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It's also used as a kind of humble brag. I just read an example today in the Journal. The subject of the piece Austin Russell seems really really impressive an

It's also used as a kind of humble brag. I just read an example today in the Journal. The subject of the piece Austin Russell seems really really impressive and SO young. But the advice from one of his mentors Nick Woodman stuck out to me. “To be your best self, you have to take care of yourself,’’ he urged the Luminar CEO. As a result, Mr. Russell shortened his average workweek to 80 hours from 120. “Burnout can be real,’’ he says. “It’s all about finding the right balance.’’ It's great advice, but those numbers just seem unbelievable to me. Maybe I'm just projecting my personal experience! But to me it comes off as kind of the common Japanese trope of going into the office just to brag that you're "working" insane hours. Those numbers are just insane to me and I have a hard time believing A it's physically possible, B you're actually being productive to the point it's worth doing 120 hours (literally only 6 hours of potential sleep almost every other minute working) versus 'taking it easy' (lol) at 80, which at least seems humanly possible with a lot of sacrifice. http://archive.is/1e7Zs http://archive.is/1e7Zs

amscanne 6y ago
These numbers are always made up. Sometimes you'll even see claims that people work more than ~170 hours a week (there aren't that many hours in a week). Dissecting the claims can make for a fun thought experiment, e.g. in this case 120 hours translates to 17h15m each day and Austin says: > What time does your alarm go off on weekdays? Around 8 a.m. Usually up until 2 a.m. night before. That's ~6 hours. Austin now has ~15 minutes every single day to do everything else in life (bathing, eating, getting dressed, etc.). > How do you relax? I enjoy going for a drive through the mountains or along the coast on weekends. Uh-oh. Austin has only ~1h45m each week for everything else outside of work in his life. Is this drive an hour? He now has only six minutes each day to do everything which is "not work".
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  Austin just thinks if they’re having a two-hour lunch while being immediately available for a call as working hours.
kelnos 6y ago
Yeah, even 80 hours is nuts to me. I've done 80 before, for extended periods, and I was not happy or healthy throughout. Consider 80 hours a week is still more than 13 hours a day, assuming you work 6 days a week instead of 5. I guess some people are into that, but that kind of life does not appeal to me at all.

amscanne 6y ago

These numbers are always made up. Sometimes you'll even see claims that people work more than ~170 hours a week (there aren't that many hours in a week). Dissecting the claims can make for a fun thought experiment, e.g. in this case 120 hours translates to 17h15m each day and Austin says: > What time does your alarm go off on weekdays? Around 8 a.m. Usually up until 2 a.m. night before. That's ~6 hours. Austin now has ~15 minutes every single day to do everything else in life (bathing, eating, getting dressed, etc.). > How do you relax? I enjoy going for a drive through the mountains or along the coast on weekends. Uh-oh. Austin has only ~1h45m each week for everything else outside of work in his life. Is this drive an hour? He now has only six minutes each day to do everything which is "not work".

heavenlyblue 6y ago
Austin just thinks if they’re having a two-hour lunch while being immediately available for a call as working hours.

kelnos 6y ago

Yeah, even 80 hours is nuts to me. I've done 80 before, for extended periods, and I was not happy or healthy throughout. Consider 80 hours a week is still more than 13 hours a day, assuming you work 6 days a week instead of 5. I guess some people are into that, but that kind of life does not appeal to me at all.