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Burnout is real. It is dangerous. I try to address burnout by doing other activities, such as acting/long boarding/creating web comics (toblender.com). A fri

Burnout is real. It is dangerous. I try to address burnout by doing other activities, such as acting/long boarding/creating web comics (toblender.com). A friend told me that Henry Ford was the one who established the 40 hour week. This was not because he was kind, it was because anything over 8 hours a day produces diminishing returns. I think I'm in a bout of burnout right now. I've opted to work a full time contract, to fund my startup, while burning midnight and weekend oils for my startup. I think a vacation, of simply doing NOTHING would be a good idea. They bring up this point in the book "7 habits of highly effective people", you have to take time to sharpen the saw. Or you'll be wasting a lot of effort hacking away with a dull blade.

joshmlewis 15y ago
This makes me think of Paul Grahams article on wealth and how he talked about having a startup makes you money but you have to remember that you are trading that 40 hour steady job for something a lot shorter and a lot more intense, stressful, etc.
mattm 15y ago
You can read here about Henry Ford and the 40 hour work week - http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm For knowledge work though, the studies I've come across seem to suggest that a work week of 30 hours would be ideal. You can read this article about how Kellogg's actually had productivity go up when moving to a 30 hour work week - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_1_42/ai_53697784/ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_1_42/ai_53697... Financially independent authors have also been known to just work 4 hours a day on their writing and then use the rest of the day for leisure and re-cooperation.
- lsc 15y ago
  I think most knowledge workers only have 4 hours of productive work a day, if you don't count screwing off on facebook or hn or what have you. 30 hours, I think, is a good expectation of a salary worker, assuming they work for most of those 30 hours.
keithpeter 15y ago
"I think I'm in a bout of burnout right now. I've opted to work a full time contract, to fund my startup, while burning midnight and weekend oils for my startup. I think a vacation, of simply doing NOTHING would be a good idea." Yup: but don't do nothing, do family. Visit parents, uncles/aunts, places near where you grew up. I check Mum out whenever things get really mad. A walk on the beach then we do a taxi to a nice cafe. Does wonders.

joshmlewis 15y ago

This makes me think of Paul Grahams article on wealth and how he talked about having a startup makes you money but you have to remember that you are trading that 40 hour steady job for something a lot shorter and a lot more intense, stressful, etc.

mattm 15y ago

You can read here about Henry Ford and the 40 hour work week - http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm For knowledge work though, the studies I've come across seem to suggest that a work week of 30 hours would be ideal. You can read this article about how Kellogg's actually had productivity go up when moving to a 30 hour work week - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_1_42/ai_53697784/ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_1_42/ai_53697... Financially independent authors have also been known to just work 4 hours a day on their writing and then use the rest of the day for leisure and re-cooperation.

lsc 15y ago
I think most knowledge workers only have 4 hours of productive work a day, if you don't count screwing off on facebook or hn or what have you. 30 hours, I think, is a good expectation of a salary worker, assuming they work for most of those 30 hours.

keithpeter 15y ago

"I think I'm in a bout of burnout right now. I've opted to work a full time contract, to fund my startup, while burning midnight and weekend oils for my startup. I think a vacation, of simply doing NOTHING would be a good idea." Yup: but don't do nothing, do family. Visit parents, uncles/aunts, places near where you grew up. I check Mum out whenever things get really mad. A walk on the beach then we do a taxi to a nice cafe. Does wonders.