On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
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On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
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Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#2I've been lucky to have a number of great role models in my career, some of which shaped my opinion on hard work and how to find balance. I know the concept of "hard work" has come up recently, so figured I'd share my experience and some of the advice I received.
This is a polarising topic, and I won't be surprised if a lot of people disagree. These opinions are shaped by my experience, my context, and I'd be shocked if everyone found them equally applicable.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#3I found myself nodding along to almost everything in this article; Two comments:
> The problems pulled me in, and I’d get so involved I’d be unable to sleep until I solved a problem, sometimes escaping into my dreams if I hadn’t found a natural pause point.
I can relate to this, so much. It's an incrediblely productive time period when my brain is like this at 7/8/9pm, but inevitably I lose out on a day or two following it. It sounds cliched, but exercise + mindfulness are a hard requirement for me, and not doing either of those inevitably has my brain racing on whatever I'm working on at 4am.
> Grey found me at exactly 5pm and forced me to logoff.
Nobody ever told me to work late, but nobody ever told me to _stop_ working. If my boss/bosses boss/ came up to me a once or twice and told me "hey, you shouldn't work past PM", particularly in my first few days, _and most importantly_ they left too, that would have set an excellent example on how to have a work-life balance.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#4Phrases like "Working Hard" and "Success" are relative. To some people, working continuous 40 hour week is working hard. To some, they don't look at the time. Pros and cons to both.
As someone who runs a business, I can tell you that I don't particularly like working on weekends that much but I do find some time (3-4 hours ) to work weekends and catch up on few things that are harder for me on weekdays. So I couldn't care less how many hours I put in. Sometimes it's an entire Saturday. It is my choice and I am doing it because I want to.
So find your balance on whatever works for you. I do however think that it is not easy to build a business just working 40 hour weeks but if you want to be an employee, that can work well.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#5Weird question, but did anyone felt the urge to start smoking when extremely overworked?
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#6> When I first started my career, I worked a lot. The problems pulled me in, and I’d get so involved I’d be unable to sleep until I solved a problem, sometimes escaping into my dreams if I hadn’t found a natural pause point.
Heck this still happens, and I've been tecching for decades.
I am not a fan of "This one thing applies to everyone" statements.
Also, I think that we develop a blind evaluation of success factors.
For example, a person, hailed as a genius, always writes his/her notes in pencil, on a small pad, they take with them, because inspiration may strike at any time.
They use a pencil, because they may need to add corrections.
So everyone assumes that having a pad and a pencil with them at all times will give them the same success as said genius.
So...how's that working out? Solved FTL yet?
I have also met people that fit the whole "genius" description that are absolutely rigorous about stopping work at certain times, getting sleep, and taking long sabbaticals with no tech nearby. They won't even think about stuff, until they are back on the clock.
Myself, I ain't no gienieyouss, but I manage to get stuff done. I tend to work all the time; mostly because I really like to. I don't need to do it, anymore, but I do.
I work with folks that can't work the same way that I do, but deliver great results. I've learned not to project my own workflows onto others.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#7Yes, you should work more than others - weekends, holidays, evenings, etc. And, no, you should not work more for others.
People should spend their time working for themselves. That could be building new skills, developing your personal brand, starting projects/businesses, etc.
Bonus points for aligning personal benefit projects with your career, so you can develop yourself while being a team player and an esteemed colleague.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#8This post really resonates with me, specially this line
> Just keep in mind the cost you’re paying, and be extremely cautious if you ever find yourself resenting your downtime.
Currently this is happening to me. Downtime is not an enjoyable experience anymore, the pandemic has just made it worse since I am not even forced to have social interactions. I have feelings of guilt whenever I am not working. And just like the author mentions, it is a hard habit to break. What is worse, I am in my mid twenties; I cannot imagine how hard/impossible it is to break that habit when you have been at it for 30 years.
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#9I can resent the nannying of how much I should work to prevent my burnout.
If I'm driven intrinsically by what I'm doing, leave me alone already. I'll naturally take breaks as my intrinsic motivation waxes and wanes.
If I'm driven extrinsically to do something not fun, and I keep pushing on it, I'll burn out rather easily. In this case, tell me something is important/useful, but also let up to give me the encouragement to take breaks.
All jobs have a mix of both. But my preferred job has more intrinsically motivating work. If I'm gate kept from it, its only annoying to me...
Re: On working too hard: finding balance, and lessons learned from others
#10Yes, you should work more than others - weekends, holidays, evenings, etc. And, no, you should not work more for others . People should spend their time working for themselves. That could be building new skills, developing your personal brand, starting projects/businesses, etc. Bonus points for aligning personal benefit projects with your career, so you can develop yourself while being a team player and an esteemed c…
It is not that cut and dry. A lot of times even working for others, you are building skills for yourself that you could utilize in the future. If you are entry level programmer and you work weekends to finish a project for your employer while learning a lot, it is still something that will help YOU in the future. You are just doing it faster than others who are working the bare minimum. It really matters how you look at things. You can say "why should I work for my employer on weekends" or you can say "I am going to do this on the weekend to learn faster and get things for my employer as well". It is all about how you look at things.
To get ahead in life, the important thing is to constantly learn things and early on in your career, you can do that working for others as well. Not everyone can start a side project or business at 22. Those who can, power to them of course.