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Work Life balance slows careers

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Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#91

Post by NalNezumi »

Each to their own but things worth pointing out is:

Some people work hard but aren't as lucky with the "being rewarded for their hard work" part. A grain of salt required for lucky people's advice. Especially the one with short memory and rose tinted glasses (as other commenter noted, this guy seemed to have burned out[1]). It's Probably more a rationalization to himself and people around him (his kids and wife I guess) sugarcoated as an advice.

Second is people saying "I can retire early if I work hard now" I mean sure. Toil away the best years of your life when you have the most youth, beauty, energy and freedom so you can enjoy leisure when your body is aching and getting a good sleep is hard. I'm not that old but did my stint of "16 hour days 7 days a week" at startup and my reward was useless options and chronic illness flaring up (requiring two minor surgeries down the line). Glad I tried it out tho (minus the physical and mental health toil)

Work life balance slows career. Prioritizing work might speed it up. But I'm not sure the point of a career is the goal, but the journey itself.

I'll do some overtime and all nighters when it's required, rewarded, and I feel like the work matter to me.

[1] https://www.jasonshen.com/169/

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#92

Post by LexiMax »

eastbound wrote: post #62
Karawebnetwork wrote: post #18

At what cost? A career is just one facet of a fulfilled life alongside relationships, health, personal development and joy. Putting everything aside aiming for promotions may look like a success on paper but it often leads to burnout, loneliness and unfulfilled goals in other areas. You can climb the ladder but if you ignore the rest of your life you may reach the top, only to realize once alone at the summit that yo…

Some people are just socially inept. As far as I remember, groups have turned against me for no reasonable reason. Saw therapists for years, the best one I kept a dozen years but she grew irritated. Some people are just born to bring taxes in. (And before you bring up the smug: Did plenty of sports, windsurf, judo, snowboarding, racketball, plenty of travels, lived abroad, tried both genders, had all sorts of friends…

There's a difference, though. From your post, it doesn't sound like you actually enjoy your line of work at all. Instead, it sounds like work is merely being the thing that happens to annoy you the least - something to occupy and stimulate your mind to pass the time.

If my hunch is correct, I think it's only fair to point out that the grandparent was arguing against the career advancement at all costs mindset that the blog is talking about, not situations like yours.

Speaking of which, I am truly sorry you feel the way you do about social stuff. I've grappled with social anxiety and lack of social awareness before, and although I don't think I was ever angry at humanity to the degree you are, I can appreciate how isolating and miserable that headspace can get.

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#93

Post by ryandrake »

NalNezumi wrote: post #91

Each to their own but things worth pointing out is: Some people work hard but aren't as lucky with the "being rewarded for their hard work" part. A grain of salt required for lucky people's advice. Especially the one with short memory and rose tinted glasses (as other commenter noted, this guy seemed to have burned out[1]). It's Probably more a rationalization to himself and people around him (his kids and wife I gue…

> Second is people saying "I can retire early if I work hard now" I mean sure. Toil away the best years of your life when you have the most youth, beauty, energy and freedom so you can enjoy leisure when your body is aching and getting a good sleep is hard.

This argument always comes up, where we just assume one's "best" years are in their 20s and 30s, and people can't enjoy leisure at 60. My response is always "Make hay when the sun shines." I can accept you're probably at your cognitive and physical peak in your 20s and 30s, and I'd argue that's the time to max out your earnings, because you may not be able to when you're 60+. I look back at my 20s and 30s, and even though I spent most of them working and not really goofing around having fun, I wish I spent even more of them on my career and saving, due to compounding interest and investment gains. If I did, I might be retired already and spending 100% of my time on fun, instead of playing financial catch-up. Probably the worst thing you can do, financially, when you're 22 and just graduated from college is to take a gap year backpacking in Bali or horsing around in Ibiza or something.

In summary: You can have fun and/or work when you're young. You can also have fun, but might not necessarily be able to work when you're older.

