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How much free time do you have?

erikrood.com

111–120 of 226 posts

Re: How much free time do you have?

#111
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try to make it a point to do all the chores when the kids are awake. When they are asleep is time to relax; not do mundane tasks I don't feel it's my duty to entertain my kinds every waking hour, so if they have to settle with watching me fold the laundry or unload the dishwasher, so be it. This probably won't win me the father-of-the-year award, and it is parenting-style me and my girlfriend don't always agree abo…

How would you feel about this choice if one of your children died of cancer? Would you still think you'd made the right choice, or would you regret prioritising laundry over your children?

Honestly, I think it depends on how it goes. As a young kid, I watched my dad write emails through Hotmail over HyperTerminal (I think) to other doctors discussing surgical procedures.

Honestly, I quite enjoyed it. He just wrote the emails and I just sat there and read what he wrote and understood some tiny fraction. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#112
I am always somewhat puzzled by the focus on free time without taking into account the energy balance of a person.

I find often that when someone says “I don’t have the time”, what they really mean is that they don’t have energy left to take on something else.

In my case, I find that there’s often enough hours, but I don’t always have the energy to be active 100% of that time and just end up taking some rest.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#113
post #107

In my probably unpopular opinion, parenting shouln'd be on the list. It's not a forced activity like sleeping or eating or commuting. It's a conscious choice people make between it and other hobbies.

> It's not a forced activity Because rape never happens?

I don't agree with the original but this doesn't sound convincing. You still get to choose to keep the child, right?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#114

I think commute time should count two or three times. I sit in the car for 80 minutes a day and I am totally shot in the evening so I get nothing done even if I have time. . On the days I work from home I work the same amount. After work I relax for half an hour and can do things after. Commuting is a real soul killer in my view.

You just made me realize how lucky I am. I'm commuting 2x 55min per day. I always think it's too much, but it's mostly by train. There is about a 50% chance of me getting 2x 35min uninterrupted reading time out of it (depending on the crowd).

Re: How much free time do you have?

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not productive on your four-day weekends, and if you think your job isn't worth anything in the ultimate sense, you will wake up one day and be 79 without having done much of anything.

Enjoying 79 stress-free years sounds better than having things to brag about on your gravestone.

79 years making stuff _I care about_ would be heaven, though.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#116
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>150 hours in a 7 day period Doing what? Just curious. I could only image doing something like that if the job was extremely lax - like a toll booth operator in a slow town, or something.

>> 150 hours in a 7 day period > Doing what? Just curious. I can't speak for the GP (as I am not they), but can say I pulled a 118 hour work week once doing s/w development. Four 20 hour days for one client and the other 38 for another. Suffice to say it was not a fun week.

At that point, wouldn't it have made more sense to set expectations that their 1-week turnaround is realistically a 3-week ask, instead of working 20 hour days?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#117
post #40
post #5

Really depressing. Between work, long commute, gym, and part-time grad school, I have 18 free hours a week out of 168. Makes me wonder what the hell I am doing when I have other hobbies that I would love to be pursuing. Most of the time I simply don't have the mental energy to pursue much of anything in my 18 free hours. Sometimes I just need to turn my brain off. I find myself to lash out in weird ways when I am par…

I’m in the middle of a four day weekend. I’ll probably get absolutely nothing extraordinary done in it. Despite there being plenty of things I could be doing. The 40 hour work week is tyrannical.

"Tyrannical" is an absurd way to frame the 40-hour workweek.

The vast majority of people in the world aren't tech workers where productivity and time spent have a nonlinear relationship. Having been on both sides of the coin, calling a 40-hour work week "tyrannical" screams "ivory tower". Those of us in law and medicine (not to mention numerous people in early-stage startups) would get a great laugh out out of that characterization.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#118

Some feedback about the formula from a parent: The formula needs to account for the reality that with young children your "parental duties" expands to occupy all free time when kids are awake. And also shifts other chores into any free time slots when kids are asleep. Kids are asleep. Time to clean the kitchen, do the dishes, switch the laundry, cut some veggies for tomorrow's dinner, and then find somewhere softer t…

I try to make it a point to do all the chores when the kids are awake. When they are asleep is time to relax; not do mundane tasks I don't feel it's my duty to entertain my kinds every waking hour, so if they have to settle with watching me fold the laundry or unload the dishwasher, so be it. This probably won't win me the father-of-the-year award, and it is parenting-style me and my girlfriend don't always agree abo…

At least to me this is completely normal. It’d be weird to put off chores. Kids are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves with occasional wrangling whilst things are getting done.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#119
A few ways to get more free time:

- combine commuting with working out. Even if you only run 1/2 way and still have to catch a train for the second half you’ll still be getting time back. - hire a cleaning service if you can afford it. Maybe a Roomba? - move closer to work to reduce your commute time. - don’t keep your phone by your bed. If you are like me you’ll waste time in the morning and evening. - don’t make more chores for yourself than necessary. For example, you can often wear pants 2 days of the week without issue.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#120

Some feedback about the formula from a parent: The formula needs to account for the reality that with young children your "parental duties" expands to occupy all free time when kids are awake. And also shifts other chores into any free time slots when kids are asleep. Kids are asleep. Time to clean the kitchen, do the dishes, switch the laundry, cut some veggies for tomorrow's dinner, and then find somewhere softer t…

Parenting, except in the case of unwanted pregnancies, is a hobby. Culturally it has a sort of special status but in the end it's another hobby that one decides to commit to. It's a choice made that this is going to be your mostly exlusive hobby for the next several years.

You don’t think it’s important for society and the future economy?
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