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I work 40 hours a week at maximum - most weeks I work about 34 to 38 hours. You 80 hours a week guys, what the hell are you doing with your time? Are you divorced? No family? No friends? Is 'disrupting' an industry really that important to you?
It isn't about disrupting an industry. It's about money.
60 hour a week people haven't got that idea yet.
This happened to me recently. More than 70h per week.
But that's not. The fact of the matter is, I was the sole programmer on the product and the product is so attached to me that if it fails, I fail.
I don't see it that way, but the employees at the place I work at do. The clients who were brought in to meet me, do.
I work 40 hours a week at maximum - most weeks I work about 34 to 38 hours. You 80 hours a week guys, what the hell are you doing with your time? Are you divorced? No family? No friends? Is 'disrupting' an industry really that important to you?
It's more than some "important"; work is how people [with this attitude] values theirselves.
Keep in mind that if you grow up pushed to be the best at school and then at work, there's nothing really meaningful in life outside those areas.
That's where the false dichotomy "being great vs. family comes". Essentially, it's perceived as having something that makes one happy at the perceived cost of "being a nobody".
At the extreme of this attitude the is Japan, where work is taking over the sexual life (there was an article some time ago in HN).
I work 40 hours a week at maximum - most weeks I work about 34 to 38 hours. You 80 hours a week guys, what the hell are you doing with your time? Are you divorced? No family? No friends? Is 'disrupting' an industry really that important to you?
I've worked crazy long weeks and its not glamorous and, in my opinion, just straight unhealthy on so many levels.
I think the challenge in working 45+ hours/week is maintaining adequate sleep/diet/exercise/social so that you can remain productive and happy over the long-term. Best of luck.
"The cult of busy": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1187353
"The busy trap": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184317
I work 40 hours a week at maximum - most weeks I work about 34 to 38 hours. You 80 hours a week guys, what the hell are you doing with your time? Are you divorced? No family? No friends? Is 'disrupting' an industry really that important to you?
It isn't about disrupting an industry. It's about money.
This applies to salaried or consulting professionals of course; if you're working your ass off to build your own business and maybe hit big rewards in the future, it's a sensible choice. Otherwise, you're just busting your health and personal life for somebody else's benefit. Which is only acceptable if you have no choice (really need the money, and don't have the market value to earn the same in a job with more normal dedication).
I work 40 hours a week at maximum - most weeks I work about 34 to 38 hours. You 80 hours a week guys, what the hell are you doing with your time? Are you divorced? No family? No friends? Is 'disrupting' an industry really that important to you?
The problem comes from the culture; certain cultures identify success as the core value of a person, so people tend to identify their identity with the product of their work. It's more than some "important"; work is how people [with this attitude] values theirselves. Keep in mind that if you grow up pushed to be the best at school and then at work, there's nothing really meaningful in life outside those areas. That's…
Speaking in extremes rarely doesn't do anyone any good. Yeah, this weekend is capping out a 60 hour week for me (and then some), but the problem isn't that this occurred. Its when this becomes the norm. I look at it like peaks and valleys. This week I'm working long. Last week, I did, too. But, this weekend's testing will be testing a prod bug we've been chasing for three weeks. My boss knows, and he's going to trade me some time in the upcoming weeks. Likewise, there have been plenty of weeks that I worked sub-40. As long as work doesn't take over your life unwillingly, things are probably fine. Paraphrasing a TV theme (the source of all wisdom) - you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the Facts of Life.