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A contrarian take on working long hours

allisonpickens.substack.com

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Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#21

Post by msla »

dleslie wrote: post #19
TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

I hope that you are aware that you are greatly empowering your employer by intricately interleaving your work and concept of life. If your social network, your personal support network, your community and self are tied to your work; then your employer has tremendous power over you.

Two people can have political disagreements without one of them being ignorant.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#23

Post by d--b »

All comments so far are about how mainstream that view is. But it’s not my experience at all.

Every time I interview for a position, people brag about how dedicated their team is and ask if I am willing to put in the hard work and all. I’ve literally never ever heard any recruiter say: “oh we work smart here, you know. We just spend the right amount of time so that everyone’s productivity is best”.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#24

Post by Areading314 »

I think its a sign of the times when super highly paid individuals like VCs have to navel gaze about what the "optimal" amount of time working should be. Business is fundamentally a competitive game and when the free money tap stops there will be a rude awakening.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#25

Post by doktorhladnjak »

paxys wrote: post #18

I went in prepared to read the "contrarian" take that working long hours can actually be good, but it is just stating the obvious. Working for over a decade in silicon valley, I have yet to come across a company or group where the majority opinion has been that people must work more than 8 hours a day to succeed. I'm not sure if there ever was a time when overworking was a norm in the industry, but it definitely has…

> have yet to come across a company or group where the majority opinion has been that people must work more than 8 hours a day to succeed

I've absolutely worked at companies where this was either understood but not spoken or was clearly espoused by leadership. I don't think it's rare at all, at least within a certain crowd of successful companies.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#26

Post by throwaway675309 »

TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

Sure if you can theoretically weave life and work together that's great I suppose , but for some of us that would be exceptionally difficult given our interests and priorities.

I can't interweave my ability to sit down and play guitar and piano, swim, go on hour long hikes with my dog, juggle, study Chinese, and write dnd campaigns. These activities are not conducive to your "blended style of work/life".

additionally it's all about compensation as well if everyone was working overtime then it sort of normalizes it.

As frustrating as you find it, I find it completely baffling that people have such single minded interests that they would choose to pursue just one thing more than 40 hours a week.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#27

Post by [deleted] »

dleslie wrote: post #19
TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

I hope that you are aware that you are greatly empowering your employer by intricately interleaving your work and concept of life. If your social network, your personal support network, your community and self are tied to your work; then your employer has tremendous power over you.

[deleted]

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#28

Post by 10000truths »

dleslie wrote: post #19
TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

I hope that you are aware that you are greatly empowering your employer by intricately interleaving your work and concept of life. If your social network, your personal support network, your community and self are tied to your work; then your employer has tremendous power over you.

This is a needlessly adversarial take. An employer that values you will empower you with commensurate compensation.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#29

Post by dQw4w9WgXcQ »

TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

The fact that you're posting some giant message about how much you work means it's unlikely you are truly working as many hours as you think.

Use a tomato timer and hit the "Start" button every time you're truly doing work and "Stop" button when you're not. Bathroom breaks, employee chats, heating up lunches, break walks, posting on HN, etc... All that shit doesn't count.

Get back to us with the #s after you've done a sustained run for a month.

Re: A contrarian take on working long hours

#30

Post by clpm4j »

TameAntelope wrote: post #13

I'll give you an actual contrarian take on working long hours: I like it, and I'm really tired of people commenting on what hours I keep. I enjoy my work. It's what I'd be doing in my spare time if I didn't need or have this job. I've thought about this, and I think I'd stick around at my role even if I hit a windfall, because I want to see this through to the end, one way or another. Sometimes, in order to do the ki…

What type of work do you do?
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