I love my job in software, but I think I'd have a better QoL with a 32 hour work week. I feel like my productivity wouldn't go down by 20% (but it's hard to tell without trying it for an extended period.)
i earn enough to get by but don't save as much as others at my age (for reference, i'm 35). i work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week (others work 7.5 hours a day and just take friday off). i don't get paid overtime but be do have comp time.
the upsides, in my opinion:
* i'm better rested, more concentrated and productive so the company gets more bang for the buck
* i spend a lot of my free time in the gym (this hopefully means i'm reasonably healthy which would be a plus for the company due to less sick time off)
* the rest of my free time i spend programming interesting private non-commercial projects; i.e. free education and experience that benefits my employer (sometimes it also leads to open source libraries we can use at work)
* the other rest of my free time i spend reading about IT (things like HN), which, again, +experience
* when schedules get tight i tend to accumulate overtime, as soon as that passes i tend to take time off. this means the company doesn't have to pay me for twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the clock
in my opinion it's mostly a win-win situation for both me and my employer.
there are several more downsides to the 5d6h model, but i personally don't care much for those right now and i could switch any time.
most of my friends and colleagues choose the 4d7.5h work week and i think it's the better option for most people.
I've lost more than 8kgs in the last 3 months and I feel great. I was never overweight to begin with but still I feel so much happier overall. I don't think drugs can do what 1 hour of exercise daily does to your mood and energy.
Plus losing weight has it's own benefits. Once you shed those extra pounds you feel like you've been carrying a laptop bag or something on your back all the time before.
How did you get going with that? Any pointers?
step 1: make your WHY big enough and the how will follow
First go to amazon and get one of these books: Spark or Go wild by john ratey. I prefer the audible version but either works. Listen to them, it's much easier than exercising. This will condition your mind and make your Why big enough. Soon you'll want to do it rather than have to do it.
Step 2: baby steps
You can't decide that you will exercise 1 hour daily starting from 0. Thankfully again there is a book called Minihabits. Get the audio or print version and read f it. Basically it teaches you that forming a habit is more important than doing it right. So 1 push daily for 3 months is better than 2 hours of 1 day gym in 3 months.
Step 3: track your habits
Get loopt habit tracker from app store (android) and put the widget on your home screen. Mark it daily. Even if you do 1 pushup you maintain your habit streak remember that. Once you have a 45 day streak you'll do your pushup even if you are falling asleep.
Typing this on a mobile but let me know if i can be of any more help.
I am good at what I do but it's the same thing over and over. I go to work each day, save most of my paycheck, then use the rest to buy expensive trinkets, go to nice restaurants and take trips.
I have a circle of acquaintances, hobbies, a great girlfriend and look outwardly successful and happy.
But is this cycle all there is for the next few decades until retirement/death? I feel like I am plateauing. There must be more to it than this.
I feel guilty even thinking such things as my life is fortunate in so many ways.
(Throwaway account)
The amount of stress I've experienced dealing with this industry far outweighs the benefit it has provided to me.
Yet, despite being relatively low-cost and high-paying, because I self-insure, I'm marginalized to the maximum extent permitted under law and regulation. Meaning, it is only law and regulation that has provided some reprieve from quasi-oligopical exploitation.
I don't mind paying. I do mind paying 2 - 3x more than a corporation employee whose only demographic difference is being a corporation employee.
And I mind the deliberate, thorough, and jealously guarded opacity that serves to perpetuate the system.
And now, with the ACA on the ropes, I fear and expect the return of unbridled discrimination.
All the fear-mongering carping about "death lists" that we've heard? The real death-list is being on the list of self-insured. (Or, uninsured -- not infrequently the same thing, absent law and regulation to the contrary.)
Or now, once again, with an employer or other group-plan provider that doesn't have enough moxie to negotiate fair terms and treatment for its participants.
The hard part is that it'd greatly reduce my quality of life in the short term (gaining paper credentials, finding a job). Along with the fact that I've never programmed as a profession for someone else, so would I even like it? etc. I've got a cushy job with great pay and retirement, but it's a lousy "legend" to live. Hard to leave, but hate to stay.
With that said it's hard to say, really, what might be concrete in improving the quality of my life. Most likely sticking with meditation for more than 3-5 sessions a year, or marrying my 4-year girlfriend.
> marrying my 4-year girlfriend.
I highly recommend eloping! My wife and I did that, and hoo-boy it took so much pressure off of us(not to mention saved us a lot of money).
We did it too. Total cost of marriage: $300. How many people do you know had expensive weddings but ended up divorced and/or in debt? I have encountered plenty of people who said they wished they had much less elaborate marriages, but zero people who regretted eloping
I eventually started doing some side work on my Fridays. I have to say I really enjoyed being a part-time freelancer and helping clients solve their problems. The work was fun because I never relied on it.
Would do it again.
2. No neighbors
3. Fewer people around
That is in the works, we'll see how the next 6-12 months go... :-)
2. Benefit
PS: I am based in Korea.