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It's later than you think

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Re: It's later than you think

#81

Post by jimbokun »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #46
edmundsauto wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also applies to new technologies and skill gaps. I'm over 30, and have stopped following the latest javascript trends. I want younger people to be satisfied with the tools that I learned; they're perfectly adequate. The treadmill of re-inventing the technology wheel also looks like a prison.

The struggle with that is how do you step off the treadmill but stay relatively current. I think about how web pages looked 10 years ago, and in a world of React, I feel like very, very few of the things I learned then help me for more than the very, very basics.

Read and inwardly digest the Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.

After that, whatever is next on the treadmill is just some new syntactic sugar on top of the fundamentals taught in that book, which you can pick up with a minimum of time and effort.

Occasionally there is something truly new, but those are few and far between.

Also, if you are seriously worried about your earning potential, read this and learn to really apply it, before picking up another Javascript framework:

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/

Re: It's later than you think

#82

Post by [deleted] »

adossi wrote: post #29
CalRobert wrote: post #25

Remember that performative workaholism is poison to life. Every time you put in more hours over the weekend "just because", dial in to a meeting on your vacation, or get on Slack at 10 PM "just to check a few things" - you're shifting the culture to make it that much more acceptable to demand it of everyone. The parents in your meetings that run until 7:30 bitterly hate you. It might seem OK when you're single, child…

I agree if you're talking strictly about salaried employees, because you don't get paid for that overtime work. But as a contract developer if I want to work 60 hours each week, instead of 40, to earn an extra 50% when I invoice them at the end of the month, that is my prerogative.

[deleted]

Re: It's later than you think

#83

Post by geodel »

dtech wrote: post #53
adossi wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree if you're talking strictly about salaried employees, because you don't get paid for that overtime work. But as a contract developer if I want to work 60 hours each week, instead of 40, to earn an extra 50% when I invoice them at the end of the month, that is my prerogative.

That is of course your choice, but if you do that for a long time, there's a chance of burning out, divorce, losing touch with friends and family etc. Money isn't everything.

'Money isn't everything' is kind of truism. Stories abound, however of divorce, losing touch with friends and family once a person faces money troubles. Note that I am not trying to justify any particular way. It is just things are going to happen irrespective of one's outlook towards money.

Re: It's later than you think

#84

Post by banannaise »

vzidex wrote: post #64
CalRobert wrote: post #25

Remember that performative workaholism is poison to life. Every time you put in more hours over the weekend "just because", dial in to a meeting on your vacation, or get on Slack at 10 PM "just to check a few things" - you're shifting the culture to make it that much more acceptable to demand it of everyone. The parents in your meetings that run until 7:30 bitterly hate you. It might seem OK when you're single, child…

As someone who's young, childless, and just getting started in the tech industry at a big company: thank you.

Strong second on this one. I don't have a family; that doesn't mean I don't value time outside work (and the relationships I get to build during that time) extremely highly.

Re: It's later than you think

#86

Post by CalRobert »

mieseratte wrote: post #32
CalRobert wrote: post #25

Remember that performative workaholism is poison to life. Every time you put in more hours over the weekend "just because", dial in to a meeting on your vacation, or get on Slack at 10 PM "just to check a few things" - you're shifting the culture to make it that much more acceptable to demand it of everyone. The parents in your meetings that run until 7:30 bitterly hate you. It might seem OK when you're single, child…

> you're shifting the culture to make it that much more acceptable to demand it of everyone. I would argue the cowards who refuse to ever stand up to employers are the cause. If you aren't able to push back on your boss, you're fucked regardless of how many hours I choose to work.

You lose the freedom to test your boss' limits the day your job is the source of your child's health insurance.

Re: It's later than you think

#87

Post by paulcole »

overkalix wrote: post #78
dgzl wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "No one has ever looked back on their life and said 'I wish I spent less time with my family'". Not everyone has a family worth being with.

At some point your family is not so much the people you were born to or grew up with, but the people you've chosen to be with, build a live together... Also, if I had to guess, no one has ever looked back on their life and said 'I wish I had spent more time being deliberately obtuse on the Internet' either.

> I wish I had spent more time being deliberately obtuse on the Internet.

This is going on my tombstone lol.

Re: It's later than you think

#88

Post by justwalt »

forgotmypw wrote: post #63

>The big question is how to return to work in a way that won’t leave me again with the regrets I have now. To be honest, I’ve considered not going back. But I believe in the words of Kahlil Gibran who said, “Work is love made visible.'' Imagine you just came into enough money that you never have to work again. What would you work on, then? What is something that you can do that no one else can? What can you do to hel…

I’d probably find some open source project to dedicate myself to. Maybe work towards sustainability in some shape or form, or at the very least invest in it. But it’s tough to ignore money.

Re: It's later than you think

#89

Post by CalRobert »

adossi wrote: post #29
CalRobert wrote: post #25

Remember that performative workaholism is poison to life. Every time you put in more hours over the weekend "just because", dial in to a meeting on your vacation, or get on Slack at 10 PM "just to check a few things" - you're shifting the culture to make it that much more acceptable to demand it of everyone. The parents in your meetings that run until 7:30 bitterly hate you. It might seem OK when you're single, child…

I agree if you're talking strictly about salaried employees, because you don't get paid for that overtime work. But as a contract developer if I want to work 60 hours each week, instead of 40, to earn an extra 50% when I invoice them at the end of the month, that is my prerogative.

It definitely is - and if you're paid overtime it's fantastic because it gives the company a signal that yes, this is possible if they need it, but it doesn't come free.

I don't mean that it's bad to work hard, or long sometimes. But it MUST cause the employer some pain.

I'm talking about salary jobs where meetings scheduled to end at 6 routinely run past 6:30 (even though daycare closes at 6:30 too). Where you get non-actionable pages all the goddamn time because it doesn't cost the company anything. Where you say better integration tests should be a higher priority, but nah, it's all good we've got Datadog alarms set up so let's launch that bad boy! Where week-long work trips come with the assumption you'll fly on Sunday and Saturday with no time off in lieu, and people ask how they can reach you on vacation.

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