Re:I don't want to work very hard
by lsc on Thursday December 11, 2008 @06:25PM
(#395041)
I guess I also get pretty bored with jobs after a year or two. It's funny, though, I have been running this business for quite a bit longer than that, and it's not boring. I think the boring parts of the dayjob are the stupid that I can't change. I mean, sure, there is stupid at my company, too- sometimes a lot of stupid. but it's my stupid, and I'm allowed to figure out how to fix it.
I think most of us are working towards a point where we can choose what we spend our time on. Me, I'm currently working a full-time contract gig for the money, and then coming home, working on my book and my hosting company. The book is winding down, and the hosting company, well, I might not be an awesome manager, but I do seem to be pretty good at finding and hiring underemployed people who turn out to be quite good. (as confirmed by the salaries they command when they leave my company.) so I do have good help.
Obviously, I'm not to the point where I have less 'forced work' - in fact, I'm doing the opposite. Right now, I'm working way more hours than would provide maximum effectiveness (I think it's been more than a month since I've had a week with less than 80 hours.) I keep my productivity from going negative by switching tasks often and outsourcing many things normal people do themselves (for example, I pay someone to clean out my house once a week. It costs me $15/hr, and she's much faster than I am. Being as I bill out north of $70/hr even in my current state, it's a good deal) but it's still completely unsustainable, and there's one guy working for me that I lean on way too much. If he quits before I expect him to (usually people stick with me for around a year) I am so fucked.
I don't see these 80 hour weeks as a good thing; they are, in fact, really stupid. I'd almost certainly get more done if I could cut it down to 60. But the book needs to get out soon... the publisher is getting antsy, and already Xen has changed so much we have to rewrite parts. And the hosting company, well, that's kindof the point here. that's why I'm putting up with this other crap, so I can't put it on hold.
I figure after the book is out (assuming the hosting company keeps improving as it has been) I'll be able to cut my consulting hours, relying on the credibility of being published to reduce some of the marketing effort.
If I had to do it over again, I would have set things up so that I could support myself on a part time job, and grown the hosting company more slowly, so it could also be supported by that part-time job.
But I do find work, even work for other people to be pretty interesting for the first 6months or a year. This actually works out pretty well for me as a contractor. I mean, if you want someone for longer than six or twelve months, you shouldn't be using contractors anyhow, so nobody get's bent out of shape if I want to leave around that time.
If I didn't have the entrepreneurial bug, I'd probably work as a contractor for three to six months out of the year, and read (or write) the rest of the time. Especially if you spent your working time in the bay area and your relaxing time somewhere cheaper, you could live pretty nicely that way.
I think most of us are working towards a point where we can choose what we spend our time on. Me, I'm currently working a full-time contract gig for the money, and then coming home, working on my book and my hosting company. The book is winding down, and the hosting company, well, I might not be an awesome manager, but I do seem to be pretty good at finding and hiring underemployed people who turn out to be quite good. (as confirmed by the salaries they command when they leave my company.) so I do have good help.
Obviously, I'm not to the point where I have less 'forced work' - in fact, I'm doing the opposite. Right now, I'm working way more hours than would provide maximum effectiveness (I think it's been more than a month since I've had a week with less than 80 hours.) I keep my productivity from going negative by switching tasks often and outsourcing many things normal people do themselves (for example, I pay someone to clean out my house once a week. It costs me $15/hr, and she's much faster than I am. Being as I bill out north of $70/hr even in my current state, it's a good deal) but it's still completely unsustainable, and there's one guy working for me that I lean on way too much. If he quits before I expect him to (usually people stick with me for around a year) I am so fucked.
I don't see these 80 hour weeks as a good thing; they are, in fact, really stupid. I'd almost certainly get more done if I could cut it down to 60. But the book needs to get out soon... the publisher is getting antsy, and already Xen has changed so much we have to rewrite parts. And the hosting company, well, that's kindof the point here. that's why I'm putting up with this other crap, so I can't put it on hold.
I figure after the book is out (assuming the hosting company keeps improving as it has been) I'll be able to cut my consulting hours, relying on the credibility of being published to reduce some of the marketing effort.
If I had to do it over again, I would have set things up so that I could support myself on a part time job, and grown the hosting company more slowly, so it could also be supported by that part-time job.
But I do find work, even work for other people to be pretty interesting for the first 6months or a year. This actually works out pretty well for me as a contractor. I mean, if you want someone for longer than six or twelve months, you shouldn't be using contractors anyhow, so nobody get's bent out of shape if I want to leave around that time.
If I didn't have the entrepreneurial bug, I'd probably work as a contractor for three to six months out of the year, and read (or write) the rest of the time. Especially if you spent your working time in the bay area and your relaxing time somewhere cheaper, you could live pretty nicely that way.