How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely • Hacker News Board

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#21

Post by jeromegv » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:25 PM UTC

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

MereInterest wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that it shifts the burden off of yourself by putting it onto management. Management then has the option to hire more people, to offset schedules to maintain better coverage, to establish more accurate goals and timelines, etc. These are things that are inherent to the role of a manager. There's no sense in me burning myself out to poorly work around a problem that exists at a different level. The default…

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

Wow, so the solution is for workers to do as much work as possible to "help" management hiring less employees? Do you think that when they save money, they set it aside for employees bonus? Or may be employee compensation is driven by supply and demand and has nothing to do with you working overtime all year long...

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#22

Post by esoterica » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:34 PM UTC

jeromegv wrote: post #21

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

Wow, so the solution is for workers to do as much work as possible to "help" management hiring less employees? Do you think that when they save money, they set it aside for employees bonus? Or may be employee compensation is driven by supply and demand and has nothing to do with you working overtime all year long...

A lot of finance firms have a “you eat what you kill” model where the compensation pool is a direct function of how much money the desk makes. So if you hire more people to do the same amount of work then yeah, the bonus pool gets divided more ways and each person makes less money.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#23

Post by esoterica » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:34 PM UTC

redisman wrote: post #18

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

Great I’ll take the work life balance over an imaginary bonus then. And if you can’t keep up in compensation then I’ll look for another job

Bonuses aren’t imaginary. In some industries like finance they are like 90% of your comp.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#24

Post by esoterica » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:34 PM UTC

frongpik wrote: post #19

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

Less money for the manager's bonus. For line workers, the bonus is more or less fixed.

Not true in finance.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#25

Post by esoterica » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:37 PM UTC

MereInterest wrote: post #11

nend wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fine it works for you but it just shifts the burden off yourself by putting it on your coworkers. Unless it's specifically discussed and agreed upon for your role, that's rather unfair to the rest of the team.

I would say that it shifts the burden off of yourself by putting it onto management. Management then has the option to hire more people, to offset schedules to maintain better coverage, to establish more accurate goals and timelines, etc. These are things that are inherent to the role of a manager. There's no sense in me burning myself out to poorly work around a problem that exists at a different level. The default…

There is no such thing as a default assumption. Every role has different expectations and none of them are canonical.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#26

Post by banana_giraffe » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:40 PM UTC

baby wrote: post #9

Akcium wrote: post #4

Currently I'm in a big problem with time because of the mix of psychological problems including perfectionism. What I mean is: I spent almost all my time thinking how to plan my life. When I think about what I should do every day, I always find excuses why it won't work. So it turns out that everyday is spent by thinking instead of doing. Also I understand what the author meant when talking about the difficulty of ma…

I have the same issue and two things: - go take a walk alone for one hour. No headphones, no device. I’m not kidding - make a list of tasks that you must accomplish. See it like a queue that you’ll pop from and get a task to focus on. Now take your days one at a time focusing on the task in front of you. Do this until you depleted the queue. For this to work the queue should not be vague, and have items that you real…

One thing I'd add to this: Get used to the idea that removing one item from the list is acceptable. For me, the only way I could trick my brain into that is set the the start date for all but one task that doesn't need to be done today for tomorrow at the start of the day. Thus when I finished the items for today, the task list is empty and I feel "done". I can still look at future tasks if I'm feeling productive, but knowing I finished my to-do list for today is refreshing.

I know it's an illusion, but it works surprisingly well for me.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#27

Post by kuhzaam » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 8:46 PM UTC

baby wrote: post #9

Akcium wrote: post #4

Currently I'm in a big problem with time because of the mix of psychological problems including perfectionism. What I mean is: I spent almost all my time thinking how to plan my life. When I think about what I should do every day, I always find excuses why it won't work. So it turns out that everyday is spent by thinking instead of doing. Also I understand what the author meant when talking about the difficulty of ma…

I have the same issue and two things: - go take a walk alone for one hour. No headphones, no device. I’m not kidding - make a list of tasks that you must accomplish. See it like a queue that you’ll pop from and get a task to focus on. Now take your days one at a time focusing on the task in front of you. Do this until you depleted the queue. For this to work the queue should not be vague, and have items that you real…

What kind of benefits have you felt from long walks with no devices? I was on a good routine doing that earlier in quarantine, and kind of fell off the wagon. Could use some inspiration to get re-started :)

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#28

Post by legulere » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:18 PM UTC

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

MereInterest wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that it shifts the burden off of yourself by putting it onto management. Management then has the option to hire more people, to offset schedules to maintain better coverage, to establish more accurate goals and timelines, etc. These are things that are inherent to the role of a manager. There's no sense in me burning myself out to poorly work around a problem that exists at a different level. The default…

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

Incompetent management are even worse for the bottom line of the company.

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#29

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

laichzeit0 wrote: post #13

MereInterest wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that it shifts the burden off of yourself by putting it onto management. Management then has the option to hire more people, to offset schedules to maintain better coverage, to establish more accurate goals and timelines, etc. These are things that are inherent to the role of a manager. There's no sense in me burning myself out to poorly work around a problem that exists at a different level. The default…

Hiring more people means less money at the end of the year for that annual bonus. So you’re kinda making that choice, even if you shift the problem to management.

[deleted]

Re: How I was failing to find time for life while working remotely

#30

Post by hiimtroymclure » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:32 PM UTC

throwarayes wrote: post #3

Here’s what I do: - never install slack or email on your phone - use a separate laptop for personal stuff. I don’t/can’t log in to work stuff here. - put your work laptop away and out of sight when done work - (optionally) give a few trusted people your phone number if they absolutely must reach you The last point help alleviate the stress of “I absolutely must always check slack to deal with the latest crisis”

Ive been working remote long before the pandemic and cant stress these points enough. They might seem silly at first but they really work. At the bare minimum, no slack or work email on your phone.

I've also learned to over communicate. Usually when I step away I leave a pretty detailed overview of where things are and the feeling of "leaving the team high and dry" diminishes.