Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

hbr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 275 posts

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#61

Post by dvt »

paulpauper wrote: post #28

Wages for professionals, such as law, medicine, tech, finance, consulting, etc., have really ballooned over the past decade, since 2008 especially, even after accounting for student loan debt and inflation. This makes working long hours more attractive, as the financial payoff is so great both in terms of wages but also by investing one's income in rapidly appreciating assets such as stocks and real estate (the post-…

> Putting in long hours in your 20s and 30s to have a massive nest egg that will last you the rest of your life by your 40s seems like a good trade-off.

Even amassing 7 figures by your late 20s/30s (very difficult to do reliably, also implies no debt, no adverse life events, etc.), is not remotely enough to make a "comfortable" living for the next ~5 decades of your life.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#63

Post by burkaman »

xkqd wrote: post #45
AlwaysRock wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week.

I think you’re saying it but… You mean working for your employer 70 hours a week, right? As for me, I make it a point to give my employers what they’re paying for, but nothing extra. I spend a lot of extra time each week performing “work” for myself. Whether it be home improvement or side projects.

Yes, work means employment in this discussion (including self-employment).

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#64

Post by sharadov »

justinator wrote: post #41
sharadov wrote: post #12

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

How was your time with your Father? Or do you regret that his career got in the way of your relationship?

It was great, he is a very loving dad. He taught me a lot along the way. We spend a lot more time talking now that he's retired and we live on opposite sides of the globe. He does regret it that he did not spend enough time with me. But, he made a lot of other people's lives better and I made peace with that.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#65

Post by ren_engineer »

imilk wrote: post #31
sharadov wrote: post #12

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

I'd much rather spend time with the people I love in life before I die than the abstract busyness known as "work". But that may just be just me.

why not both? I know plenty of people with family businesses that operate well. Doesn't have to be binary

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#66

Post by jlokier »

justinator wrote: post #39
whytaka wrote: post #32

Because I'm not nearly as good at any hobbies as much as I'm good at my job and being good at something is what gives me day-to-day satisfaction. Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future, I'm spending more time feeling good about work than finding and investing in a hobby that'll make me truly happy.

> Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no guarantee on what the future may bring, money can't fix everything, and true security is a lie. Live your life in the here and now, before you regret wasting it.

True security is a lie, but "relatively comfortably secure for the foreseeable future" is not.

These days, it takes a lot of assets to be confident you won't be homeless in old age assuming no major surprises or threats from society and the environment changing.

I would say most younger people don't earn enough or have enough assets to reach that level of basic confidence. After all, if you've rented all your life so far due to inability to buy a place to live, you probably know, in the back of your mind, that when you retire, you can't see any way to pay the rent unless something changes between now and then.

No need for any catastrophic surprises. That's foreseeable.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#67

Post by Nbox9 »

ballenf wrote: post #49
justinator wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no guarantee on what the future may bring, money can't fix everything, and true security is a lie. Live your life in the here and now, before you regret wasting it.

I read the comment to be working hard is what brings satisfaction. Some people really enjoy hard work and aren't doing it just as a means to afford leisure.

I read the comment to say that a hobby might make him “truly happy” but because of the uncertainty of the future he’s working hard and getting some level of satisfaction from that. He’s maximizing for security not for happiness.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#68

Post by adventured »

sharadov wrote: post #12

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

I think it's a fair premise that the majority will never / can never enjoy working 70 hours per week. It's essentially impossible to match so many people ideally up to financially rewarding tasks they'd enjoy doing for that amount of time each week on a persistent basis. I'm skeptical there is much of anything people enjoy doing 70 hours per week; I've only known a few people that even liked to get that much sleep. In the past I've known a few gaming addicts that played ten hours per day, but, that's an addict, they have a serious problem.

If you have a family, 70 hours per week becomes threatening to the well-being of that family unit. Are there exceptions? I'm sure. That's all they are though, rare exceptions. A bunch of that time should rationally be spent exploring life with the kids and spouse, partaking in new shared experiences together, which is what bonds people together for the long-term.

I don't mind working eight hours per day, seven days per week. Up to ten hours if I really need to get something done. I won't do that for anybody else other than myself though, for my own projects/businesses; I won't do it under any circumstances for some middle management moron clown boss or company I don't own. My bills are around a thousand dollars per month right now, I can meet that working part-time for $15 / hr at a convenience store if I feel like it, or doing low volume contract tech work on the side. I've been working six or seven days per week for 20+ years straight at this point and I have rarely suffered burnout, because I've spent that time working on what I wanted to, doing what I wanted to, when I wanted to, with no boss. If I want to sleep all day, I sleep all day; if I want to work all day, I work all day; if I want to sleep during the day and work all night, I do that. That's not normal, and it can't be replicated by the majority of people. I also don't have a family; if I did, I'd have a different schedule because my priorities would be different, working 7*10 would be a serious disservice to that family, it would be unfair.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#69

Post by jasondigitized »

bmeski wrote: post #46
Arisaka1 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling work "abstract busyness" devalues workers.

Then stop training workers in valueless things like agile PM or Product mgmt

Valueless PM? You must work for a bad company who is not product focused.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#70

Post by pwinnski »

Clubber wrote: post #29
justwalt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely tangential to your point, but why did you choose to use “she” as the pronoun in your last sentence? I see this more and more frequently, and I assume it has something to do with being more inclusive (so as not to imply only a man could be the subject), but I don’t want to assume. Why not use “they” instead?

>If she can, then I don't see any issue at all. >Why not use “they” instead? It's been 30 years since I've studied formal writing in earnest, but "they," is, or at least was, grammatically incorrect in that sentence, unless you are referring to more than one person. English doesn't have a proper gender neutral singular pronoun. People have bastardized "they" to fit that role though because they don't know the gender,…

They as a singular gender-neutral pronoun is far, far older than 30 years[0], so while I believe that you were taught that, you were taught incorrectly. So was I!

It is neither a bastardization, nor grammatically incorrect, to use they as a singular gender-neutral pronoun.

0. https://www.academicwritingsuccess.com/the-astonishing-histo...

Post reply on HN