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My Life in Weeks

weeks.ginatrapani.org

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Re: My Life in Weeks

#31

Post by 999900000999 »

picafrost wrote: post #21

So much of our life is consumed by work. Seeing your lifespan laid bare like this, there's a perverse instinct to optimize what remains. Have to be more productive, more efficient. But it's a bit like seeing you're bleeding out and deciding to optimize your blood donation schedule, isn't it?

My biggest failure has been not getting an extreme income ( 300k TC a year +) before 30.

I had planned to retire by 40 and be done with this work nonsense. Now I'm in my mid 30s and that doesn't seem possible.

However I will say if you have a highly variable income ( one year you make 100$ an hour, the next year you have no work), you should max out your 401k during the good times. Having 30k in retirement funds that you'll get smacked for drawing on is better than nothing.

Too late now. I'm comfortable, but I think the era of 300k TC is done.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#32

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

This is an interesting way of reflecting on one's life.

I have calculated my ROL (Rest.Of.Life i.e. before been garbage collected) productive hours (hours dedicated to side projects) in a similar way, and the result panics me.

Assume that I still have 37 years before been garbage collected, and 35 years before cognitive degeneration:

Starting from today:

[Time-frame 1]:

I have 200 days before kid goes to primary school. That's roughly 56 days of weekends and 144 days of workdays. For each weekend day, I'd assume an average of 2.5 hours of productivity towards my side projects (I do have more but some are dedicated to gaming and light reading). For each workday, I'd assume an average of 1 hour (usually it is a burst of 2-3 hours for 2-3 days followed by 0 hours for 3-4 days). So this gives me 562.5 + 1441 = 284 hours.

I think this is a generous estimation because I'm struggling with minor depression from time to time, and TBH I hate my work, so I lose a day if either flares up.

[Time-frame 2]:

Kid is going to spend roughly 6 years in primary school. He is going to get friends and gradually gives me more time if he chooses so. However, I'll probably spend more time checking his assignments, talking to him, and introducing him to some hobbies in hope he can find his passion as early as possible. I read "iWoz" and would like to influence my kid as his father influenced him. The upside is -- I can work on my hobby while educating him by just doing it. Downside of primary years is that he is going to weekend classes and clubs so those will take away my time too.

I'd give myself the same 2 hours every weekend day, and 1.5 hours every working day. Let's take 250 working days and 115 non-working days (weekends + holidays). This gives 2501.5 + 1152 = 605 hours each year, and 3,630 hours for 6 years.

[Time-frame 3]:

Kid is going to spend 5 years in secondary school. Judging from my own experience, he is going to gradually leave his parents alone, rebel against them, and stay much more time with their friends. I don't really know about my employment at the time, but let's assume I'm still working a corporation cog.

I'd give myself 3.5 hours every weekend day, and the same 1.5 hours every working day. This gives 2501.5 + 1153.5 = 777.5 hours per year, and 3880 (rounded down) hours for 5 years.

[Time-frame 4]:

Kid is either going to a college or a technical school. Either way, we will probably rent him a condo close to where he studies. I'll also probably go into consulting if possible, or at least take some long breaks during this time frame. If I want to learn General Relativity, this is probably the last chance. I don't think I'm as lucky as those who still possesses a sharp mind in their 70s, so 10 years between 50s and 60s is my best shot.

I'd give myself 5 hours every weekend day, and maybe 2.5 hours every working day. This gives 2502.5 + 1155 = 1,300 hours per year. But I'd be in my mid-50s so this is probably an overestimate. I'll round it down aggressively to 1,000 hours. I can keep the same schedule for 5 years, so 5,000 hours for 5 years.

[Time-frame 5]:

I'm not sure what my cognitive ability looks like in my 60s. I'll have a lot of time, like, 10 hours every day because I don't want to work after 60. So that gives me 3,650 hours per year, and 36,500 until I'm 70, at which point I believe I wouldn't be able to pursuit serious academic or technical objectives. I know, I know, many people can still do it, but I don't think I can do it. I doubt I can work on side projects more than 5 hours per day, so I need to cut down that number at least half, to 18,000 hours. Probably more TBH.

[Time-frame 6]:

70 till garbage collected. It's going to be mostly volunteering work or looking after grandchildren or travelling with my wife, so 0 hour.

[Conclusion]:

Overall, if my mental health and physical health is good enough, my calculation is that I can put 30,000 hours into my side projects. That is, I have to be very lucky to get this number. No mental issues, no heart issues, kid doesn't cause any issues, wife is healthy, etc. In reality, probably a half or two thirds are more realistic.

