Only 21% of companies care that you’re working too hard | Hacker News Reader

Only 21% of companies care that you’re working too hard

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16 pointsjsatok9 comments

There's a weird dichotomy here between startups and established companies. The hivemind says that the more hours you spend on your startup, the better. If you have 16 waking hours a day, nobody would tell you to spend just 8 of them on your startup. Yet if you work at an established company and your day is longer than, say, 10 hours, you're doing it wrong.

Brutal hours produce burnout, and I suppose the idea when doing a startup is to work hours that you know will eventually burn you out badly, but just hope that your company makes the big time before then. But in a bunch of ways, especially if you're going for a lifestyle business, that doesn't seem advisable.

If you're working on your startup presumably you're passionate about it. You'll be less prone to burnout if you're passionate about what you're doing.

10 hours working in a corporation are brutal. You might not even be satiated working 10 hours on something your passionate about.

Out for a pleasant walk, I stroll. On an afternoon's hike, I stride and sweat. Between classes on opposite ends of campus, I run. To catch a departing bus, I sprint.

Not everything has to be sustainable. Know the differences, know your limits, be judicious about what you sacrifice for, have good reason for what you do. It's not that sprinting is always bad, it's that trying to sprint 3 miles is bad.

taking actions to reduce stress due to excessive workload and long hours

That's not really caring that you're working too hard, or trying to fix the problem that you're working too hard. That sounds like trying to make you less angry about working too hard.

only 21% of companies take actions to reduce stress caused by excessive work.

21%? I would have thought the number was less than 10%.

I would say that 95% of companies take actions to increase stress caused by excessive work by letting people overpromise on deliverables.

maybe a list of such companies should be published - to let prospective employees know where their long term health would be taken into account :)

If only 10% of all companies work employees too hard, that means we're achieving 210% care-i-tude!

Seriously, though, a lot of companies may discourage people working longer than 9-5, which accomplishes the same goal but would be "uncaring" by your definition.

I think working on your startup are hours spent working towards a greater potential outcome than hours spent working in a corporation. There's more of a reward (sometimes) to starting your own company.

This is an illustration of Sturgeon's Law.

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