Stop Glorifying Hard Work and Long Hours

I found that high-performers want to run hard. Additionally, I found the folks back at HQ were more than willing to load them up with even more work than their 40 hours per week. I kept having to tell the noobs, "Pace yourself. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I want you just as fresh and energetic a year from now as you are today"

So I am firmly on the author's side here. But I also think you can go too far. I see a lot of these articles, and I wonder if they're not just telling people what they already want to hear.

"Shouldn’t we stop pretending spending 50+ hours a week at the office or jobsite to be a good thing and recognize that real genius is finding a way to streamline the process and get that same job done in 25?"

He's creating a false dichotomy: work smart or work long hours. In fact, in many cases it's possible to be the smartest-working person in the shop and still have a lot of work to do. Being smarter doesn't give you a get-out-of-long-hours card. In fact, the drive and dedication that got many people to learn a lot is the exact same drive that will keep them there until late at night. In fact, many of the most valuable things we can do in life need exceptionally smart people working as hard as they can to pull off.

Remember, I'm on the author's side! But I also think that there's nothing wrong simply enjoying a project that calls for a lot of work -- as long as you don't do it to excess. I enjoy projects with the occasional crunch time every few months where folks work late and push through something fun. I like hiking up mountains, even though smart people just drive their cars up or look at photos on Facebook. Hard, difficult work to achieve a worthwhile goal is a good thing! Hard work all the time simply because it's expected or because you confuse hours with value is not.

Work life balance is important, but we need to be clear that certain parts of life actually require a lot of hard work. The guys studying to be brain surgeons don't sit around talking about how they should take more time out to go fishing. Simply because you make a choice to bust your ass doing something tough doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. It's your choice. Whatever your choice is, it just has to be sustainable and fit your values.

Right now I'm doing iOS development. I get to take my laptop to the park, or anywhere outside and it's goddamn amazing. Last night I worked all day on an isolated beach on an island right across from my city. Possibly the most fun I've had in months to be honest.

Freelancer is the new bohemian.

In all honesty though, that job instilled severe depression in me. Did about 6 months there and literally almost killed myself until I seeked help and my contract was up.

But isn't that, in many ways, the point? We need to optimize every hour of our life, because life (and in particular youth) really is short.

If I choose to spend my life cutting grass with a pair of nail clippers, I can absolutely get more done spending 60 hours versus 35 hours. But you know, I'd rather pull out the driving lawn mower. That should be all of our goals.

There's a reason many hugely successful people are notorious workaholics - see Elon Musk, Oprah, Marissa Meyer, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey, etc.

This is cargo culting. These people are often "workaholics" because they are highly successful. And in many cases it's hard to even attribute whether it's work or pleasure, because many business heads "put in the hours" that they do because it essentially becomes their recreation: I doubt any of them lie in bed dreading going to "work".

And ultimately that is the dream of all of us, isn't it? To eventually be in a place where we are effectively choosing everything we do, and where our work is completely rewarding and self-satisfying? In no universe can you compare that to putting in more time at a job you don't enjoy.

I think a big test is: how do you feel after a day of work? If you just feel like vegging in front of the TV, you might want to reconsider how you spent the day.