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Yeah. The options for lots of leisure are either: a) be homeless, or b) be rich. Those of us inbetween always have to choose and make compromises. In my life,

Yeah. The options for lots of leisure are either: a) be homeless, or b) be rich. Those of us inbetween always have to choose and make compromises. In my life, this has forced me to quit on a bunch of things I would have continued otherwise, and to lean down things like my workouts and so on. This isn't necessarily bad, I like that I can now do 80% with 20% of time/effort, but still, would be nice to have more slack.

borski 1y ago
There is a third option, which is to move to a place with a much lower cost of living. This isn’t always possible, due to family or job, but it’s not exactly uncommon either. Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money, but with fewer needs. Doable, but it’s about what you prioritize and care about.
- apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
  > Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money Honestly, this sounds like an armchair fantasy. It sounds great on paper– tech jobs pay $150K, so just find a remote job and work half-time. Boom, less taxes and you still have $5K/mo plus tons of time! IME though, 99% of jobs want to own you full-time. There are almost no roles where you can be part-time. The other alternative, independent contractor or Upwork, is also very difficult to start, even if you have good experience and skills.
  - OJFord 1y ago
    Almost nothing is advertised as part time, but way more than 1% would be happily accomodating if you asked to reduce to x days/week, I think. Especially for people coming to that decision while in the job, vs. negotiating for it in an offer.
  - borski 1y ago
    I didn’t say you could do it working for Amazon. There are plenty of law firms, medical offices, etc., that need software and IT help and are happy to have it part-time or provide flexibility. Sure, it won’t be FAANG, but that wasn’t what we were talking about here.
    - apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
      What kind of software development would law/medical/other offices need on a flexible basis? I'm having trouble envisioning a scenario where someone could realistically be a dev part-time.
      - borski 1y ago
        There is always a ton of work; off-the-shelf tools are rarely off the shelf and require set up, maintenance, etc. A lot of writing glue code to build dashboards and things. Nowadays, a lot of AI work to improve attorney and paralegal efficiency, etc. Law firms have software devs and/or IT on staff, or they contract it out. Contracting rather than a W2 is also an option. It’s not “fun.” But it pays well and is often doable remotely / part-time.
tasuki 1y ago
c) The (lean) FIRE (financial independence / early retirement) way. If you do the math and can do without some of the pricier luxuries of "modern life", you really don't need much money at all.
theamk 1y ago
Or work as contractor / part-time. I've had two experiences with people like that: - At one place I've worked at (big corp), the QA department was full of contractors. One of the contractors was only working 9 months per year - they spent all summers in Australia. Everyone knew about that and accepted this. The contractor was great, and no one had problems with that (I am sure not having to pay them anything while they were away helped :) ) - At other place, a small startup, we had a team member who was in a band. He'd work for us for a few months, help us to finish a project and make sure customer is happy.. and then disappear for a few more months to tour the US. Again, he was a great programmer, and we always welcomed him back. I am sure that not every place is like this (for example my current workplace is pretty bureaucratic and would not be happy with this arrangement), but things like this definitely exist.

borski 1y ago

There is a third option, which is to move to a place with a much lower cost of living. This isn’t always possible, due to family or job, but it’s not exactly uncommon either. Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money, but with fewer needs. Doable, but it’s about what you prioritize and care about.

apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
> Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money Honestly, this sounds like an armchair fantasy. It sounds great on paper– tech jobs pay $150K, so just find a remote job and work half-time. Boom, less taxes and you still have $5K/mo plus tons of time! IME though, 99% of jobs want to own you full-time. There are almost no roles where you can be part-time. The other alternative, independent contractor or Upwork, is also very difficult to start, even if you have good experience and skills.
- OJFord 1y ago
  Almost nothing is advertised as part time, but way more than 1% would be happily accomodating if you asked to reduce to x days/week, I think. Especially for people coming to that decision while in the job, vs. negotiating for it in an offer.
- borski 1y ago
  I didn’t say you could do it working for Amazon. There are plenty of law firms, medical offices, etc., that need software and IT help and are happy to have it part-time or provide flexibility. Sure, it won’t be FAANG, but that wasn’t what we were talking about here.
  - apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
    What kind of software development would law/medical/other offices need on a flexible basis? I'm having trouble envisioning a scenario where someone could realistically be a dev part-time.
    - borski 1y ago
      There is always a ton of work; off-the-shelf tools are rarely off the shelf and require set up, maintenance, etc. A lot of writing glue code to build dashboards and things. Nowadays, a lot of AI work to improve attorney and paralegal efficiency, etc. Law firms have software devs and/or IT on staff, or they contract it out. Contracting rather than a W2 is also an option. It’s not “fun.” But it pays well and is often doable remotely / part-time.

tasuki 1y ago

c) The (lean) FIRE (financial independence / early retirement) way. If you do the math and can do without some of the pricier luxuries of "modern life", you really don't need much money at all.

theamk 1y ago

Or work as contractor / part-time. I've had two experiences with people like that: - At one place I've worked at (big corp), the QA department was full of contractors. One of the contractors was only working 9 months per year - they spent all summers in Australia. Everyone knew about that and accepted this. The contractor was great, and no one had problems with that (I am sure not having to pay them anything while they were away helped :) ) - At other place, a small startup, we had a team member who was in a band. He'd work for us for a few months, help us to finish a project and make sure customer is happy.. and then disappear for a few more months to tour the US. Again, he was a great programmer, and we always welcomed him back. I am sure that not every place is like this (for example my current workplace is pretty bureaucratic and would not be happy with this arrangement), but things like this definitely exist.