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I will preface this by saying I agree with you. However, I'd like to point out (as someone else did too about downplaying the upside) -- if you did get rewarde

by godot 5y ago

I will preface this by saying I agree with you. However, I'd like to point out (as someone else did too about downplaying the upside) -- if you did get rewarded with money, respect, promotions (decision making power), knowledge -- these are all real material gains from those long hours. True, from the business point of view, your extra hours didn't matter to the business in the long run. It did matter for your career though. In fact, if you happened to work for a growing unicorn, and you gained those rewards and promotions with those long hours, you may even have made lifechanging money from unicorn equity, from those long hours. Which, comes back to the point, this is unhealthy and somewhat toxic (the fact that putting in long hours gain you those things, i.e. it encourages people to do so).

0xFACEFEED 5y ago
> In fact, if you happened to work for a growing unicorn, and you gained those rewards and promotions with those long hours, you may even have made lifechanging money from unicorn equity, from those long hours. That's what happened to me. Unicorn -> long hours -> pay day. > Which, comes back to the point, this is unhealthy and somewhat toxic This is the unfortunate conclusion that I've come to as well. High risk, high reward. There are people who work just as hard and for just as long, but don't get to enjoy the spoils. When I think of how close I came to not making it -- eek.
darkerside 5y ago
I learned a lot and shipped a lot in the few "long hours" coding sessions I did in my life. Those returns then compound over the rest of your career. Just because parent post went overboard doesn't mean it's a bad idea for people to challenge themselves once in a while.
- 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
  I don't think there's anything wrong with the occasional late night session. Or even pulling an all nighter every once in a while. If I had a chance to redo my choices then I'd keep a lot of those sessions. Nothing compares to the feeling of zen I felt in those moments. What I'm cautioning against is a consistent strategy of brute force work in order to compensate for other things (fear of failure in my case). It's like the difference between socially drinking and being an alcoholic. Long way of saying I agree with you.
- refactor_master 5y ago
  Absolutely. I wouldn’t dismiss a couple of day’s sprint. I’ve done those myself and accomplished a lot. Short-term “stress” and alertness have been evolved to be a very useful feature. You just have to realize, like a good night out drinking, that you’re trading it for something in the other end.

by godot 5y ago

0xFACEFEED 5y ago

> In fact, if you happened to work for a growing unicorn, and you gained those rewards and promotions with those long hours, you may even have made lifechanging money from unicorn equity, from those long hours. That's what happened to me. Unicorn -> long hours -> pay day. > Which, comes back to the point, this is unhealthy and somewhat toxic This is the unfortunate conclusion that I've come to as well. High risk, high reward. There are people who work just as hard and for just as long, but don't get to enjoy the spoils. When I think of how close I came to not making it -- eek.

darkerside 5y ago

I learned a lot and shipped a lot in the few "long hours" coding sessions I did in my life. Those returns then compound over the rest of your career. Just because parent post went overboard doesn't mean it's a bad idea for people to challenge themselves once in a while.

0xFACEFEED 5y ago
I don't think there's anything wrong with the occasional late night session. Or even pulling an all nighter every once in a while. If I had a chance to redo my choices then I'd keep a lot of those sessions. Nothing compares to the feeling of zen I felt in those moments. What I'm cautioning against is a consistent strategy of brute force work in order to compensate for other things (fear of failure in my case). It's like the difference between socially drinking and being an alcoholic. Long way of saying I agree with you.
refactor_master 5y ago
Absolutely. I wouldn’t dismiss a couple of day’s sprint. I’ve done those myself and accomplished a lot. Short-term “stress” and alertness have been evolved to be a very useful feature. You just have to realize, like a good night out drinking, that you’re trading it for something in the other end.