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My most recent boss, who was DAMN good, got his shit done etc... taught me one very important life lesson. Stop at the end of the day. Pick a time, or a numbe

by ilc 4y ago

My most recent boss, who was DAMN good, got his shit done etc... taught me one very important life lesson. Stop at the end of the day. Pick a time, or a number of hours you'll work... and stop. Close the laptop for work use, and that's that. Pick it up tomorrow. Have a boundary. Yes, I really like my current company. But that small boundary of stopping my day's work every day. Not carrying my work like a cross... Makes it so when things swing to and fro at work, my head is much more level. Even if you are on a roll and in the flow... consider closing the laptop when you lose your current flow. Then go do something else! Play a video game, knit a sweater, take a walk, fly a kite, hug someone you love... That's your time. Use it and enjoy it! If you feel guilty, remember... Rest is critical to performance. The sooner you realize this, the happier you will be at work, and outside of work. Source: Engineer of 25+ years, who has seen many things... And many stupid things :)

FeistySkink 4y ago
Unfortunately being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies, from my experience. And since most people seem to go along with it, standing up to it leads to you being bullied out. Edit: and being on-call just means free overtime.
- scruple 4y ago
  Interesting. I've had the opposite experience. On-call was never expected (for software engineers... for Ops people in the NOC, SREs, etc., it was an explicit job requirement) at the larger places I've been inside of, but it has been an expectation (typically unspoken, typically in-addition-to an on-call rotation) for the smaller places and startups I've worked at.
- parker_mountain 4y ago
  > being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies, from my experience Your experience is atypical. > standing up to it leads to you being bullied out Make them try.
- chrismcb 4y ago
  I've worked at several big companies. Being on call 24x7 was never an expectation.
- xxpor 4y ago
  Being on call doesn't mean you're responding to arbitrary stuff at all hours of the day, just emergencies.
- slyall 4y ago
  As others have said you should not be oncall 24x7. - Oncall should be restored among several people so you are only oncall some of the time. - The level of callouts should be low even when you are on duty - if you spent all night on a call you should get some time off in compensation. Even if it is just coming to work late the next day. The above should be the minimum. Plenty of people will argue for more.
- zeruch 4y ago
  "Unfortunately being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies," Occasionally is that true, unless you set that precedent early. If you set boundaries up at the start, in most cases, they stick. It's just critical to assess early and modulate occasionally (exceptions happen) but its better than living to their schedule on your dime.
- ilc 4y ago
  It isn't free, you price it in day 1. There's a reason thsoe firms pay absurdly high. Also: Boundaries still apply. When on-call, you deal with being on-call. For a small firm, 24x7x265 on-call happens, but if you are getting called constantly, it is up to you to get the quality issue and toil fixed. For a large firm, if I'm put on 24x7x365 call, I'd be asking for a LARGE premium. If it is once every 5+ weeks, that's supporting prod. You do your week in the rotation... But that doesn't mean you are working hard that week. If anything I'd shorten my hours while on-call, so I have the energy to respond to an emergency. Life is a marathon. Not a sprint.

by ilc 4y ago

FeistySkink 4y ago

Unfortunately being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies, from my experience. And since most people seem to go along with it, standing up to it leads to you being bullied out. Edit: and being on-call just means free overtime.

scruple 4y ago
Interesting. I've had the opposite experience. On-call was never expected (for software engineers... for Ops people in the NOC, SREs, etc., it was an explicit job requirement) at the larger places I've been inside of, but it has been an expectation (typically unspoken, typically in-addition-to an on-call rotation) for the smaller places and startups I've worked at.
parker_mountain 4y ago
> being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies, from my experience Your experience is atypical. > standing up to it leads to you being bullied out Make them try.
chrismcb 4y ago
I've worked at several big companies. Being on call 24x7 was never an expectation.
xxpor 4y ago
Being on call doesn't mean you're responding to arbitrary stuff at all hours of the day, just emergencies.
slyall 4y ago
As others have said you should not be oncall 24x7. - Oncall should be restored among several people so you are only oncall some of the time. - The level of callouts should be low even when you are on duty - if you spent all night on a call you should get some time off in compensation. Even if it is just coming to work late the next day. The above should be the minimum. Plenty of people will argue for more.
zeruch 4y ago
"Unfortunately being on-call 24x7 is the base expectation at big companies," Occasionally is that true, unless you set that precedent early. If you set boundaries up at the start, in most cases, they stick. It's just critical to assess early and modulate occasionally (exceptions happen) but its better than living to their schedule on your dime.
ilc 4y ago
It isn't free, you price it in day 1. There's a reason thsoe firms pay absurdly high. Also: Boundaries still apply. When on-call, you deal with being on-call. For a small firm, 24x7x265 on-call happens, but if you are getting called constantly, it is up to you to get the quality issue and toil fixed. For a large firm, if I'm put on 24x7x365 call, I'd be asking for a LARGE premium. If it is once every 5+ weeks, that's supporting prod. You do your week in the rotation... But that doesn't mean you are working hard that week. If anything I'd shorten my hours while on-call, so I have the energy to respond to an emergency. Life is a marathon. Not a sprint.