> The tech/startup world has realized relatively quickly that 100 hour workweeks are detrimental to productivity, retention, and overall success. Not that quic

> The tech/startup world has realized relatively quickly that 100 hour workweeks are detrimental to productivity, retention, and overall success. Not that quickly ;-) My first job at a start up was 1992, I think. I didn't take a single day off (even national holidays) for 18 months. 12 hour days during the week, 8 on the weekend. After that, I took a year off to pretend to do a master's degree (but really just hung out in the gym and lifted weights). And then I went straight into a job where I became much more sensible and only worked 90 hour weeks. I remember reading Jamie Zawinksi's writing at the time. There are some remnants of it around the internet, but because of this: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2011/11/watch-a-vc-use-my-name-to-sell-a-con/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2011/11/watch-a-vc-use-my-name-to-s... he's not keen for people to link to it. I still remember with great fondness the post about trying to answer a survey of how many hours a week he worked. He said something like 120, but the computer field only had 2 digits. JWZ was incredulous that this could happen given that the guy who wrote the code surely worked more than 100 hours a week. Back in those days, this was the way we thought you were supposed to do it. Even though Peopleware was written in 1987, we all read it and promptly ignored its advice (BTW, when was the last time you saw a programmer's desk of the recommended size? ahem....) Even today (getting pretty darn close to the 30th anniversary of Peopleware) how many teams believe that crunch is not just necessary, but desirable? Hey, the fact that we don't crunch is one of the biggest selling points of the group I work with. Lot's of great programmers are willing to give up salary in exchange for a no-crunch life. Lately there is general acceptance amongst programmers that a 40 hour week is a good idea (this is not always shared by entrepreneurs). However, my experience is that before about the year 2010, the concept was ludicrous -- even ridiculed. I'm really happy to see the tide turn, but this is a fairly recent phenomenon.