These articles periodically work their way up HN's pages. People argue. In this very thread as in most others, "You should work hard" posts are greeted with "show me the data", while the article and comments to the effect of "slow down" are greeted with feel-good affirmation.
All I know is that in my 25 year career, the periods where I worked my ass off were the ones that I'm most proud of because of the contracts won, projects completed, and general sense of accomplishment.
I am highly skeptical of this "work less to achieve more" meme working its way through the industry. It seems to be one of those things where developers are trying to convince each other of its validity for obviously selfish reasons. It reminds me of the religiously minded folks who latch onto any justification that will reinforce their notions of a glorious afterlife.
In my 25+ year career, the periods where I accomplished the most and am most proud of my accomplishments are in fact those times I averaged somewhere between 25 and 30 hours per week.
Those times when I've been part of a team that valued ass-in-seat-time(tm) have been the times when I'm most embarrassed of what we produced.
Where I work now, there's a pair of workaholics who produce insane amounts of code.
Management loves them.
They are the only ones who can understand their code and of course management thinks that's because they're smarter than everyone else.
I'll be nice and suggest that perhaps there is a different reason nobody else understands their code.
These articles periodically work their way up HN's pages. People argue. In this very thread as in most others, "You should work hard" posts are greeted with "show me the data", while the article and comments to the effect of "slow down" are greeted with feel-good affirmation.
All I know is that in my 25 year career, the periods where I worked my ass off were the ones that I'm most proud of because of the contracts won, projects completed, and general sense of accomplishment.
I am highly skeptical of this "work less to achieve more" meme working its way through the industry. It seems to be one of those things where developers are trying to convince each other of its validity for obviously selfish reasons. It reminds me of the religiously minded folks who latch onto any justification that will reinforce their notions of a glorious afterlife.