4 ms·

Me too. Hi. If an entrepreneur is worried about "Work Life Balance", I think he/she is in the wrong business.

by pud 10y ago

vog 10y ago
Why this? Burnt-out entrepreneurs are failed entrepreneurs, aren't they? There's always a limit on how much time you can spend per day, and this limit is far below the time you are awake. Push it too far, and you do not only lose your working power, but also your motivation and your inspiration.
- pud 10y ago
  When an entrepreneur is excited about a thing she's building, the truthful answer to "how many hours per day do you work" is typically "zero or twenty-four, depending on what you consider work." I agree entrepreneurs can get burnt out, but at that point it's become a "job" and is probably time to move on.
  - saiya-jin 10y ago
    you are incorrect in assumption that burnout can happen only once you lose passion for your work. one of endless examples in history - look up medical volunteers during WWI - passionate for saving lives all the time, yet burnout happened to many of those. there are limits to stress your body can sustain, and your mind can be totally disconnected with it, pushing and pushing.
    - vog 10y ago
      > you are incorrect in assumption that burnout can happen only once you lose passion for your work The assumption is not only incorrect, but I believe it is exactly reverse: Losing passing is one of the consequences of a burn-out. It is not a cause, but instead one of the (most visible) symptoms.
      - vog 10y ago
        To those who downvoted this: Do you care to explain why you don't think that burn-out leads to losing passion?
  - Scarblac 10y ago
    One can be passionate about multiple things at the same time.
skrebbel 10y ago
I see this meme repeated a lot here on HN. Personally I wildly disagree, as I believe sufficient time away from work makes you make the right decisions. Basically I believe that the "work smarter, not harder" meme, while cliché, automatically happens if you invest time in leisure and sleep. But I don't know! I truly wonder how many businesses have been run into the ground because of a kamikaze attitude to working hours. But I also wonder how many businesses missed gigantic opportunities while the founders were off doing unimportant things like putting their kids to bed. Neither are measurable, as far as I can see. If anyone has any stats on this, any at all, consider me recommended!
- WA 10y ago
  I think you've got this wrong: the big opportunity here is for founders to be able to put their kids to bed. Fuck the money and so-called business opportunities, if you already have enough to do what you want every day. Stats don't even matter, because at that level of financial independence, it's a personal choice whether you spend time with your family or pursue another business opportunity.
  - edoceo 10y ago
    Yep!
- Zelmor 10y ago
  I say one should always go for the sustainable path.
- walshemj 10y ago
  I recall when I was in charge of a small billing system for a uk telco. One mothly billing run when I got to 36 hours with out sleep and starting to see things - that I should stop and got bed and come into the office later the next day.
ethbro 10y ago
> If an entrepreneur is worried about "Work Life Balance", I think he/she is in the wrong business. If your only business advantage over your competitors is a willingness to sacrifice your life for money, then you'd better either be okay with doing so indefinitely or be making enough money you can call it quits before you're too old to maintain that pace.
rebeccaskinner 10y ago
I think the more critical you are to the business, and the more pressure and responsibilities you have, the more critical it is to worry about work/life balance. People aren't robots, and we don't have infinite capacity to work, our ability to make rational decisions, understand the market, customers, employees, think critically, etc. is all dependent on having a healthy working brain- and that requires rest and recreation. For founders, and really anyone heavily invested in early stage startups or companies looking for a lot of growth, responsibilities are 24/7 and the line between work and life get blurry, and it's a lot more difficult to make sure the balance is there, but also a lot more important.

Me too. Hi. If an entrepreneur is worried about "Work Life Balance", I think he/she is in the wrong business.

by pud 10y ago

Me too. Hi. If an entrepreneur is worried about "Work Life Balance", I think he/she is in the wrong business.

vog 10y ago

Why this? Burnt-out entrepreneurs are failed entrepreneurs, aren't they? There's always a limit on how much time you can spend per day, and this limit is far below the time you are awake. Push it too far, and you do not only lose your working power, but also your motivation and your inspiration.

pud 10y ago
When an entrepreneur is excited about a thing she's building, the truthful answer to "how many hours per day do you work" is typically "zero or twenty-four, depending on what you consider work." I agree entrepreneurs can get burnt out, but at that point it's become a "job" and is probably time to move on.
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  you are incorrect in assumption that burnout can happen only once you lose passion for your work. one of endless examples in history - look up medical volunteers during WWI - passionate for saving lives all the time, yet burnout happened to many of those. there are limits to stress your body can sustain, and your mind can be totally disconnected with it, pushing and pushing.
  - vog 10y ago
    > you are incorrect in assumption that burnout can happen only once you lose passion for your work The assumption is not only incorrect, but I believe it is exactly reverse: Losing passing is one of the consequences of a burn-out. It is not a cause, but instead one of the (most visible) symptoms.
    - vog 10y ago
      To those who downvoted this: Do you care to explain why you don't think that burn-out leads to losing passion?
- Scarblac 10y ago
  One can be passionate about multiple things at the same time.

skrebbel 10y ago

I see this meme repeated a lot here on HN. Personally I wildly disagree, as I believe sufficient time away from work makes you make the right decisions. Basically I believe that the "work smarter, not harder" meme, while cliché, automatically happens if you invest time in leisure and sleep. But I don't know! I truly wonder how many businesses have been run into the ground because of a kamikaze attitude to working hours. But I also wonder how many businesses missed gigantic opportunities while the founders were off doing unimportant things like putting their kids to bed. Neither are measurable, as far as I can see. If anyone has any stats on this, any at all, consider me recommended!

WA 10y ago
I think you've got this wrong: the big opportunity here is for founders to be able to put their kids to bed. Fuck the money and so-called business opportunities, if you already have enough to do what you want every day. Stats don't even matter, because at that level of financial independence, it's a personal choice whether you spend time with your family or pursue another business opportunity.
- edoceo 10y ago
  Yep!
Zelmor 10y ago
I say one should always go for the sustainable path.
walshemj 10y ago
I recall when I was in charge of a small billing system for a uk telco. One mothly billing run when I got to 36 hours with out sleep and starting to see things - that I should stop and got bed and come into the office later the next day.

ethbro 10y ago

> If an entrepreneur is worried about "Work Life Balance", I think he/she is in the wrong business. If your only business advantage over your competitors is a willingness to sacrifice your life for money, then you'd better either be okay with doing so indefinitely or be making enough money you can call it quits before you're too old to maintain that pace.

rebeccaskinner 10y ago

I think the more critical you are to the business, and the more pressure and responsibilities you have, the more critical it is to worry about work/life balance. People aren't robots, and we don't have infinite capacity to work, our ability to make rational decisions, understand the market, customers, employees, think critically, etc. is all dependent on having a healthy working brain- and that requires rest and recreation. For founders, and really anyone heavily invested in early stage startups or companies looking for a lot of growth, responsibilities are 24/7 and the line between work and life get blurry, and it's a lot more difficult to make sure the balance is there, but also a lot more important.