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Self-employed, self-exhausted

theisolationjournals.substack.com

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Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#41

Post by safety1st »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #21
safety1st wrote: post #6

> I used to think that once I made it ... stashed away some savings to weather a health crisis or creative drought ... I’d finally feel free to slow down ... Instead, accomplishment—and the sense of “arrival” I imagined would come with it—proved elusive. I mean, yes? You do indeed need an emergency fund, and the theory, which various retirement vehicles are designed to support, is you set up your affairs to permanent…

> At some point my age and that number will meet in the middle. Hopefully. The author mentions: "The leukemia diagnosis and relapses certainly intensified the urgency I feel around work…"

Ouch, I feel terrible for having missed that. Well for the rest of us...

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#42

Post by moltar »

anonzzzies wrote: post #17
brabel wrote: post #4

I live in Sweden where taking 5 weeks off in the summer is the rule. Never got used to it, I take just 2 or 3 and leave the rest of mu vacations for the winter… but I almost never take the full 5 weeks and end up accumulating it over the years. I think I have over 12 weeks pending even after already having taken 3 weeks in July. I just get too bored and start coding anyway, so why not just work and get paid for doing…

From the Netherlands and not having had to work since I sold my first company at 25 (over 25 years ago), I cannot do more than a week vacation before getting annoyed and bored. I like building stuff: programming, welding, soldering, guitar playing, cooking. But I have no patience for doing one thing: normally I code myself and vibe with multiple claude codes on the boil, my electric guitar is on my lap, there is eith…

I also don’t like stereotypical vacations and get bored on day 1.

Vacations don’t need to be stereotypical though. To me vacation nowadays means simply taking a break from my main money earning activity (typically a job, but I had a business before too).

When I travel these days I don’t even plan anything. Just land in the city and let it be. Just wonder around and explore. That’s it.

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#44

Post by balfirevic »

PopAlongKid wrote: post #25
brabel wrote: post #4

I live in Sweden where taking 5 weeks off in the summer is the rule. Never got used to it, I take just 2 or 3 and leave the rest of mu vacations for the winter… but I almost never take the full 5 weeks and end up accumulating it over the years. I think I have over 12 weeks pending even after already having taken 3 weeks in July. I just get too bored and start coding anyway, so why not just work and get paid for doing…

> I almost never take the full 5 weeks and end up accumulating it over the years. Companies should have a policy to limit accumulation of unused vacation, such as 3 weeks maximum. The problem with unlimited accumulation is that it essentially allows the employee to assign themselves paid overtime[0] without any business reason or management oversight. For example, if the company policy is to have you work 49 weeks an…

How is it paid overtime, if your salary is the same whether you take that vacation or not?

I can see how it can be paid overtime if company has to pay out the unused vacation when you quit, but I don't know if that's what you meant.

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#45

Post by [deleted] »

PopAlongKid wrote: post #34
bityard wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, the only common use of the word "overtime" implies three things: 1. Working outside of your normal shift hours or days on a non-routine basis to meet some deadline or specific business goal. 2. Working overtime is not generally voluntary on the part of the employee. 3. However, most companies acknowledge that overtime is an unwanted burden on the part of the employee and thus usually compensate overtime at…

This is why I had to footnote what I (didn't) mean by "overtime". The overtime I'm referring to does not meet any of your 3 implications -- it is entirely voluntary and self-administered by the employee. If there is a better term for it, I would like to use it. And yes, it is only feasible for salaried employees, not hourly-paid.

[deleted]

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#46

Post by esseph »

slyfox125 wrote: post #10

Life isn't inherently easy - or fair. For most, it is much easier today because of the efforts of those who came before us. We are lucky for those efforts because they afford us moderation and comfort that are not guaranteed. To expect results without hard work is presumptuous and pretentious, of which this author has in spades.

Also the sacrifices of those before us.

Weekends, 8 hour work day, paid time off, etc.

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#47

Post by esseph »

safety1st wrote: post #41
JKCalhoun wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At some point my age and that number will meet in the middle. Hopefully. The author mentions: "The leukemia diagnosis and relapses certainly intensified the urgency I feel around work…"

Ouch, I feel terrible for having missed that. Well for the rest of us...

... we might pop up with cancer tomorrow under a routine checkup.

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#48

Post by PopAlongKid »

balfirevic wrote: post #44
PopAlongKid wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I almost never take the full 5 weeks and end up accumulating it over the years. Companies should have a policy to limit accumulation of unused vacation, such as 3 weeks maximum. The problem with unlimited accumulation is that it essentially allows the employee to assign themselves paid overtime[0] without any business reason or management oversight. For example, if the company policy is to have you work 49 weeks an…

How is it paid overtime, if your salary is the same whether you take that vacation or not? I can see how it can be paid overtime if company has to pay out the unused vacation when you quit, but I don't know if that's what you meant.

Yes, paying out the unused vacation time upon leaving the job is what I meant. It is especially pernicious in the case of public employees (police, fire) who spike their pension payments by adding all that unplanned paid time to their final year salary, which distorts the pension calculation.

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#49

Post by yapyap »

anonzzzies wrote: post #17
brabel wrote: post #4

I live in Sweden where taking 5 weeks off in the summer is the rule. Never got used to it, I take just 2 or 3 and leave the rest of mu vacations for the winter… but I almost never take the full 5 weeks and end up accumulating it over the years. I think I have over 12 weeks pending even after already having taken 3 weeks in July. I just get too bored and start coding anyway, so why not just work and get paid for doing…

From the Netherlands and not having had to work since I sold my first company at 25 (over 25 years ago), I cannot do more than a week vacation before getting annoyed and bored. I like building stuff: programming, welding, soldering, guitar playing, cooking. But I have no patience for doing one thing: normally I code myself and vibe with multiple claude codes on the boil, my electric guitar is on my lap, there is eith…

Wow, I would like to hear the story of building and selling a company pre y2k

Re: Self-employed, self-exhausted

#50

Post by yapyap »

“ I used to think that once I made it I’d finally feel free”

How you do one thing is how you do everything and once the baseline shifts to your new normal (most likely after a few weeks or months) you will feel the same as you did on your old baseline before the big change.

This is the human condition, you have to figure out how to improve your baseline to improve life.

((or at least, that has been my experience living life))

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