from Hacker News

If you want to earn more, work less

by shenanigoat on 1/13/17, 9:30 PM with 17 comments

• by laughfactory on 1/14/17, 3:37 AM

  Ever since graduating from college, I've adhered to one principle: I only work for employers who either 1) value output, not seat time, or 2) who explicitly require 40 hours a week (no more, no less; this can be an average over the previous year). It's not because I'm not dedicated, or a high performer--in fact, I'd argue my preferences are rooted in actually being a high performer. I know that not much of additional value occurs beyond 40 hours, and I value time beyond that 40 hour mark at an exponentially increasing premium.

  So for me, I do a very solid, focused, and productive 40 hours and leave time in life for everything else which matters: family, friends, hobbies, sleep.

  I definitely have experienced the judgment of my peers for being so strict about how I work. Even though I do great work, they frequently give me a hard time for, apparently, not being dedicated enough. But isn't that a little ridiculous? When you're an employee, even of a great employer, it's still just a job. If, in that job, you cease to be an asset (no matter the quality of your work, or the number of hours you put in), you will be reassigned or terminated. To me it's idiotic to treat any job as being anything other than that: a job. There's good, interesting jobs with lots of challenges and great pay; there's really horrible jobs which are menial, micromanaged, abusive bosses, with low pay. It's a continuum of jobs, but that's all they are: jobs. It's almost like people are turning work into a religion. Or that there's a belief that if you sacrifice your life, health, etc. for work that you are to be honored and respected. But that's just masochistic.

  Work to live, not the other way around.

• by kristianc on 1/14/17, 12:11 AM

  The 'lights out at 10pm' thing at Dentsu has actually been tried before: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EWX6--sQtsA

  I'm not sure how useful the Japanese comparison is, to be honest. Japan is so ridiculously out of step with how the rest of the world does things (it's not just the ridiculously long work hours, but the semi-compulsory socializing with colleagues after work) that it probably doesn't tell you very much. Not least because, having worked in a Japanese office, the working environment becomes markedly more relaxed after 6pm anyway (there were beers at my place).

• by jmadsen on 1/14/17, 4:13 AM

  I have to say this piece is really quite ridiculous.

  Japanese workers who work longer hours DO make more.

  This is because no one cares (primarily) about worker productivity - they care about being a "team player" & similar intangibles.

  Most Japanese salaries are quite low at the beginning and for the early years, but increase over time until at the last part of your career with the company you are living nicely and prepared for retirement.

  Team players are promoted. Non-team players are not.

  So, for places outside the Japanese corporate world the idea of less hours == more pay may hold true, but in the situation they chose to highlight in the story that is completely wrong. There, you make more over your career by "butt in seat" time, and little else in most cases.

• by jagtesh on 1/14/17, 2:08 AM

  The article says Japanese salarymen work themselves to death. Then it says their culture looks down upon people who leave early. Then it goes on to quote an American study that working less hours pays more. Am I the only one seeing the problem here?

• by ChuckMcM on 1/14/17, 3:07 AM

  From the article -- "someone who puts in 70 hours doesn’t produce anything more with those additional 14 hours"

  This was something I always wondered about at Google. Because you could eat three meals a day there, shower, do your laundry, and nominally sleep[1] does that make their employees that much more expensive than people with out the extra perks?

  [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employee-lives-in-truc...

• by jaipilot747 on 1/14/17, 4:38 AM

  For all it's outdatedness, Japan is changing (slowly) [1]. The government is instituting new laws that give employees more free time to spend their money. Though it is partially an economy reviving measure for the government, I already see employers setting (sane) hard limits on overtime and pushing employees to use 100% of their paid leave. (Most employees use paid leave very minimally because they don't want to "cause trouble" to their fellow employees who have to cover for them working while they are on leave)

  [1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-three-day...

• by shoefly on 1/14/17, 5:37 PM

  Work smart not hard. Automate everything you can automate. I do this and I routinely finish projects 30% faster than my peers. Another plus is that automation results in less human error.

• by aaronhoffman on 1/14/17, 3:03 PM

  Is their only evidence one line about how people who make more also take more vacation? Correlation != Causation

• by RichardHeart on 1/14/17, 11:15 AM

  That's great advice. Everyone release a company wide memo with that text. /s