Isn't that scary? There is so much to learn, yet so little time.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#33

Post by pedalpete »

What strikes me is the empty spaces where we don't recognize what we did, or didn't do anything memorable.

I made an app to try to address this about a decade ago which I called Bucket52, the idea being that every week you put one memorable thing in it. Trying to do this just for a year was surprisingly difficult.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#34

Post by 0_____0 »

delichon wrote: post #14

From this view it's clear how wasteful ontogeny is. All of that physical and psychological development takes too much valuable time and investment. And we haven't even gotten to Gina's retirement years yet. Clearly the future is in using 3D bioprinting to build fully formed adults as if sprung from the brow of Zeus. Skill and memory transfer are a technical problem only as long as we cling to our bias against our art…

Begun, the clone wars have.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#35

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

picafrost wrote: post #21

So much of our life is consumed by work. Seeing your lifespan laid bare like this, there's a perverse instinct to optimize what remains. Have to be more productive, more efficient. But it's a bit like seeing you're bleeding out and deciding to optimize your blood donation schedule, isn't it?

Exactly. I have thought about it for a while, I think I have to get rid of work or family to be substantially happier. Apparently getting rid of family is morally wrong, so the only option is to get rid of work, somehow, anyhow.

I fully understand why people buy lottery tickets. Hope beats probability on every single instance. I, a Master of Statistics graduates, buy them too.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#36

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

999900000999 wrote: post #31
picafrost wrote: post #21

So much of our life is consumed by work. Seeing your lifespan laid bare like this, there's a perverse instinct to optimize what remains. Have to be more productive, more efficient. But it's a bit like seeing you're bleeding out and deciding to optimize your blood donation schedule, isn't it?

My biggest failure has been not getting an extreme income ( 300k TC a year +) before 30. I had planned to retire by 40 and be done with this work nonsense. Now I'm in my mid 30s and that doesn't seem possible. However I will say if you have a highly variable income ( one year you make 100$ an hour, the next year you have no work), you should max out your 401k during the good times. Having 30k in retirement funds that…

Yup. My advice to young people is -- if you can't figure out what to do in life, make more $$. With enough $$ you will have a world of time to ponder what to do.

I also regret that I gave up a FAANG level opportunity because my faily doesn't want me to go to another city. I would hit well over 200K TC by now -- a very comfortable salary in Canada.

Re: My Life in Weeks

#37

Post by theoreticalmal »

hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #35
picafrost wrote: post #21

So much of our life is consumed by work. Seeing your lifespan laid bare like this, there's a perverse instinct to optimize what remains. Have to be more productive, more efficient. But it's a bit like seeing you're bleeding out and deciding to optimize your blood donation schedule, isn't it?

Exactly. I have thought about it for a while, I think I have to get rid of work or family to be substantially happier. Apparently getting rid of family is morally wrong, so the only option is to get rid of work, somehow, anyhow. I fully understand why people buy lottery tickets. Hope beats probability on every single instance. I, a Master of Statistics graduates, buy them too.

Is morality really the major thing standing between you and “getting rid of your family”?

Re: My Life in Weeks

#38

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

theoreticalmal wrote: post #37
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I have thought about it for a while, I think I have to get rid of work or family to be substantially happier. Apparently getting rid of family is morally wrong, so the only option is to get rid of work, somehow, anyhow. I fully understand why people buy lottery tickets. Hope beats probability on every single instance. I, a Master of Statistics graduates, buy them too.

Is morality really the major thing standing between you and “getting rid of your family”?

Maybe, or maybe not. Now that I think about it, it's difficult to say. But let's say I would rather get rid of work than family, and I don't want to get rid of both.

BTW changing job is still a lot easier than changing family :)

Re: My Life in Weeks

#39

Post by gardenhedge »

elashri wrote: post #13

That was nice to watch. I spent about 25 minutes going through that. But it was horrifying for me. I realized that I wanted to see if the source code is available but then realized that I really don't remember those details. I remember random things for my childhood but I don't remember the date when I started elementary school. I know that I got my first computer when I was in third grade but don't remember the date…

> I don't remember the date when I started elementary school

Ultimately the date is not important. It's a life event that came after an event (being born) and before another event (going to college/getting a job)

Re: My Life in Weeks

#40

Post by rcpt »

rednafi wrote: post #6

This is a terrifying reminder of the shortness of our lives. I remember reading a blog by Tim Urban, where he showed that you could put all the weeks in your life on a single piece of A4 paper, and it didn’t feel nice.

Rare win for not being able to connect to my home printer.
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