the stupid shit other people say. Do what works for you and to hell with the rest.
One of the many great things about children, if you're not a total heartless bastard of course, is that having them really sharpens your mind as to what's important and what's not. Most of these things the HN crowd obsesses over are shit, and the things that replace those things will also be shit, and the thing you make with those things--even if it makes you fabulously wealthy--will also be shit, and if you don't be…
There's more to life than working every hour you can, and preparing for more work in between.
Go out, see the world, spend time with your favourite humans and other animals. You'll have a richer life.
Wow, inspiring comments. I am a 30-year-old software engineer — not married, no kids, but reading the comments here gets me thinking that however busy I think I am, I wouldn't even dare to compare to what you all are going through. Instead, I should stop fooling myself of thinking that I am busy and cease to be lazy.
One of the many great things about children, if you're not a total heartless bastard of course, is that having them really sharpens your mind as to what's important and what's not. Most of these things the HN crowd obsesses over are shit, and the things that replace those things will also be shit, and the thing you make with those things--even if it makes you fabulously wealthy--will also be shit, and if you don't be…
Great. That means I should not feel bad about any hypothetical statistics that show parents paid less than non-parents. You're saying parents are, on average, statistically, not as useful as non-parents to a company.
I don't think this is a question you should ask yourself, but you should talk to your employer about. I don't see any brick-layers practising new brick laying techniques in their spare time, or car mechanics expected to find out about new cars and engines at the weekend. Obviously you have interests, and you like to know about the latest news or craze but this should be a recreational activity (ten minutes here and there). If blogging, research and trying new technology benefits your work then it should be supported by your employer.
Incidentally I am a full-time senior engineer with two kids and many years experience. You shouldn't be expected to juggle like this.
Once you have a kid - time shrinks. If you thought 24 hours a day was less before having a kid - just imagine. However you also start focusing on being efficient with your time. At least that's what happened to me. You can't work 100 hours a week consistently after a certain age (usually after 30). I don't thrive to work 100+ hours a week, but I am very careful at where/how I spend my 50+ hours a week.
One of the many great things about children, if you're not a total heartless bastard of course, is that having them really sharpens your mind as to what's important and what's not. Most of these things the HN crowd obsesses over are shit, and the things that replace those things will also be shit, and the thing you make with those things--even if it makes you fabulously wealthy--will also be shit, and if you don't be…
So what you're saying is "you don't. People with children will not be as good". Great. That means I should not feel bad about any hypothetical statistics that show parents paid less than non-parents. You're saying parents are, on average, statistically, not as useful as non-parents to a company.
I do not have children but I do not want to spend much time learning outside of my work. But some parents like to learn outside of work.
He does not cite any statistics either so you are making a lot of shortcuts.
Because I am human I skip 1 day a week to do whatever I want, at weekends I do about 3h saturday and another 3h sunday of learning again when everyone is in bed so I can concentrate better.
This gives me about 12h a week of studying and experimenting with new technology.
The only way to keep up is to be organised and assign your priorities, make sure your kid is at the top, whatever it takes he needs to be at the top.
As a consequence of all this I got to understand how time is important and very scarce, I try to optimise every single free minute, this is a very hard exercise but essential.
This thread is slowly filling up with stories of enthusiastic workaholic parents who are disciplined and fit enough to take every single 15 minute break to sit down and get some code out. If you're able to code up a blog engine with one hand while holding your baby in the other, I envy you. I wish I could muster up the energy and discipline to do something like that. But to other readers: for many people this is not…
I totally agree with your story. So to keep up with technology is that I sometimes switch from customer (if you have the chance), then you will automically learn new things. Whether they are old or new technologies. Another thing is try to follow sometimes courses, seminars (hard- and soft skill), during working hours preferably. Then it won't affect your private time. And if I have time when my 3 kids are in bed, an…