[BWStearns]

>> Take a job as a developer. You'll make good money. Make sure it isn't for a demanding startup. Something that guarantees exiting the office at 5pm every day

I have not worked in a developer shop yet, so this may not translate over, but in any of my other jobs (which were stable and not for startups) the idea of leaving the office at 5pm was ridiculous most of the time. Even if I did manage it, nothing stopped a 8pm email from giving me 2 more hours of work. Same with going on vacation, especially if you're the only one in a company who has a certain skill.

The 9-5 itself is dead and competition mandates working hard. Not startup hard, but not 1960's stereotype clock punching easy. When you look at it that way, why not put a year or four into playing a lottery that you can actually influence the outcome of?

>> You are not a unique butterfly that is owed the opportunity to only ever do exactly what you want.

Plenty agreed, and while I legitimately appreciate the snark/slight Fight Club reference, where did he say he is owed the opportunity? I believe he stated that whether given or earned he has the opportunity. There was no normative judgement on how he came about it other than guilt for it not being more austere.

Edit: grammar.

[vinceguidry]

A software development job should require 40 hours and no more a week. If it doesn't, then you're either being mismanaged, don't know how to protect your time, or overcompensating for lack of experience. The answer to the first is to find another job. The answer to the second is to learn how to say 'no' diplomatically, and the third is to focus harder on craft and less on production.

Working more than 40 hours as a developer is not doing you or the company any favors, it's perpetuating a myth that overwork is virtuous. It will not make you more productive or make your company any more money. At the end of it all, you'll just be tired.

[BWStearns]

a) Why is 40 hours the magic number and not more or less?

b) Isn't the 40 hour work week pretty much a relic of industrial development? What about 40 means "virtuous"?

[vinceguidry]

Nothing magic about the number. You could probably do the job in much fewer hours if you're very focused. But I find it hard to maintain that level of focus for a significant period of time.

But you definitely don't need more.