Ask HN: How to get work life balance | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to get work life balance

Hi, I'm currently a contract web developer who's getting a lot of offers to work in house. The problem is that the commute sucks and most of these companies don't really want their contractors to work remotely meaning its difficult to juggle multiple projects at once. How do the contractors on hacker news manage to find work that allow them to work from home?

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I got a very decent offer to work in house in a different city in the area where commute is sucks.

I accepted it, rented a tiny yet very comfy place 5 minutes walking from work and enjoy every moment of it.

I don't even need car here at all.

Additionally to that I had a chance to learn really cool stuff i haven't had a chance to get into before and this likely will guide my career going forward.

I been through my share of glamour of working from home and after few years is sucked. I felt more like I'm suffocating without communication with likeminded professionals.

Just my experience ....

"When people think they’re going to do this shit for the money and this stuff for their souls, it becomes a real disservice. They’re resigning themselves to be professionally schizophrenic: they’ve divided their minds in a way that, at its core, is somewhat dishonest. Those lucky people who are fully integrated at the highest level figure out how to make everything—their lives, their work, what they do for fun, and what they do for money—all the same thing." - Michael Beirut

Choose a job you love and you will find reasons to hate it.

This "work for fun, not money" mantra is only promoted by businesses and art people that can make a living. For everybody else, it's a nightmare. Working for fun is still working. And at some point you're going to get tired. Your boss is the only one who profits from your passion. And you get burned out without an escape route.

Keep your passions to yourself. Work a job you hate. This is the only way to lead a healthy and successful life.

I'm also realizing the "Do what you love" thing is bullshit.

No matter what you do, work will stay work. Some days you'll hate it, some days it's alright. One piece of advice I liked is to take the artisan's approach: do what you're good at and pick jobs where you can improve your skills. At least you'll get some fulfilment out of it.

For me it has been finding companies that are so desperate for devs that they are willing to be flexible on the working at home part. This is easier once you prove yourself, and are willing to go into the office 2-3 days a week starting out.

Also helps to talk to some technical staffing companies so that they can send possible remote work your way as well.

I really think you need to meet & work with a team in-person before you move remote. Having that up-front interaction makes it quicker to build trust & will give you more leverage. In your proposals, let them know that you're looking for remote work, but that you can come in for X days/weeks as a trial period.

I'd say take the in house contracts, keep them short, build up a client base that knows you, and then emphasize work with those that are comfortable with you being remote.

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