Ask HN: are there tech jobs that require very little time?
Having been in the startup gauntlet as a CTO for a couple of years now, I'm finally starting to feel the weight of 60-70 hours a week on my social existence. Having gone through major relationship changes recently (because of the work), and having spent this Thanksgiving, Christmas and NYE at the office working, I'm starting to reconsider my priorities in light of an ever-advancing age.
Hypothetically, if I were to quit and just try to stay afloat for a while optimizing for me time, what could I do? I'm fairly good at my role and I'm sure I'd bring a lot of value to any organization, but I just don't want to work more than 5-6 hours a day. Having lived on savings for the past few years, I'm also very frugal, so I wouldn't need much for sustenance. A room with a nice bed and a shared kitchen is probably good enough.
What kind of role would you recommend? Any companies out there that can accommodate for that kind of thing? Do I pretty much have to work on my own for that kind of lifestyle?
Tips would be really appreciated.
10 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 33.0 ms ] threadI guess you could always go work for a big software company as an eng. manager or whatever. There are orgs out there where 5PM is quitting time believe it or not. Frankly, as CTO, you should set a better example at your startup. 60-70 hours a week is not sustainable and does not a better company make.
Regarding your second assertion, that's true, there's no denying that. Our employees actually work normal hours, but as founders we feel guilty not working insane schedules and it's an attitude I've so far been unable to defeat at the company.
My starting figure for freelancing was around $1000/day, as a designer. I've developer friends whose base rate is $300 and $500/hour. (I've also friends whose base rate is less.) You could probably go work as a CTO-in-residence with an incubator, overseeing technology for a stable of startups, just being a guiding hand. Or do freelance systems architecture design, partner up with a project manager, oversee complicated system integration contracts for companies without a lot of in-house skill and overworked IT departments.
But I think the real issue isn't changing jobs, it's changing you. Are you really going to go work somewhere else and magically not feel like you have to work an 80 hour week? Normally that's something we put on ourselves, and as a founder, it's not like there's anyone who will fire you if you don't overwork. (Practically, this probably means you don't know how to delegate; that's a skill you'd have to develop, too.)
If you're going to overdo it, in the end, no matter what, then you have to take the initiative to change that. You have to make it okay, starting with you, to not do that, and you can do that just as well in your current job as in a new job. There's a great lede in an old BW story about Best Buy's move to flexible work hours (since rescinded):
One afternoon last year, Chap Achen, who oversees online orders at Best Buy Co. (BBY), shut down his computer, stood up from his desk, and announced that he was leaving for the day. It was around 2 p.m., and most of Achen's staff were slumped over their keyboards, deep in a post-lunch, LCD-lit trance. "See you tomorrow," said Achen. "I'm going to a matinee."
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-10/smashing-the-... (they killed the program six years later)
When I work as an in-house designer, I set parameters from day 1, not by asking permission, but through my behavior. I don't show up before 10am. I decline any meeting scheduled for the same day. I leave meetings where we're not getting anything done or there's no agenda. I leave the building for lunch and I take at least an hour. I am comfortable leaving after my last meeting if no-one's expecting anything from me, even if that's at 3 in the afternoon. I show up after lunch or leave early on days when I'm hosting meetups. I book multi-hour blocks in Outlook, and often also in meeting rooms, so I can focus, which means if you want my time, book me in Outlook, because I have work to do.
When I am working, I am working, and I make sure I am able to be productive, and the rest of the time, I may not even be in the office.
And for over six years, I get my work done, and no-one has ever cared that I took a three-hour lunch to see Iron Man again.
Even more, I like your attitude, I think that's key.
As for the the unsustainable culture you are building together with your founders :) One of the more successful people I know built a company working for days a week. I know full well the temptation to work insane hours all the time but the problem with that is when you really need to put in a large number of hours as happens from time to time there is nothing left in the tank.
Some will suggest software consulting, but there is a lot of things to manage there unless you're familiar with how the consulting world operates already and you've done it in the past. You will have to spend a lot of time setting up schedules, deadlines, prospecting for new customers etc.
It's more than just about vacation. It's about having a good work/life balance, something that's oddly missing in a lot of American companies. My current work/life balance is excellent (I'm Dutch, BTW): I work 4 days a week as a dev/marketing guy, I get to work from home when I want to and nobody bats an eye if I take 25 days paid time off a year.
The main thing in my opninion: be crystal clear when you're appplying for a job that you value your free time. Motivation does not equal time spent at the jobsite.
There are several companies that have a 4-day work week, Treehouse for example. Other companies like 37signals also propagate a healthy work/life balance.