Step one is admitting you have a problem
37signals.com
Step one is admitting you have a problem
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#2I have a problem.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#3I don't know anyone who is 'addicted'. I know people who put in 14 hour days because they genuinely just enjoy it. I'm one of them.
You always have to try and get a good balance between work and family, but I don't think the article really considers the instance where people choose to work long hours because they enjoy what they do.
'Doing a startup' is surely enjoyable work. That's why people enjoy working more, and why they put in more hours.
I keep saying I'll get an early night, then at 1am or 2am there I am just finishing off some detail. That doesn't mean I'm addicted or have a problem, it means I'm enjoying myself and loose track of time.
Was Mozart 'addicted' to writing music? Or was he just a prolific composer?
We've heard this same blog post 100 times before from 37signals though :/ - "Listen to us and we'll show you our special system to allow you to work less!"
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#4I don't know anyone who is 'addicted'. I know people who put in 14 hour days because they genuinely just enjoy it. I'm one of them. You always have to try and get a good balance between work and family, but I don't think the article really considers the instance where people choose to work long hours because they enjoy what they do. 'Doing a startup' is surely enjoyable work. That's why people enjoy working more, and…
Enjoying yourself such that you lose track of time -- when it happens all the time -- is a bad thing. Imagine yourself saying the same thing about anything else you can get addicted to. "I watch 14 hours of television a day because I genuinely just enjoy it." "I drink 14 bottles of beer a day because I genuinely just enjoy it."
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#5I don't know anyone who is 'addicted'. I know people who put in 14 hour days because they genuinely just enjoy it. I'm one of them. You always have to try and get a good balance between work and family, but I don't think the article really considers the instance where people choose to work long hours because they enjoy what they do. 'Doing a startup' is surely enjoyable work. That's why people enjoy working more, and…
When I get drunk, I also lose track of time and enjoy myself quite a bit. If I were an alcoholic, that doesn't mean its right. Trust me, im all for enjoying work, but this startup culture mentality of: "outwork the other guy 16 hours a day and have nothing else" is getting out of hand.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#6I don't know anyone who is 'addicted'. I know people who put in 14 hour days because they genuinely just enjoy it. I'm one of them. You always have to try and get a good balance between work and family, but I don't think the article really considers the instance where people choose to work long hours because they enjoy what they do. 'Doing a startup' is surely enjoyable work. That's why people enjoy working more, and…
Enjoying yourself such that you lose track of time -- when it happens all the time -- is a bad thing. Imagine yourself saying the same thing about anything else you can get addicted to. "I watch 14 hours of television a day because I genuinely just enjoy it." "I drink 14 bottles of beer a day because I genuinely just enjoy it."
It's not the same. Beer has an effect on your liver, your general health, wallet etc.
Sure, everything in moderation, but if you enjoy something, do it. If you suddenly realize that you had neglected something/someone else, then that's another matter.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#7The problem is not working long days. It's spending time inefficiently on tasks that don't have a real impact on your bottom line.
I wish I knew which tasks were the most important, every day I try and guess and follow my instincts.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#8I don't know anyone who is 'addicted'. I know people who put in 14 hour days because they genuinely just enjoy it. I'm one of them. You always have to try and get a good balance between work and family, but I don't think the article really considers the instance where people choose to work long hours because they enjoy what they do. 'Doing a startup' is surely enjoyable work. That's why people enjoy working more, and…
When I get drunk, I also lose track of time and enjoy myself quite a bit. If I were an alcoholic, that doesn't mean its right. Trust me, im all for enjoying work, but this startup culture mentality of: "outwork the other guy 16 hours a day and have nothing else" is getting out of hand.
What startup mentality. Where? When did it start getting out of hand?
Some data needed there me thinks.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#9This couldn't come at a better / worse time for me. I finished college 3 years ago, and spent the last 3 years building a startup. It's an extremely stressful time at the moment, and we're in talks with our first "big fish" (> 1 million / year) clients. Basically, it either needs to work out in the next 6 months or the plug will be pulled.
Lately, I've been feeling socially isolated big time. I've been neglecting a lot of friendships over the past few years, always feeling guilty when I'm not working, not being able to enjoy the more important things in life, always using the excuse that I have more important things to deal with my life right now. "When my company gets going, I'll start spending things on the finer things in life", I would say. I guess for me, part of it was a bit of a dream, a fantasy image I would hold on to: this dream will either become reality or fail in the next few months, and with this chance of failure coming closer and closer, I guess something snapped with me -- too much stress, and putting way too much pressure on myself.
Failure is not an option, because otherwise I completely blew it with a huge part of my social life, and will have nothing left.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing this, and it's not really a cohesive story, but I I guess I needed to vent with people who kind of can relate. I guess this is one of those phases in life I need to get through to realize what's more important in life.
I have a problem.
Re: Step one is admitting you have a problem
#10I couldn't agree more with DHH here. Although addiction to "work's highs" is one explanation, I think its often simply a noble-sounding excuse to not expend the effort to exercise regularly or maintain a significant other. Hacking is fun, working out and maintaining relationships are hard. I fell into this trap when I was an undergraduate, sleeping 4 hours a night and putting on a significant amount of weight. After I finally got my priorities straight a few years ago, I lost the weight, started sleeping 8 hours a night, and my quality of life has improved dramatically.
There are always going to be periodic crunch times when you need to pull out all the stops to hit a deadline. However, if this is the norm rather than the exception, I think you're doing it wrong. Note that I still agree that you shouldn't be expecting to take vacations and enjoy lazy weekends, its just that 8 hours of sleep a night and regular exercise should be non-negotiable.