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If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

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Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#51
post #32

Because I'm not nearly as good at any hobbies as much as I'm good at my job and being good at something is what gives me day-to-day satisfaction. Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future, I'm spending more time feeling good about work than finding and investing in a hobby that'll make me truly happy.

It's debatable then whether you're really successful, no?

No it’s not debatable. They’re living a satisfying life.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#52

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

How was your time with your Father? Or do you regret that his career got in the way of your relationship?

THAT is the question that deserves an answer

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#53

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

Did he ever have time to be with his family?

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week.

You're not most people. I'll work 40 or 50 hours a week then spend another 30 on side projects happily! That's 80 hours just working on "stuff". No TikTok. So it really depends. Elon Musk famously claimed he worked 100 hours a week.

I’m waiting for confirmation but I don’t think the comment thread is suggesting that all “work” is suspended after 40 hours. I think they’re saying that your obligation to your employer should float close to 40.

I’m a big proponent of not regularly giving employers extra time, but I urge everyone to make the most of the remaining 168-40 hours a week - that means minimizing idle leisure too.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week.

Interesting. A lot of the "so successful" have a TON of help. At the home front things are covered - stay at home wife, cleaners etc. You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever, kids taken care of. You go to work, you have the parking spot, the assistant with a schedule. Strong managers. Again, these are the "so successful" folks. The 70 hours of work is mostly meetings, strategy…

I don’t get burned out because I outsource it by burning my employees out. It works for every other billionaire. /s

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#56
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely tangential to your point, but why did you choose to use “she” as the pronoun in your last sentence? I see this more and more frequently, and I assume it has something to do with being more inclusive (so as not to imply only a man could be the subject), but I don’t want to assume. Why not use “they” instead?

>If she can, then I don't see any issue at all. >Why not use “they” instead? It's been 30 years since I've studied formal writing in earnest, but "they," is, or at least was, grammatically incorrect in that sentence, unless you are referring to more than one person. English doesn't have a proper gender neutral singular pronoun. People have bastardized "they" to fit that role though because they don't know the gender,…

I think it is grammatical, though it may change the semantics. OTOH:

> can one choose to use her time at her own will?

changing to:

can one choose to use they time at they own will?

is nothing like English. You could of course use "their", but that has a kind of distancing effect.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#57
post #22

The only true answer is that out there are 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance, and by doing so they are inadvertedly diluting your own social relevance. There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner. You stop working and your relevance is eroded away...hell you could ke…

I think this is sort of a false dichotomy, and potentially a defeatist take. There is an increasing body of evidence that any work done above 40hrs/wk for thought work is only beneficial for a few weeks at a time. After which overtime is necessary just to maintain what would have otherwise taken only 40hrs. What this tells me is that it's essential to learn how to strategically work longer hours, knowing that the recovery time will reduce your hours by at least as much (personal experience is that 2x is actually more realistic to getting back to normal measurable output). I see it as no different than athletes who learn when to expend that extra energy in competition such that it doesn't leave them flagging the rest of the match.

I also think you may be overestimating the amount of effort it takes to sort of tread water if necessary. I suspect it's more of a logarithmic decay function in terms of social relevance. I've come to think that the hardest part of staying socially relevant isn't the amount of effort it takes to stay on top, but to actually recognize when it's important to spend effort on some new trend, and when it's important to ignore other trends. I think for this it's even more important to take a step back and take time out to reflect rather than actively trying to work insane hours.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. A lot of the "so successful" have a TON of help. At the home front things are covered - stay at home wife, cleaners etc. You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever, kids taken care of. You go to work, you have the parking spot, the assistant with a schedule. Strong managers. Again, these are the "so successful" folks. The 70 hours of work is mostly meetings, strategy…

I don’t get burned out because I outsource it by burning my employees out. It works for every other billionaire. /s

The very successful folks working long hours do tend to have folks around them working long hours as well.

Ie, Elon Musk is probably working long hours. If my goal was to NOT work long hours that would be a bad company to work for.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no guarantee on what the future may bring, money can't fix everything, and true security is a lie. Live your life in the here and now, before you regret wasting it.

Exactly. If society were to fall apart, the number in your bank account will matter very little, if it even exists anymore...

That is highly unlikely - thankfully there is a much more reasonable way to read how important it is to live for today. Nobody intends to be hit by a bus but some people are - make sure you're getting what you want out of life before you get hit by a bus.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#60

Wages for professionals, such as law, medicine, tech, finance, consulting, etc., have really ballooned over the past decade, since 2008 especially, even after accounting for student loan debt and inflation. This makes working long hours more attractive, as the financial payoff is so great both in terms of wages but also by investing one's income in rapidly appreciating assets such as stocks and real estate (the post-…

As an impoverished 30 year old I wish I was more focused in building and cultivating a career path. What I did instead was "a 9-5 on something I'm good at" (not coding as I'm career switching).

Guess what followed after that: Odd jobs. Yes, they pay the bills but they don't build career progression. You cannot sell yourself to someone to hire you for your 1 year experience in 8 different things. This is why considering the money alone isn't enough. And yes, you also need to be educated on personal finance because if you were born in a poor family chances are you'll be spending the money as soon as you touch them.

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