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Why I hate the weekends (2017)

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Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#291

Post by Narushia »

camwiese wrote: post #224
Narushia wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though I’m young and have little work experience, I’ve already started to think that a ~30-hour work week would be optimal for the rest of my life. My current work place is very flexible in work hours and days, so I decided to do 6-hour days. I think it leaves me enough time to get daily activities & hobbies done and relax. I really enjoy my work. However, I still occasionally think to myself “man, this kinda sucks”.…

I'm in a similar state of mind. Would love to hear about what you're working on!

I’m afraid I can’t go to very specific details on what it’s about, but it’s a web service. In my country, there’s only one firm offering the same kind of service and they make a lot of money out of it. I think there is room for competition; I’m going to offer an equal-or-higher quality service with cheaper pricing.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#292

Post by itamarst »

toper-centage wrote: post #278
Synaesthesia wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest reason is because bosses don’t want us to. They want to make as much money as possible, and that’s about it really. The good news is we have made progress, through mass action, people have won the right to weekends, fewer hours and other rights. The final battle is one to win control of the workplace itself, a self-managed and owned workplace.

I convinced my boss to let me work less days per week. 4 to be precise. It was a very very rare exception open just for me and because I was a well regarded dev 2+ years in the team. Since then, I had interviews with companies and recruiters and there simply isn't any offers for reduced week loads. Companies have fixed costs in hiring you, I guess, and want to suck you dry ASAP.

There aren't any offers, sure, but you can still negotiate for this and get it—it's harder than doing it at your current job, but it's still possible. And once you've done it at one job it's easier to say "and I did this successfully at last job and it worked out fine" and that reduces their worry somewhat.

Still means a longer job search, but it's definitely possible.

Key trick: ask for shorter workweek only _after_ you have the job offer. That way they don't just filter you out in advance, and they're already in a mental state of wanting you.

I've negotiated for shorter workweek at three jobs so far, and did it this way at last two. And people who have read my book on negotiating a 3-day weekend (https://codewithoutrules.com/3dayweekend/) or that I've interviewed about their independent experience doing this (https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer...) have done it as well.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#293

Post by matwood »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #276
01100011 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My gym is filled with people half-assing it(not even half really), sitting on equipment playing with their phones, or just generally doing it wrong. Those people aren't going to get the message no matter what. You either want it or you don't. I mean want it. "Want" is a funny word. My ex "wanted" everything but never put any effort into anything. That's not "want". "Want" is a desire strong enough to drive actions. I…

You are seriously looking down on the folks with their phones? How else are folks supposed to overcome the absolute drudgery and hate they have for the activity they are doing? I'd argue these folks are more motivated than the folks like you: Regardless for their hate for the activity, they are still doing it. It is the same reason I have headphones with some sort of entertainment when I walk or use treadmills. The s…

You need to find some type of exercise you like to do. You mention that you like creative activities. Many studies show creativity spikes during and after physical activity. At worst, look at the end goal of being healthy physically and mentally and derive joy from exercising.

For me, exercising is like breathing. It is not about liking/disliking, it's about doing because it is how the body works.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#294

Post by underwater »

akavi wrote: post #269
underwater wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, referring to salary. Total comp is great and all, but unless you're liquidating immediately after you receive a grant then you're adding another variable into the mix of things that need to go right. And the stock portion of your comp being valuable is dependent on the company doing well. True for FAANG, but that's only because by definition that group is the companies that are doing well! A $200K equivalent RSU…

> unless you're liquidating immediately after you receive a grant then you're adding another variable into the mix of things that need to go right. Why aren't you liquidating immediately after you receive a grant? Why would you choose to doubly leverage on your primary source of income, and, as you accurately point out, add another source of risk?

Liquidating is the rational action, but people are not always rational. Consider the two outcomes from selling stock early:

- The company tanks. You maybe retained some of the value of your stock, but you're still on a sinking ship.

- The company takes off. Thanks to loss aversion you feel like you lost money that is rightfully yours. And your idiot co-worker who held just turned up for work in a supercar.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#295

Post by agumonkey »

atemerev wrote: post #272
agumonkey wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And is remote work almost free of problems or is it more a case of so much benefits that even the few problems are barely worrying ?

There are different problems. I have to overcome procrastination, sure, and regular meetings are a strain, but if I want to work at nights, I can. If I want to go for a walk and think, I can. The balance is much better.

I remember a friend who needed to have naps the afternoon, but his 'ethos' didn't allow him to do so. So he fought sleep for hours while doing nothing productive..

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#296

Post by matwood »

glangdale wrote: post #281
matwood wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're 40 going up against 20s all the time sure. But BJJ is one of the easier things I have done to my body. Basketball (back injury, broken ankle), wake boarding (slight concussion, torn ACL), and snowboarding have all been much harder on me than anytime I've done starting from a knee rolling. But, you do need to make sure the people you roll with are not idiots (like any other sports where you have to rely on/c…

"starting from a knee" rolling, he says carefully. I bet there's a story there... I have a SLAP lesion from a Judo throw, myself. Also +1 for "make sure the people you roll with are not idiots". I guess my role is to follow you around agreeing with you. Further, make you that the person that you are 2 minutes after the roll starts isn't an idiot. My IQ often drops about 10 points her minute of the roll, so I'll go in…

> I bet there's a story there...

