6 ms·

I Am a 9 to 5 Developer (And So Can You)

47 points by joeyespo 9y ago

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
itamarst 9y ago
And if you don't know how to get to 9-to-5, I wrote a book that can help you get there: https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/ https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/
retrac98 9y ago
Is this hard to achieve or something? Most developers I know work relatively low hours.
- jrs95 9y ago
  Personally I have too many ops responsibilities. I'm essentially always on call and work anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours a night after I'm done with the 9-5. Usually 1-2 nights a week are 2+ extra hours.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Please ensure you’re getting paid for that time, or find a new job. You should be paid for the hours you work, including on call time.
    - jrs95 9y ago
      Well, I’m salaried, so I’m not really being paid for it. The salary is good though, given my lack of college. I’m not the only one doing this sort of thing though and to be honest I’m more upset that we can’t solve this problem for all of us than I am about the time I spend on it personally.
      - toomuchtodo 9y ago
        Don’t sell yourself short because of a lack of a degree. The labor market is extremely tight right now, and you have bargaining power as long as you have the skills. Moving to security architecture from infrastructure/DevOps with no degree, I doubled my compensation.
- fbonetti 9y ago
  I don’t get it either. I’ve been a developer in Chicago for 6+ years and have always worked from 9 - 5, aside from the times I did some contracting and was paid to work overtime. Most developers I’ve worked with came in to the office around 9:30 or 10 and left at 4:30 or 5.
Kuraj 9y ago
For this to work, you first have to get yourself into the mindset than when you are working, you're kicking ass. I'm having a lot of problems with this.
- itamarst 9y ago
  Other way around. If you work less hours, you end up becoming more productive because you value your time more and learn how to prioritize better. https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/11/10/work-life-balance-software-engineer/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/11/10/work-life-balance-so...
  - bulatb 9y ago
    If your high-priority task takes N hours, and you only work for N-k hours, you won't finish your work. You can't just magically do more with less. Working longer is a proven way to finish work that takes more time. Prioritizing only lowers N, not k.
    - internetman55 9y ago
      That sounds like your manager's problem to me, but I got laid off recently so take that as you will (not even mad cause i copped a fat severance check and got admitted to a great graduate program, and the job was sort of subpar with poor management)
    - itamarst 9y ago
      That is true, but somewhat tautological. You're making the following assumptions: 1. There is only one way to solve the problem. Often there is more than one way, and the proposed way is just one of them, and not necessarily the fastest. 2. The whole task needs to be done by deadline. Often only part of it does. 3. The task actually needs to be done. Often it's not actually high priority. Etc..
      - bulatb 9y ago
        The assumptions I'm making are: 1. There exists, for many tasks, some indivisible, minimal unit of value created by work. If you need your car today, but your mechanic left an hour early with the engine disassembled, it doesn't matter that they finished 95% of the work. The value of that 95% to you is zero. 2. In practice, how your work is thought to be divided into value-units (by whoever is assigning it) matters more than than how you think it is, or how it optimally could be. 3. Whether the demands on you are self-imposed, or reasonable, or whatever else, not meeting them has consequences. It isn't tautological to say that, even after finding all the better ways to do it, there are things you have to do and there exists some minimum amount of time you need to do them (N). If you work k fewer hours than required, you won't finish work that takes N time. This is just an observation of a fact.
steego 9y ago
Good for this guy. I've never been a 9-5 developer because I'm not a great developer who can get everything done between 9-5. I've always found I have to put more hours in just so I can get stuff done. If you can do it, do it.
- itamarst 9y ago
  As I said in the other comment, it really goes the other way: there's a bunch of skills involved in being productive, but most of them learning one way or another how to prioritize, and what work not to do. So starting with attitude of "I have too much work to do" will result in working long hours, starting with attitude of "I have limited time" will allow you to work less, once you have the relevant skills. Example skills: * Working from goals (https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/08/03/stay-focused/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/08/03/stay-focused/) * Knowing how and when to ask for help (https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-help/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-help/)

