Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers

Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by Nursie on Monday December 16, 2013 @03:41AM (#6913547)

>>If a 40 work week is tough, what about people like me who are having a routine 40 hour work week job and trying to bootstrap a company/work on side projects by the evening and night.

You people are crazy!

Now sure, you may achieve something huge and it might all be worth it. But in the mean time you're missing what remains of your youth and neglecting your family.

You don't have to put that sort of time in to 'win' at life with software. You can make really good money and live a life inaccessible to 99.5% of the world's population by working 37 hours and being good at it. If you need to be part of the 0.5% then don't let me put you off trying, but I'd be giving serious thought to whether I really needed it or if my life would he better scaling it back and taking time with loved ones.

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Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by icelancer on Monday December 16, 2013 @03:51AM (#6913572)

I am trying to change the world. So far, I've had some decent success. That will cost me part of my life, just as it has for everyone else who has changed the world in some meaningful way.

It is the price we pay. And I'm not getting any younger. (Early 30's.)

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Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by Nursie on Monday December 16, 2013 @04:49AM (#6913750)

I wish you luck in your goals.

I don't want to change the world, I want to enjoy it, which is why I take on consultancy work and take prolonged vacations in between.

Life's too short whichever path you take :)

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Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by beat on Monday December 16, 2013 @12:33PM (#6916299)

Which is crazier? A year or two of super-long hours to free yourself from the dayjob, or just working 40 hours a week for someone else until you're too old to do it anymore?

I'm in the same boat, doing a spare-time startup while holding a day job. And I"m not young - my kids are grown. But I'm paying for their college, so I can't just quit and do the startup full-time, not until I've got it generating at least a little cashflow.

The trick is to overwork but try to get on the shortest (leanest) path to revenue.

But keep in mind that not everyone is doing a startup to get rich. Getting rich is a nice side effect, but the heart of it for me, and for a lot of others, is personal freedom.

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Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by Nursie on Monday December 16, 2013 @04:38PM (#6917995)

>> A year or two of super-long hours to free yourself from the dayjob, or just working 40 hours a week for someone else until you're too old to do it anymore?

False dichotomy, there are other life choices. I'm a freelancer and I maintain a good income and a healthy work/life balance.

I also don't believe it to be 'a year or two'.

>> I'm in the same boat, doing a spare-time startup while holding a day job. And I"m not young - my kids are grown.

Then you're in a different situation than the OP, IIRC.

>> Getting rich is a nice side effect, but the heart of it for me, and for a lot of others, is personal freedom.

This is why I like freelancing/contracting/consultancy. The money is good and the freedom is unparalleled.

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Re:Why the 9-to-5 Day Is So Tough on Creative Workers by beat on Tuesday December 17, 2013 @05:28PM (#6924441)

I'm a contractor, but I don't feel free. Still stuck working in someone else's environment. I could push farther into freelancing I suppose, but it's not the same.

Part of my motivation is that I'd like to build the biggest thing I could possibly build. I'm not going to accomplish that in the straitjacket of someone else's big enterprise project.

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