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Work Hard and Play Just Enough

andrewcross.ca

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Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#31

Post by dingfeng_quek »

ryandvm wrote: post #9
timjahn wrote: post #7

The people who advocate "balls to the wall" practices and "not making it home for dinner every night" scare me. When it's all said and done, and you're ready to leave this world, what are you going to think about? Who are you going to want by your side? What are you going to care about? If it's all the amazing startups you created, or the enormous sums of money you made, or the years of never making it home for dinne…

Agreed. I suspect there are very few people that lie on their deathbeds and wish they spent more time at work.

why should desires just before death take precedence over desires during the prime of life?

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#32

Post by ndonnellan »

>> The notion that you need to work like crazy doesn’t come out of the blue, there’s data to back it up.

From what I've seen*, "data" are usually blog posts like this one. I would love for someone to also include "here are these 20 other startups I knew, everyone worked their butts off. They still failed". Anyone?

- yes, this too is an anecdote

-- there are data

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#33

Post by wroman »

swombat wrote: post #2

That’s my line. It isn’t a balanced life, but historically, it gives me the best chance to succeed. And since I’m going for a home run, that’s the line I need to walk. I guess the important question to answer is: why are you going for a "home run"? Is it because your life-consuming ambition, the only way you'll ever feel accomplished, is by having a bank account with a LOT of digits in it? Is it because you have a bu…

+1 Great question... Personally, often torn identifying my true desires around this question.

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#34

Post by r0s »

swampthing wrote: post #25
cunac wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't know how people can still write coherent code at that point." - they don't and that is a problem

So don't write code - do something that requires less focus and creativity, but is still productive.

In my case, the reason I'm still at the office is because I need to write code. This is dysfunctional.

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#35

Post by agentultra »

mindcrime wrote: post #18

I think this article hits the nail on the head. Yes, you can build a business and do the whole "only work 20 hours a week" or whatever thing. But can you "hit a home run" doing that? I kinda doubt it. If you want the home run, if you want to make it to the big leagues, you have to sacrifice (unless you just plain get lucky). And even on the "luck" front, I'm reminded of the old saw "the harder I work, the luckier I g…

I'd try to over-come 2.

I had a chip on my shoulder when I was your age too. I came from a poor rural Canadian town, raised by a single disabled mother, and spent most of my time out of school because I was being bullied and nothing could be done about it. The problem with 2 is that there is too much luck involved hitting home-runs. If you base your sense of accomplishment on that chip in your shoulder you will only be greatly disappointed later in life. There's nothing to prove.

You only have yourself to compete with.

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#36

Post by andrewcross »

eyko wrote: post #27
andrewcross wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair question. For me, I'm going for a home run because I think it will allow me to have the biggest impact on the world. I was living in Chile for 6 months last year and have seen what my company (a p2p marketplace for trips planned by locals) could do globally. That worldwide impact is the driving force. What it isn't is a money or peer pressure play. My first startup is actually set to double in revenue this year…

So a glorified (and quite expensive) CouchSurfing?

Couchsurfing is fantastic. It's also very variable. Many people are willing to pay for a consistent, high-quality experience.

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#38

Post by mindcrime »

agentultra wrote: post #35
mindcrime wrote: post #18

I think this article hits the nail on the head. Yes, you can build a business and do the whole "only work 20 hours a week" or whatever thing. But can you "hit a home run" doing that? I kinda doubt it. If you want the home run, if you want to make it to the big leagues, you have to sacrifice (unless you just plain get lucky). And even on the "luck" front, I'm reminded of the old saw "the harder I work, the luckier I g…

I'd try to over-come 2. I had a chip on my shoulder when I was your age too. I came from a poor rural Canadian town, raised by a single disabled mother, and spent most of my time out of school because I was being bullied and nothing could be done about it. The problem with 2 is that there is too much luck involved hitting home-runs. If you base your sense of accomplishment on that chip in your shoulder you will only…

> I had a chip on my shoulder when I was your age too.

Do you know how old I am? :-)

> The problem with 2 is that there is too much luck involved hitting home-runs. If you base your sense of accomplishment on that chip in your shoulder you will only be greatly disappointed later in life.

That's a fair point, but it's more than just the "chip on the shoulder" effect. It's also, as I said, about demonstrating - to the people who have supported me, and shown belief in me - that their belief was justified. And that's something that matters to me. Sadly, some of those people are getting older (my parents, for example) which contributes to my desire to work harder, since I want to accomplish something in their lifetimes.

> You only have yourself to compete with.

I agree with that to a point. But combined with

> There's nothing to prove.

I would argue that I do have something to prove... to myself. I need to know what I'm capable of achieving, and if I give less than 100% effort, I'll always have to look back and ask "what could I have done if I'd really given my all"?

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#39

Post by colemorrison »

icebraining wrote: post #23
timjahn wrote: post #7

The people who advocate "balls to the wall" practices and "not making it home for dinner every night" scare me. When it's all said and done, and you're ready to leave this world, what are you going to think about? Who are you going to want by your side? What are you going to care about? If it's all the amazing startups you created, or the enormous sums of money you made, or the years of never making it home for dinne…

OTOH, OP didn't say he's planning on doing this for the rest of his life. He's 24, chances are he doesn't have kids, so if he could trade some time now for time + money in the future, isn't it a reasonable option?

Yep. YC'ers have probably read some Paul Graham essays. If so, one of best perspectives I saw from him was:

"...What it amounts to, economically, is compressing your working life into the smallest possible space. Instead of working at an ordinary rate for 40 years, you work like hell for four. And maybe end up with nothing-- though in that case it probably won't take four years."

I think it's also key to hit that if you enjoy it, then hell, why wouldn't you want to reminisce about it?

Re: Work Hard and Play Just Enough

#40

Post by alekseyk »

labrentca wrote: post #30
alekseyk wrote: post #11

I always laugh at people who say how many hours they worked per day like it's an achievement of any sort. Anybody can 'sit' at their desk for 10 hours that says absolutely nothing about you or your job performance but hey you can brag about how many hours you worked for. I will come in focused, do all the work I have to do while you bullshit with co-workers or talk about doing something for the 10th time without doin…

There's a political element to this to though. Remember, human beings, including your boss and coworkers, are social creatures. What you consider time spent "bullshitting with coworkers" might actually be an investment into office culture and politics.

Nobody is saying that you have to lock your self in a box and do your work.

If you need 10 hours to do something that somebody does in 6. Maybe, just maybe you should focus on your work instead of 'culture' especially if the goal of a start up to succeed.

I have never heard of a single case where something got acquired for it's culture. Have you?

But let me be clear. My point is that measuring somebody by the time they spend in the office only rewards people who sit in the office the most.

That's not really what their job is right? Because if that's the case I can hire few people to sit in the office for really cheap.

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