47 points by joeyespo 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

And if you don't know how to get to 9-to-5, I wrote a book that can help you get there: https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/ https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/

retrac98 9y ago

Is this hard to achieve or something? Most developers I know work relatively low hours.

jrs95 9y ago
Personally I have too many ops responsibilities. I'm essentially always on call and work anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours a night after I'm done with the 9-5. Usually 1-2 nights a week are 2+ extra hours.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Please ensure you’re getting paid for that time, or find a new job. You should be paid for the hours you work, including on call time.
  - jrs95 9y ago
    Well, I’m salaried, so I’m not really being paid for it. The salary is good though, given my lack of college. I’m not the only one doing this sort of thing though and to be honest I’m more upset that we can’t solve this problem for all of us than I am about the time I spend on it personally.
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      Don’t sell yourself short because of a lack of a degree. The labor market is extremely tight right now, and you have bargaining power as long as you have the skills. Moving to security architecture from infrastructure/DevOps with no degree, I doubled my compensation.
fbonetti 9y ago
I don’t get it either. I’ve been a developer in Chicago for 6+ years and have always worked from 9 - 5, aside from the times I did some contracting and was paid to work overtime. Most developers I’ve worked with came in to the office around 9:30 or 10 and left at 4:30 or 5.

Kuraj 9y ago

For this to work, you first have to get yourself into the mindset than when you are working, you're kicking ass. I'm having a lot of problems with this.

itamarst 9y ago
Other way around. If you work less hours, you end up becoming more productive because you value your time more and learn how to prioritize better. https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/11/10/work-life-balance-software-engineer/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/11/10/work-life-balance-so...
- bulatb 9y ago
  If your high-priority task takes N hours, and you only work for N-k hours, you won't finish your work. You can't just magically do more with less. Working longer is a proven way to finish work that takes more time. Prioritizing only lowers N, not k.
  - internetman55 9y ago
    That sounds like your manager's problem to me, but I got laid off recently so take that as you will (not even mad cause i copped a fat severance check and got admitted to a great graduate program, and the job was sort of subpar with poor management)
  - itamarst 9y ago
    That is true, but somewhat tautological. You're making the following assumptions: 1. There is only one way to solve the problem. Often there is more than one way, and the proposed way is just one of them, and not necessarily the fastest. 2. The whole task needs to be done by deadline. Often only part of it does. 3. The task actually needs to be done. Often it's not actually high priority. Etc..
    - bulatb 9y ago
      The assumptions I'm making are: 1. There exists, for many tasks, some indivisible, minimal unit of value created by work. If you need your car today, but your mechanic left an hour early with the engine disassembled, it doesn't matter that they finished 95% of the work. The value of that 95% to you is zero. 2. In practice, how your work is thought to be divided into value-units (by whoever is assigning it) matters more than than how you think it is, or how it optimally could be. 3. Whether the demands on you are self-imposed, or reasonable, or whatever else, not meeting them has consequences. It isn't tautological to say that, even after finding all the better ways to do it, there are things you have to do and there exists some minimum amount of time you need to do them (N). If you work k fewer hours than required, you won't finish work that takes N time. This is just an observation of a fact.

steego 9y ago

Good for this guy. I've never been a 9-5 developer because I'm not a great developer who can get everything done between 9-5. I've always found I have to put more hours in just so I can get stuff done. If you can do it, do it.

itamarst 9y ago
As I said in the other comment, it really goes the other way: there's a bunch of skills involved in being productive, but most of them learning one way or another how to prioritize, and what work not to do. So starting with attitude of "I have too much work to do" will result in working long hours, starting with attitude of "I have limited time" will allow you to work less, once you have the relevant skills. Example skills: * Working from goals (https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/08/03/stay-focused/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/08/03/stay-focused/) * Knowing how and when to ask for help (https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-help/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-help/)