Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by trumbitta2 | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

trumbitta2

I'd go with a combination of 1/ and 2/. Most of us are like you.

In 14 years I learned to:

- low my expectancies

- do my job always at 100%, but not 110% (save rare occasions)

- live a life outside work (mine, btw, is a life of wife, side-projects, and mmorpg)

View on HN

Yes, I'd also add to that...try to carve out a Service from the rest of the project that you can build -your way- without having to fight with anyone else. I know that does wonders for me.

I'm always amused when my Service is up and everything else is down. Then again, vice versa happens and I wonder what the fuck I was smoking when I wrote the part that failed...but hey, when you can only blame yourself it is amazing how much more fun you have at work. :)

I think not working at 110% is difficult for those that "suffer" from imposter syndrome and always being afraid of being "found out".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

I think this is honestly good advice. Every employer will want you to live for your job, but for the vast majority of human beings this is not realistic. There's nothing wrong with doing a good job and then going and living a fulfilling life from 5pm to 9am.

I'm not really talking about long hours. I've always been happy doing my 45/50h a week. I don't complain about that. Rather about transparency, clear vision and accountability.

50 hours is a lot of time to be spending at work. Perhaps, when you give so much of your life there you want to feel good about it. But maybe, you would feel less disappointed if you worked 8 hours instead of 10 hours each day and focused on your own fun time :)

I absolutely agree with you! After 10 years of work I only realized in the last few ones that those things you listed are the only to care about. Personally I always try to learn and apply to new projects, and not giving over 100% makes me feel quite comfortable even in those difficult relations expressed in the main thread. It's really important when you work for a company for a long time: you may learn all the dynamics between your colleagues but you cannot avoid some kind of behaviours...

Belatedly realizing the same points.

Most start-up work is 'hauling shit uphill' (horribly paraphrasing a quote about acting that Sean Connery said in his acceptance for some lifetime award).

Thank you for your comment.

I have a very active life outside. I just wish I could subscribe to a project for longer than a couple of years.

I just wish I could subscribe to a project for longer than a couple of years.

With over a decade of experience in my field, I can certainly relate but cannot offer any advice.

I'm currently reading the book below to understand more about this (it's a bit too verbose but it's a decent book I recommend).

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com