If you are doing 7-5 days, is that really... 32 hours?
I did a similar schedule once,
7 to 9:30 30min coffee break 10 to 12 1h lunch break 13 to 15:30 30 minute break 16 to 17
What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
61–70 of 111 posts
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could never understand why would someone accept these jobs. What's so great about becoming a manager and work 60h/week? How's that better than 40 a week as a subordinate and letting someone else worry about all the office drama?
It's just a different set of skills and you create value/feel rewarded in a different manner. It's not better or worse, it's just different and appeals to different kind of people. Take some other example from video games: - Why would anyone pick a healer in an MMO group ? What's so great about becoming a healer ? How's that better than playing a DPS, actually contributing to killing the boss and letting someone else…
Great analogy. I'm going to use that. I'm currently the "healer" in my "party"
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
How are you available when you are traveling and visiting your family?
Take the computer with you. Once in a while you have to pop it out. Rarely.
> Once in a while you have to pop it out. Rarely.
I think "working from home" means something different to different people...
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#64Related: "How to become a part-time programmer" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17131691
I would love to be in a position where 20% off my salary is not something to worry
How much would you love it? I of course don't know your situation but I suspect that many here in have salaries that are a lot higher than many others but have adjusted their lifestyle to their salary (which is pretty common).
It is all about what you value most in life and what sacrifices you want to do to reach there.
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#65I keep lowkey looking for studies on how much actual free time a person has in a day— really free, subtracting all chores and commuting. I've heard that some people have timed that and the results were rather surprising compared to the ‘common knowledge,’ but I'd like to have a source to cite.
To build on top of that, I'd want to see how much of that truly free time is in a "high energy state". What I mean by that is a free time where you're awake/energetic enough to do something meaningful – read a challenging book and take notes, write a thoughtful email to a friend, host a party, try to build a new friendship, etc. On most workdays I find myself so spent that a) I don't want to see people, b) I don't ha…
I can say that for me, working 4 days wasn’t like getting one extra day per week - it was more like getting any actual weekend at all. Saturday used to be “I’m too exhausted to do ANYTHING, let’s stay in”, and Sunday was, like you say, a chore day. On Monday I’d still be tired, and demotivated because my weekend was such a waste.
On 4 days I finally feel like I don’t have to spend my weekends preserving my energy. I can actually plan things to do without thinking “oh no, I shouldn’t, that’ll make me too tired for chores/work.” I can have a life!
edit: also, a benefit that people don’t tend to consider is that getting certain chores done is much faster on weekdays. You won’t find queues at the shops, bank, opticians, doctors etc on a Friday morning!
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could never understand why would someone accept these jobs. What's so great about becoming a manager and work 60h/week? How's that better than 40 a week as a subordinate and letting someone else worry about all the office drama?
Cannot speak for all but usually its money. Many companies cap technical tracks pretty fast while management is uncapped. Next as as you go further in your career then management as a nearly universally considered a valid next step. For me, my manager was fired and rather than having to deal with hiring my boss (for second time), I took the role even though I knew I would dislike the politics/drama.
I used to never want to be a manager. Now I'd rather be a manager than have someone incompetent and new tell me what to do. I think this is a common trope.
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could never understand why would someone accept these jobs. What's so great about becoming a manager and work 60h/week? How's that better than 40 a week as a subordinate and letting someone else worry about all the office drama?
I'm guessing it is something to do with money in most cases.
1.5x the pay for double the hours isn't a trade-up though.
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could never understand why would someone accept these jobs. What's so great about becoming a manager and work 60h/week? How's that better than 40 a week as a subordinate and letting someone else worry about all the office drama?
It's just a different set of skills and you create value/feel rewarded in a different manner. It's not better or worse, it's just different and appeals to different kind of people. Take some other example from video games: - Why would anyone pick a healer in an MMO group ? What's so great about becoming a healer ? How's that better than playing a DPS, actually contributing to killing the boss and letting someone else…
Thank you, that helps me understand.
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what i notced with my friend in the managerial position. He can spend most of the time in Work From Home mode, has really good pay grade, and can't rest. He's looks like he's on a wrist band leash getting mails every 2-3 minutes and needs to somehow react on 10%. He doesnt do much other than be available 12-16h 6-7days a week. It's taking more toll than one would expect.
I could never understand why would someone accept these jobs. What's so great about becoming a manager and work 60h/week? How's that better than 40 a week as a subordinate and letting someone else worry about all the office drama?
Let's say things are humming along swimmingly in your career. You find yourself in a very decent position in a company that has a nice IC ladder.
A decade later, you are an expert in the technologies that company uses, are paid well, and have good working conditions. But a recession comes, the company has a couple of bad years, and is taken over by a private equity firm. They decide you are too expensive and you're laid off.
You have 15 years experience as an IC, are a master of your craft, and no one wants to hire you. Principal engineers are promoted from within rather than hire from without. You are willing to start lower down the totem poll at a new place, but hiring managers believe that you'll leave at the first chance, or be disgruntled at the pay/seniority cut, or are just plain intimated by you. Realistically you are looking at a couple of decades of contracting. That's not the worst thing in the world, there are some upsides, but it's not the pure IC work you had been hoping for--it means decades of hustling.
Now look at the other career path. 6-7 years as an IC, 2-3 years as a engineering lead, 4-5 years as a engineering manager. If you get laid off at that point, besides all the engineering manager positions you can go for, you can also position yourself as a engineering VP / CTO of a smaller company. No one is overqualified for that, and the CEO that does the hiring isn't going to be intimated.
I'm not saying that you need to decide that reduced career risk (and probably extra money) are worth moving to the leadership track from the less stressful IC track, but isn't some incomprehensible choice.
Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week
#70I have been working 24, 32 and 40 hours for longer periods of time.
While 24 hours is great for personal time I felt like I got out of touch with my company, collegues and work in general.
40 hours a week is just 'getting those 8 hours a day full'.
I felt when working 32 hours I was most productive and did the same work as in a 40 hour week. Every week I started fresh and felt more relaxed over all.