Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How do you manage work/life balance?

news.ycombinator.com

1–10 of 43 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage work/life balance?

#5
Pre-founder: 9 to 5 work, 5 to 8/9 part-time startup, 8/9 to 1 life. Mon-Sat., usually Sundays are full-life.

Full-time founder: 9:30 to 11 work/coffee/eat, 11:30 to 3 work, 3 to 4 gym, 5 to 8 work, 8-11 eat/life, 11-1 work. Mon-Sat with Sunday usually being the most life and most relaxed.

You read that right... technically, I work the same or slightly less hours than with a full-time job and part-time founder responsibilities. Either way, it's about 60-70 hours a week.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage work/life balance?

#7
post #3

I would like to add another dimension to this question, how do you pre-founders manage work life balance? (Pre-founders being those who are still working their day jobs, hacking away at nights/weekends)

Selective neglect: My closet is a mess. So is my basement. I spend time with my wife and kids.

Efficiency: I keep my priority list in front of me so I'm always coding the most important things. I use a Lisp dialect so that I can make effective use of short coding sessions. A lot of my progress in the past few years has been during 35-minute train rides.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage work/life balance?

#10
post #4

I don't bring my work home with me. Under any circumstance. Period.

On a more general note, a few hard rules like this are important. They do wonders.

For example, I'm off liquor until the PhD's finished. Permanently: no delivered pizza, and nothing but regular coffee or espresso from coffee shops (specifically, no mochas, which I take like liquid crack).

I can ignore the rules for special occasions, which helps keep me in moderation even when I'm in these unusual circumstances.

Post reply on HN