I think the traditional way of doing this is just to make a team you work with.
Working solo with a fake “manager” is probably less productive then hiring a team member and sitting in the same room while they work for you
I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
71–80 of 346 posts
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#72The obliviousness to the human element and power dynamics here is shocking. It would be one thing for an eccentric billionaire to do something like this; it would feel sort of par for the course and understandable that they don't really have to answer to anyone there's no downside in letting it all hang out. But a 21-year-old Meta engineer with big ambitions? It's sort of mind-boggling.
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#73I honestly cannot believe this. The porn part, the make me a smoothie request, dating dinners. This guy seriously paid people to sit behind him and didn't even think about them stealing his $1000 monitors until after the fact? He didn't try blocking any non productive sites? No productivity software? No pomadoro technique-esq focus methods? This guy should have paid $88/hour for therapy if we are being honest here
Therapy would take away productive time :) I did actually use my own custom built productivity tools to block websites[0], and I used ActivityWatch[1] to track my time. [0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webblock/jeahkphmd... [1] https://activitywatch.net/
> Therapy would take away productive time :)
1 hr a week for most people. Give up 1 of your 100 unproductive hours instead lol.
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#74So... This is what the adderall shortage has come to?
He could have contacted his hood's local adderall mafia - like in the series Silicon Valley...
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#75I honestly cannot believe this. The porn part, the make me a smoothie request, dating dinners. This guy seriously paid people to sit behind him and didn't even think about them stealing his $1000 monitors until after the fact? He didn't try blocking any non productive sites? No productivity software? No pomadoro technique-esq focus methods? This guy should have paid $88/hour for therapy if we are being honest here
Therapy would take away productive time :) I did actually use my own custom built productivity tools to block websites[0], and I used ActivityWatch[1] to track my time. [0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webblock/jeahkphmd... [1] https://activitywatch.net/
While working out your data, have you considered, that you were basically doing a long sprint?
Meaning, I am pretty sure, your effective productivity would have declined after the month, with assistants, or not. And that you got Covid, might be a clear sign of that.
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#76This is incredibly bizarre, to the point where I wonder if this isn't just a creative writing exercise. Why does he feel the need to be 'productive' for 16 hours a day? Why did he think the best way to deal with this was to hire a group of babysitters? Why was he being so weird to his assistants? It just doesn't add up. The whole thing is so damn strange. Maybe this is an experiment on the readers of his article, to…
> Why does he feel the need to be 'productive' for 16 hours a day?
Yeah after reading the post I’m like this guy must be a founder to value productivity so highly… NOPE, just works at Meta!
EDIT: Oh wait, he DID also start a company, during the experiment in fact, but of course it’s in stealth mode!
Can’t make this stuff up…
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I clicked on the "About" page and learned that the author is 21. For a minute that made the experiment make more sense. Then it stopped making sense again.
I'm more confused by these comments. Like, he's 21. This is an interesting experience and a great story to tell. Sounds like money well-spent and I'm glad he's experimenting in unusual ways. That's what makes life interesting and worth living. Some of my most memorable and valuable memories stem from bad decisions or experimenting with different ideas that might be dumb. Some of you need to touch grass.
This man is insane. He'd rather oppress himself at great expense than spend any time at all actually thinking about where his problems come from (and why its so important to him to "all work and no play"). Perhaps there's a reason "touch grass" is on the tip of your tongue.
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#78I really enjoyed this article because it was funny. The critical comments make it even funnier. Thanks for writing, sberens!
Now I wonder if I should get an assistant too: come in at 11AM for 2 hours: make lunch, do some cleaning and perhaps some tedious phone calls every day. And maybe a mini stand up.
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#79[flagged]
Re: I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
#80The obliviousness to the human element and power dynamics here is shocking. It would be one thing for an eccentric billionaire to do something like this; it would feel sort of par for the course and understandable that they don't really have to answer to anyone there's no downside in letting it all hang out. But a 21-year-old Meta engineer with big ambitions? It's sort of mind-boggling.
I‘m sure the assistants were happy to earn some easy, casual money - far more demeaning or difficult jobs pay a lot worse.
One assistant expressed interest in the experiment and honestly I’d have been open to helping a friend do this for science