Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer • Hacker News Board

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#31

Post by ThrustVectoring » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 8:48 PM UTC

DougN7 wrote: post #14

aetherson wrote: post #11

Yeah, I'd like to see some actual data. Some kind of scientific study, anything. I don't say this because I'm a proponent of work-at-any-cost culture -- I'm not. I work about 45 hours a week, no weekends or nights outside of rare emergencies. That's certainly good for my mood and my relationship with my family and so forth. But I see all these articles in which they suggest that after 40 hours a week, your productivi…

Completely agree. And the fact that the breaking point is a nice round 40, which just happens to correspond with our culture's 5-day work week and typical 8 hour day is a little too convenient to believe.

I believe it. The breaking point is at 40 because the breakdown is in part a sub-conscious negotiation strategy. Like, some folks will get angered by being pressured into washing the dishes, and things magically break and they no longer get pressured into washing the dishes. Similarly, getting pressured into sacrificing your work-life balance can cause the sorts of emotions that are way better for winning those social conflicts than writing good code.

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#32

Post by dahart » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 8:51 PM UTC

DougN7 wrote: post #14

aetherson wrote: post #11

Yeah, I'd like to see some actual data. Some kind of scientific study, anything. I don't say this because I'm a proponent of work-at-any-cost culture -- I'm not. I work about 45 hours a week, no weekends or nights outside of rare emergencies. That's certainly good for my mood and my relationship with my family and so forth. But I see all these articles in which they suggest that after 40 hours a week, your productivi…

Completely agree. And the fact that the breaking point is a nice round 40, which just happens to correspond with our culture's 5-day work week and typical 8 hour day is a little too convenient to believe.

Were you joking or serious? Cause seriously- this is a good joke, if it's a joke! Otherwise, yeah, it's not a coincidence. ;)

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#33

Post by dahart » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 8:57 PM UTC

dpark wrote: post #15

aetherson wrote: post #11

Yeah, I'd like to see some actual data. Some kind of scientific study, anything. I don't say this because I'm a proponent of work-at-any-cost culture -- I'm not. I work about 45 hours a week, no weekends or nights outside of rare emergencies. That's certainly good for my mood and my relationship with my family and so forth. But I see all these articles in which they suggest that after 40 hours a week, your productivi…

It's anecdotally untrue. The most successful people I know work a lot of hours. I don't advocate it because I don't think it's healthy on a personal level but it's certainly an effective strategy to gain an advantage in the workplace and generally just get more stuff done.

I can totally believe that, but I think it's less a matter of hours, and more about goals and environment and motivation.

Personally, I find it much easier to put in long hours on side projects and on my own company than it is to put in long hours for someone else'e company. And if the environment is bad at a company, long hours can be excruciating.

The most successful people I know work for themselves, or carve out a niche in their companies that allows them to do the things they want to do. And I suspect that enables the conditions under which long hours are easy to put in, and success is easy to achieve.

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#34

Post by nitpicker9123 » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:03 PM UTC

Arjuna wrote: post #16

My favorite work-life balance commentary comes from Darren Aronofsky's film Pi : Sol Robeson You remember Archimedes of Syracuse, eh? The king asks Archimedes to determine if a present he's received is actually solid gold. Unsolved problem at the time. It tortures the great Greek mathematician for weeks. Insomnia haunts him and he twists and turns in his bed for nights on end. Finally, his equally exhausted wife... s…

This is the first time that I hear the claim that Archimedes was married.

Wikipedia: "It is unknown, for instance, whether he ever married or had children."

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#35

Post by shados » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:04 PM UTC

I strongly believe and practice work/life balance. While I love my job, I love coding, I have several open source projects, etc, and I do sometimes work on nights and weekends, I can't sustain it for very long before I crash and burn.

That being said, the best engineers I know all work crazy hours. Even when they don't they're absurdly productive, but on top of that, they work insane hours without skipping a beat. They shouldn't, they don't need to, they'll get promoted without it easily...but they do anyway. And they still manage.

I don't know what to say to that. But that's my reality, at least.

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#36

Post by shados » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:05 PM UTC

personjerry wrote: post #26

Why is the end goal to be a better software engineer? It seems like to me that life itself (and hence work/life balance) should the priority of anyone. If anyone disagrees, I would love to hear your thinking.

Many people like to take something they're good at and push it to it's absolute limit. For some it's Starcraft, DOTA or League. For some its parenting. For some its wall climbing. For some it's an open source project. For some its their day job. In that last category, some are software engineers.

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#37

Post by pmiller2 » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:07 PM UTC

shados wrote: post #35

I strongly believe and practice work/life balance. While I love my job, I love coding, I have several open source projects, etc, and I do sometimes work on nights and weekends, I can't sustain it for very long before I crash and burn. That being said, the best engineers I know all work crazy hours. Even when they don't they're absurdly productive, but on top of that, they work insane hours without skipping a beat. Th…

How does someone like you (and me) compete with those people who can sustain the crazy hours?

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#38

Post by codingdave » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:09 PM UTC

personjerry wrote: post #26

Why is the end goal to be a better software engineer? It seems like to me that life itself (and hence work/life balance) should the priority of anyone. If anyone disagrees, I would love to hear your thinking.

I'm sure many coders do share that goal. If you don't, that is fine... but then you are not the target audience for this article. Ideally, people have careers that they value enough to feel the work is worthwhile for its own sake, and not just a means to collect a paycheck that funds the rest of their lives.

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#39

Post by shados » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:09 PM UTC

pmiller2 wrote: post #37

shados wrote: post #35

I strongly believe and practice work/life balance. While I love my job, I love coding, I have several open source projects, etc, and I do sometimes work on nights and weekends, I can't sustain it for very long before I crash and burn. That being said, the best engineers I know all work crazy hours. Even when they don't they're absurdly productive, but on top of that, they work insane hours without skipping a beat. Th…

How does someone like you (and me) compete with those people who can sustain the crazy hours?

We don't. Not everyone can be a nobel prize winner. It's okay to be second best sometimes :)

Re: Work/Life Balance Will Make You a Better Software Engineer

#40

Post by saganus » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 9:10 PM UTC

nitpicker9123 wrote: post #34

Arjuna wrote: post #16

My favorite work-life balance commentary comes from Darren Aronofsky's film Pi : Sol Robeson You remember Archimedes of Syracuse, eh? The king asks Archimedes to determine if a present he's received is actually solid gold. Unsolved problem at the time. It tortures the great Greek mathematician for weeks. Insomnia haunts him and he twists and turns in his bed for nights on end. Finally, his equally exhausted wife... s…

This is the first time that I hear the claim that Archimedes was married. Wikipedia: "It is unknown, for instance, whether he ever married or had children."

It's a movie, so I don't take it as an actual claim.

Take it as a creative license to make a point :)