Lab Reactions: Finding That Work/Life Balance
Chris gives us a two-fer, reacting to a couple articles about that ever-elusive work/life balance.
“I feel fortunate to work for a company that lets me work hard but also allows me to do so in ways that best play to my strengths. The old adage of ‘slow and steady wins the race’ really resonates with me. I think it’s important that devs and those for whom they work, startup or otherwise, help everyone maintain a healthy work/life balance. I think these two articles are great examples of guides, and while they might not work for everyone they still offer sound advice.
Sleep deprivation is not a badge of honor: Software development is rarely a sprint, but mostly a marathon. Multiple marathons, actually. So trying to extract 110% performance from today when that means having only 70% performance available tomorrow is a bad deal. You end up with just 77% of your available peak. Bad trade.
Why I work remotely (hint: it has nothing to do with productivity): This reminds me of a quote from Productivity and the Workweek by Erik Rauch – ‘An average worker needs to work a mere 11 hours per week to produce as much as one working 40 hours per week in 1950. […] the average worker could have a 29-hour workweek if he were satisfied with producing as much as a 40-hour worker as recently as 1990.’
Of course, we’re not actually working less (we’re working more hours!) and (surprise!) it’s not making us any happier either.”
