5 ms·

How is that even possible with the fucked up deadlines most tech work has?

by seivan 13y ago

iamthepieman 13y ago
As others here have mentioned and linked to relevant articles, there's always a way to find time. In the barrista job, the coffee shop was across the street from me. I worked nights and weekends. With the personal training job, I only taught 5 hours a week. With drive time, prep work and consulting with clients after a session, I spent about 8-10 hours total per week on it. I don't do this anymore as it did take too much time away from other pursuits.
michaelochurch 13y ago
What happens if you miss the deadlines? Sometimes, the answer is "really bad things". Sometimes, it's "absolutely nothing". You have to learn how to judge that. To engineers, missing deadlines sounds like this catastrophic error. This is amplified by our experience in an academic system where deadlines are well-tested and 95+ percent of students can meet them. The truth, however, is that most "deadlines" in business are flexible and more tied to some uninformed speculation on how long something "should" take, not how long it actually will take. Some deadlines are hard. In law or government, 12:00 means 12:00 and 12:01 can mean missing a contract or losing a job. Governments are often legally forbidden (in the U.S.) from awarding a contract if the proposal comes in one minute after deadline (anti-corruption laws). Others (most, in software) only threaten mild embarrassment. Sometimes, you can tell ahead of time that the deadline will be missed no matter what happens and your job is to deflect blame. If there's a career benefit (as in a promotion, a raise, or some other hard currency that will advance your reputation) in working 70 hours per week to meet a deadline, then do it. If there isn't, then just stay out of the critical path of blame.
- iamthepieman 13y ago
  I eliminated a lot of stress when I stopped trying to fix things and make my job, company and projects align with some perfect ideal I had in my head from reading too much "Signal v Noise" and HN.
  - johnward 13y ago
    Are you trying to say that maybe my expectations are not realistic? I often wonder if that's the case. Especially when I get replies that no one like their job. Then I wonder why do people live hating their lives until they eventually die?
johnward 13y ago
That's basically what I'm trying to figure out. I usually get up between 5-7am and I'm done work most of the time by 6 or 7pm. After that I got to the gym for 1-1.5 hours and I'm ready for bed.

How is that even possible with the fucked up deadlines most tech work has?

by seivan 13y ago

How is that even possible with the fucked up deadlines most tech work has?

As others here have mentioned and linked to relevant articles, there's always a way to find time. In the barrista job, the coffee shop was across the street from me. I worked nights and weekends. With the personal training job, I only taught 5 hours a week. With drive time, prep work and consulting with clients after a session, I spent about 8-10 hours total per week on it. I don't do this anymore as it did take too much time away from other pursuits.

michaelochurch 13y ago

What happens if you miss the deadlines? Sometimes, the answer is "really bad things". Sometimes, it's "absolutely nothing". You have to learn how to judge that. To engineers, missing deadlines sounds like this catastrophic error. This is amplified by our experience in an academic system where deadlines are well-tested and 95+ percent of students can meet them. The truth, however, is that most "deadlines" in business are flexible and more tied to some uninformed speculation on how long something "should" take, not how long it actually will take. Some deadlines are hard. In law or government, 12:00 means 12:00 and 12:01 can mean missing a contract or losing a job. Governments are often legally forbidden (in the U.S.) from awarding a contract if the proposal comes in one minute after deadline (anti-corruption laws). Others (most, in software) only threaten mild embarrassment. Sometimes, you can tell ahead of time that the deadline will be missed no matter what happens and your job is to deflect blame. If there's a career benefit (as in a promotion, a raise, or some other hard currency that will advance your reputation) in working 70 hours per week to meet a deadline, then do it. If there isn't, then just stay out of the critical path of blame.

iamthepieman 13y ago
I eliminated a lot of stress when I stopped trying to fix things and make my job, company and projects align with some perfect ideal I had in my head from reading too much "Signal v Noise" and HN.
- johnward 13y ago
  Are you trying to say that maybe my expectations are not realistic? I often wonder if that's the case. Especially when I get replies that no one like their job. Then I wonder why do people live hating their lives until they eventually die?

johnward 13y ago

That's basically what I'm trying to figure out. I usually get up between 5-7am and I'm done work most of the time by 6 or 7pm. After that I got to the gym for 1-1.5 hours and I'm ready for bed.