No real story. I'm not a BJJ expert or anything, but my experience has almost always been starting from the knees. I have seen more MMA style gyms that I would avoid at my age. I'm too old to be punched in the face or thrown from standing :D

> Also +1 for "make sure the people you roll with are not idiots"

I broke my ankle playing basketball b/c of a new guy who showed up to play and ran through me while I had an open layup. I would have gotten in a fight if I could walk haha. Instead we had some choice words for him, and never saw him at the game again.

> Further, make you that the person that you are 2 minutes after the roll starts isn't an idiot....

Great point (and I'm going to get meta here), this is important to learn in life. How many times are you at work and a couple minutes into a discussion you or someone else loses their cool? It takes discipline to see that and stop it from happening. Martial arts really do teach so much beyond the activity itself.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#297

Post by itamarst »

dorkwood wrote: post #223

I’ve tried to think of a way out of this, but so far none of my ideas are very good. 1) Use my spare time to study a more lucrative field, and negotiate a four-day work week. The pitfall here is that I need to spend all of my spare time working, so that I may be able to work less in the future (and it’s not guaranteed that I will). 2) Move to a country where the cost of living is cheap, and freelance with internation…

Will assume you are programmer, here, if not the dynamic might be different.

The presumption is that you get paid less when you work less. And this is true, to an extent: when I've negotiated a shorter workweek I've typically gotten paid correspondingly less, e.g. at 4 days a week get paid 80% time.

But—

1. My experience (https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/02/11/working-long-hours/), and that of others (https://lobste.rs/s/hvjwd6/how_become_part_time_programmer#c...) is that working less makes you more productive. You learn how to prioritize, how to avoid wasting time, you're force to plan more... basically you end up a much effective programmer and employee.

As a better employee, you can get a better baseline salary. So you're getting 80% of a higher salary.

2. The key to getting a shorter workweek is negotiating. If you have better negotiating skills you can get a higher salary, e.g. merely asking for more than the company's initial offer will usually give you a 10% boost (https://codewithoutrules.com/2019/01/18/negotiate-like-6-yea...). Knowing how to present yourself in a job interview and resume can also give you a salary boost (https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/).

So again, it's possible to get 80% of a higher salary.

You'll still get paid less than you could have otherwise... but beyond a certain point I and others at least have found time to be more important than money.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#298

Post by Ntrails »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #276
01100011 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My gym is filled with people half-assing it(not even half really), sitting on equipment playing with their phones, or just generally doing it wrong. Those people aren't going to get the message no matter what. You either want it or you don't. I mean want it. "Want" is a funny word. My ex "wanted" everything but never put any effort into anything. That's not "want". "Want" is a desire strong enough to drive actions. I…

You are seriously looking down on the folks with their phones? How else are folks supposed to overcome the absolute drudgery and hate they have for the activity they are doing? I'd argue these folks are more motivated than the folks like you: Regardless for their hate for the activity, they are still doing it. It is the same reason I have headphones with some sort of entertainment when I walk or use treadmills. The s…

I assume GP is referring to people who arent actively working out, but floating around the gym mostly playing on their phones, checking social. As though time spent in the gym was the point rather than the exercise itself.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#299

Post by nickjj »

Xcelerate wrote: post #270
nickjj wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been working remotely my whole life (freelance developer). It's interesting how jaded I am of driving in general. There are certain intersections in my town where it's common to get stuck at a red light that lasts for minutes. Things like this put me on complete life tilt. All I think about is "how can anyone put up with this every day?". I'm no longer surprised why people go berserk out of no where. I really do…

> waiting on long red lights sucks the life out of you because it's such an utter waste of time Weird... now that you mention this, I recall that during grad school when I had complete control over my time (and essentially worked remotely), I would get so angry sitting at red lights. Now that I have a corporate job, they no longer seem to bother me. Maybe you're on to something.

> Maybe you're on to something.

The reason it bothers me so much is that it makes me feel like I'm more so a slave to "the man" than I already am, even while being a freelancer.

Inefficient rules are in place by an unignorable authority who cares nothing about you other than to take your tax money every quarter (or go to prison / be homeless, neither of which are reasonable options). It's just a constant reminder to how little freedom most people have in today's world.

I don't think it would bother me as much if it were efficient. It's the compounding fact that as a whole we pay such a massive amount of $ towards taxes but we can't figure out how to make transportation suck less.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#300

Post by eeZah7Ux »

noonespecial wrote: post #196
darkmighty wrote: post #58

What I don't understand here: Why can't we just work less ? I know it's not trivial, but it can't be impossible either. I doubt he would starve if he got a part-time dev job (are those easy to find? I have no idea). I agree wholeheartedly with all that he said. I think a life of work-home-work without breathing is almost meaningless unless you can have possibly unreasonable amounts of fun and freedom in the job (few…

Hiring is actually a tremendous burden for most small/mid sized business with all of the compliance and regulatory stuff. Its far cheaper to hire one person for 40 hours/week than 2 people for 20, even if their pay is half.

You need to account for all the people who leave a job and would have stayed for a 30-hours week. High turn rate companies see that all the time.
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