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The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

timharford.com

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Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#11

Post by pure_simplicity »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #4
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

> But I don’t think I’m over-romanticising to suggest that just as there is something psychologically corrosive about the fact that the lawyer can always bill another six minutes, there is something psychologically healthy about the fact that the farmer can sometimes rest assured that there is nothing useful to be done until the morning. This sense of a “forced” break from work, reminds me of the Jewish concept of th…

"were"? There's still Jews who do this of course!

As are some Christian denominations such as seventh-day baptists and seventh-day adventists (and some lesser known ones).

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#12

Post by cammikebrown »

kposehn wrote: post #9

I’ve moved away from billable hours and gone to a fixed-fee retainer block. Clients get up to X hours per week at a single price regardless of what they use. This scopes engagements more tightly and results in a natural prioritization of time where I’m most impactful and offloads busywork or meetings where I won’t be productive. As a result I can handle more business and be more effective for my clients, while actual…

Does “X” change much per client or have you found a good average amount that most clients go with?

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#13

Post by tomatowurst »

Does anybody make $1000 USD / hr? What is your day to day like? How many clients do you have and how many hours do you bill per year? Do you actually work 2087 hours per year which would net you $2MM/year?

I'm curious how some people are able to bill such high amounts and how they got started. It must also be extra stressful since its not like you are working for a company either so you need to do marketing and find clients as well.

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#14

Post by MrRiddle »

radoomi wrote: post #7
gsibble wrote: post #6

I've been paid high hourly wages to build software and you definitely start to look at every minute of non-billable time as, "I could have made X in these 3 hours I spent relaxing." Leads to overwork. There's a healthy balance but took me a while to find it.

Exactly in the same spot, I've recently gone freelance where I'm paid by the hour and I've yet to take a holiday cause I always think this week of holiday will cost me $$$ (huge amount of money compared to what a normal one week holiday would cost). Sadly, I will probably burnout soon and ignore that thought.

I took this list to gauge how many hours I want to work per year, and decided that 1500-1600 hours is enough, if it’s not, then the rate should be higher.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average...

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#15

Post by D13Fd »

tomatowurst wrote: post #13

Does anybody make $1000 USD / hr? What is your day to day like? How many clients do you have and how many hours do you bill per year? Do you actually work 2087 hours per year which would net you $2MM/year? I'm curious how some people are able to bill such high amounts and how they got started. It must also be extra stressful since its not like you are working for a company either so you need to do marketing and find…

It's not uncommon in my field. And quite a few of the people billing that rate or higher actually net greater than $2m, because they get credit not only for what they bill but what work they bring in for others to bill.

That said, $1k/hr billed does not directly translate to $1k/hr earned. Usually there is shared overhead, etc taken out first.

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#16

Post by blendergeek »

pure_simplicity wrote: post #11
jrochkind1 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"were"? There's still Jews who do this of course!

As are some Christian denominations such as seventh-day baptists and seventh-day adventists (and some lesser known ones).

And many Christians observe a sabath day's rest on Sunday.

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#17

Post by spyke112 »

kposehn wrote: post #9

I’ve moved away from billable hours and gone to a fixed-fee retainer block. Clients get up to X hours per week at a single price regardless of what they use. This scopes engagements more tightly and results in a natural prioritization of time where I’m most impactful and offloads busywork or meetings where I won’t be productive. As a result I can handle more business and be more effective for my clients, while actual…

Would you mind giving an example of how exactly you would bill your client, what does a “retainer block” mean?

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#18

Post by executive »

tomatowurst wrote: post #13

Does anybody make $1000 USD / hr? What is your day to day like? How many clients do you have and how many hours do you bill per year? Do you actually work 2087 hours per year which would net you $2MM/year? I'm curious how some people are able to bill such high amounts and how they got started. It must also be extra stressful since its not like you are working for a company either so you need to do marketing and find…

More like bill one client $1000/hr for travel and work on another client's $1000/hr case during the trip. /nojoke

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#19

Post by [deleted] »

tomatowurst wrote: post #13

Does anybody make $1000 USD / hr? What is your day to day like? How many clients do you have and how many hours do you bill per year? Do you actually work 2087 hours per year which would net you $2MM/year? I'm curious how some people are able to bill such high amounts and how they got started. It must also be extra stressful since its not like you are working for a company either so you need to do marketing and find…

[deleted]

Re: The billable hour is a trap into which more and more of us are falling

#20

Post by humanrebar »

InefficientRed wrote: post #10
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

> But I don’t think I’m over-romanticising to suggest that just as there is something psychologically corrosive about the fact that the lawyer can always bill another six minutes, there is something psychologically healthy about the fact that the farmer can sometimes rest assured that there is nothing useful to be done until the morning. This sense of a “forced” break from work, reminds me of the Jewish concept of th…

The loss of the sabbath in Christianity really puts a limelight on the dark side of grace. Rest is for eternity; clock back in.

A lot of Christians still do some sort of Sabbath. It could be a sin to skip the Sabbath, even, depending on the theology. But the definition of sin in some theologies can be quite broad, personal, and circumstantial.
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