Bad advice for programmers: Don't work so hard

I’ve seen quite a few posts on Hacker News recently suggesting that you shouldn’t work too hard, and even saying that you should work less than 35 hours a week.

(Don’t get me wrong. What I want to say is that the authors of these articles are already people who have achieved something. Of course I don’t mean to disrespect these characters, I just think they blur their current status. And how they got there.)

Do you want to live in a society where hard work is not rewarded, or even less?

I know a lot of people who work less than 35 hours a week, but I don’t know if they are at the top of their careers.

On the contrary, many people who work 50 to 60 hours a week are doing their best to climb to the top of their careers.

Work hard now and you will be rewarded in the future

Pat Flynn will say this at the beginning of every episode of his podcast:

"Welcome to my podcast, my theme is work hard now and you will be rewarded in the future." Harvest.”

This is a truth. How much sweat can produce as much results.

There are many well-intentioned podcasts urging us not to spend our evenings working, but to do what we want to do and enjoy life, but they forget how they used to stay up all night Working without sleep or food.

Of course, if you are already at this stage like them, then you are right to listen to them. But if you haven’t reached the peak of your career, once you do, it’s hard to gain more.

Have you ever ridden a bicycle? Going uphill is tiring, but going downhill is fast, right?

When going uphill, you need to step one step at a time, which is very tiring, but you can climb up in this way.

When going downhill, there is no need to pedal as hard as when going uphill. This not only wastes energy, but also makes you miss the best opportunity to appreciate the scenery along the way.

If you want to go downhill comfortably, you must first climb up hard

Everyone who has ridden a bicycle knows this well. If you want to enjoy going downhill, you must first be able to climb to the top of the mountain.

Cycling uphill is very tiring. The faster you try to pedal, the more tired you will be and the easier it will be for you to burn out and roll down the hill.

You can’t rest, if you stop pedaling, you will go backwards. The best you can do is get off the bike and push the bike up on foot, which of course will definitely slow you down.

And this is the real life portrayal of most people.

My Mountain

I also hope to succeed easily, but reality tells us that we have no choice but to work hard.

I bought my first house when I was 18 years old.

Since then, I have been buying a property at a rate of about every other year (oh!)

This is a very difficult decision. But it was clear to me from the beginning that this was a process of riding a bicycle up a hill.

For the past 15 years, I have worked as a full-time developer. Evenings and weekends are spent working on real estate, building apps, and most recently, creating online courses for Pluralsight.

At the beginning of this year, I finally made up my mind to stop working for others and start working for myself.

Countless nights and weekends, week after week, I worked and worked hard.

It was only last year that all the properties I invested in over the past 15 years finally turned a profit.

But at this time I am still working 60 hours a week and still pedaling my bike hard.

I believe that if I continue to pedal hard and climb unremittingly, I will definitely reach the top of the mountain. Once there, I could enjoy the thrill of sliding downward.

My advice

Don’t have the thought of avoiding hard work.

Don’t avoid hard work, take the initiative to face it. My experience tells me that generally speaking, avoiding hard work requires more effort than embracing it so you can get on with it, and it's not good for you in the long or short term.

Make the right sacrifices

Don’t sacrifice your marriage or family to achieve success. In the end, you will only be left behind by others. Remember, nothing is more expensive than divorce.

Set aside a certain amount of time for your spouse and make time to play with your children every day (if you have any). Family activities can also be organized.

The following are the things that should be "sacrificed":

Watching TV

Going out with friends

Playing games

Doing nothing

Browsing the web

Yes, it may be tough for a while, but if you want to reach the top of your career—and enjoy the comfort of your future—you have to make some sacrifices.

Don’t waste time

The following things I never do:

Mending the lawn

Wash the car

Cleaning the house

Home decoration process

I will find someone to do these things. Of course, I will naturally do it when I have free time Not for watching TV or anything, but to keep working hard. The work produces much more than what I pay others.

Every time I need to do something, I ask myself if it’s worth doing it myself. And if you feel like you never have enough time, you need to keep track.

Reduce your burden

Want to pedal uphill more easily?

Then all you have to do is reduce your baggage and bring less things with you.

This means you need to plan your money reasonably.

Pay off all kinds of debts. Don't waste your money and lose the watermelon. Also learn to reduce living expenses.

For example, if you try to only use 2K a month, you will gradually find that 2K a month is enough.

Summary

Working hard now is just for a better and easier tomorrow.

Don’t try to take shortcuts or get rich quick, these paths will lead to disaster and a waste of time.

On the contrary, if you are working for someone else, then give yourself 10 hours of "me" time a week - work for yourself.

Use this spared time to build your own business. You may need to sacrifice 2, 5 or even more years to go through this process of riding a bicycle hard.

But please don’t give up and don’t be afraid to put in the effort. Don’t be fooled by propaganda that says you can get rich quickly and take your time and do less.

Please remember that only through unremitting efforts can you achieve success and defeat others.

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