[tickle_me_elmo]

This article recommends working an extra shift at the office for free and creating an expectation with your boss that you can do twice the work everyone else can do in the same amount of time.

My recommendation would be the opposite. Carefully manage expectations and pace yourself if you want (a) to ensure your longevity as a tech worker, (b) to avoid serious health problems and (c) to avoid later regretting missing out on the valuable social and emotional opportunities of your youth.

You can develop your skills in your twenties without creating unfortunate imbalances.

[petercooper]

My recommendation would be the opposite. Carefully manage expectations and pace yourself if you want (a) to ensure your longevity as a tech worker, (b) to avoid serious health problems and (c) to avoid later regretting missing out on the valuable social and emotional opportunities of your youth.

Sure, I can see how that would work for perhaps even most people but it's different strokes for different folks. Ultimately, people need to make their own minds up because it doesn't always work one way or the other.

I regret not working a lot harder in my early 20s and haven't ultimately derived much value from the "valuable social and emotional opportunities of [my] youth." Indeed, working harder and more deliberately has led to better social and "emotional" opportunities. It's hard to "regret" the past significantly considering I'm happy now but if I could go back and wipe most of my memory, I'd work my ass off 100x as hard at that stage of life.

[gruseom]

Strongly agree. One of these days I want to write a manifesto against "work-life balance". Yeah, you heard me: against. "Balance" implies a tradeoff. Work, when you have the right work, is life.

That's not to say there's no such thing as overwork, spending too little time with your family or what have you. But it's time someone stood up to the prophets of complacency.

[mortenjorck]

As you allude to, work-life balance is something we tend to need if we aren't able to make our work something we believe in wholly. I spent the past year hoping to trade my day job for my dream job, but I think I've come to the conclusion that at least for me, the only way I'll ever find it is to make that job myself. It's liberating and daunting.

[aresant]

You make a great point, however, I don't think that was the point of the article.

I saw the lesson emerge in this sentence: "The more work I did, the faster I got, and the better I got."

He illustrates: "I loved working late at night. I worked on office stuff, and I worked on personal projects. . . invitations for my friends' parties, packaging for mix tapes, one-of-a-kind birthday cards, and freebies for non-profits."

I saw the point as when you're young, and you're passionate find the extra time to practice and hone your skills.

That extra time can pay huge dividends to your career in the long term, and that time is harder and harder to find as you get older.

[kiba]

College and youth time is a good place to use your seemly unlimited energy to start building a business that allow you some leeways and free times later in your career.

24 thousand dollars a year with very little work each week is pure gold.

You'll never have your back strapped to the wall and you can do whatever you want.

[guynamedloren]

A little confused about your mention of 24 thousand dollars a year. Are you saying one should build a business while they're still young so that they can eventually achieve $24k/yr income? At first, I assumed you meant this income would supplement other forms of income later in life, but then you said "you can do whatever you want" so now I think you meant it would be your only obligation...

Please elaborate?

[andreyf]

I think he means that a side-business making $24k/year without daily supervision will give you a comfortable a comfortable safety net outside of your primary income.

[gaius]

See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1318916