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#94

Post by NalNezumi »

ryandrake wrote: post #93
NalNezumi wrote: post #91

Each to their own but things worth pointing out is: Some people work hard but aren't as lucky with the "being rewarded for their hard work" part. A grain of salt required for lucky people's advice. Especially the one with short memory and rose tinted glasses (as other commenter noted, this guy seemed to have burned out[1]). It's Probably more a rationalization to himself and people around him (his kids and wife I gue…

> Second is people saying "I can retire early if I work hard now" I mean sure. Toil away the best years of your life when you have the most youth, beauty, energy and freedom so you can enjoy leisure when your body is aching and getting a good sleep is hard. This argument always comes up, where we just assume one's "best" years are in their 20s and 30s, and people can't enjoy leisure at 60. My response is always "Make…

I think we are in agreement though.

You can do both: work hard for a while, enjoy life for a while. Compounding interest is real, it's only limited if you're in a rush to "retire early".

I'd rather find a job I like, that doesn't break me, and enjoy my life and passion(sometimes coincide with work), up until actual retirement age. Most people (in tech) that aim to retire early usually end up working after retirement anyway, just on their own condition.

Enjoying "life" is also a skill. I've been surrounded by workaholics and many of them had to essentially learn that later. (myself included)

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#96

Post by amusable »

To each their own, but as a counterpoint to many of these comments, I know plenty of people in tech who prioritize their family at the cost of their career & health/fitness. I think most tenured people at FAANGs are doing that actually. 99% of all parents I know at FAANGs have high blood pressure, can't run a mile straight, deal with chronic pain due to sitting all the time, have low grade diabetes or need to take multiple types of psychiatric medications due to never being able to achieve financial freedom.

I think financial freedom _needs_ to be a priority for your long-term health, especially if you want to have a family. And achieving financial freedom requires sacrifices elsewhere in your life.

And in general, I think it's totally fine to work hard if you want to, but you absolutely need to make sure that you're getting an exponential amount of payout for every hour of overtime you put in.

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#97

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

ryandrake wrote: post #93
NalNezumi wrote: post #91

Each to their own but things worth pointing out is: Some people work hard but aren't as lucky with the "being rewarded for their hard work" part. A grain of salt required for lucky people's advice. Especially the one with short memory and rose tinted glasses (as other commenter noted, this guy seemed to have burned out[1]). It's Probably more a rationalization to himself and people around him (his kids and wife I gue…

> Second is people saying "I can retire early if I work hard now" I mean sure. Toil away the best years of your life when you have the most youth, beauty, energy and freedom so you can enjoy leisure when your body is aching and getting a good sleep is hard. This argument always comes up, where we just assume one's "best" years are in their 20s and 30s, and people can't enjoy leisure at 60. My response is always "Make…

Do you know how many “mights” and “may not” are in your post? A lot.

You “might” lose half your investments after working 16 Hour Days for 20 years to a divorce. You might get hit by a bus.

Nothing is promised except for this moment, right now.

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#98

Post by ryandrake »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #97
ryandrake wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Second is people saying "I can retire early if I work hard now" I mean sure. Toil away the best years of your life when you have the most youth, beauty, energy and freedom so you can enjoy leisure when your body is aching and getting a good sleep is hard. This argument always comes up, where we just assume one's "best" years are in their 20s and 30s, and people can't enjoy leisure at 60. My response is always "Make…

Do you know how many “mights” and “may not” are in your post? A lot. You “might” lose half your investments after working 16 Hour Days for 20 years to a divorce. You might get hit by a bus. Nothing is promised except for this moment, right now.

It's a risk trade-off vs how many years of life you have left. Nobody has a crystal ball. I'd rather have enough to retire and then die unluckily, than not have enough to retire and live until I'm 100.

Re: Work Life balance slows careers

#100

Post by [deleted] »

eastbound wrote: post #62
Karawebnetwork wrote: post #18

At what cost? A career is just one facet of a fulfilled life alongside relationships, health, personal development and joy. Putting everything aside aiming for promotions may look like a success on paper but it often leads to burnout, loneliness and unfulfilled goals in other areas. You can climb the ladder but if you ignore the rest of your life you may reach the top, only to realize once alone at the summit that yo…

Some people are just socially inept. As far as I remember, groups have turned against me for no reasonable reason. Saw therapists for years, the best one I kept a dozen years but she grew irritated. Some people are just born to bring taxes in. (And before you bring up the smug: Did plenty of sports, windsurf, judo, snowboarding, racketball, plenty of travels, lived abroad, tried both genders, had all sorts of friends…

[deleted]
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