2G17: 6 - Work/Life Balance

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:02 pm

Looks like I'm failing bigly. I might do better in 2018?

Fei Ayanami · Post by **Fei Ayanami** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:37 pm

Let's spend page 2 finding out!

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:56 pm

Actually, I didn't totally fail. Last week I was away from my work desk for Thanksgiving. I was also away from the internet though.

Fei Ayanami · Post by **Fei Ayanami** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 4:07 pm

Not working during a holiday is really the bare minimum when it comes to the life side of work/life balance!

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 4:23 pm

Sometimes I don't meet the bare min.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:43 pm

I was away from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday, it's more than bare minimum.

B0N3M4N · Post by **B0N3M4N** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:02 am

I'm feeling kinda bad posting this, but I feel I don't have a good work/life balance, although after reading you guys's (former) working conditions, it must sound like heaven to some of you.

I work a 35 hour week and every minute overtime goes to a time savings account so I can take days off when I have accumulated enough. Add 30 days of paid vacation and one day home office a week.

The thing is, I don't particularly like working there. It's in the automotive sector (software development / machine learning) and I feel that I am the odd one out there as most of my colleagues have completely different personalities than me. In order to be content with work I need to have the feeling that I am doing well, that I can be proud of what I accomplished. But the project situation does not allow anyone to be successful, only to come as close to an acceptable solution as possible. There is no culture of appreciation either. This totally stresses me out as I am haunted by the notion that I need to be better, and work harder, to be good enough to get a result that I can be proud of.

This results in me working 8-9 hour days in an environment that mentally exhausts me. Of course I can take days off in exchange but while I'm working, I am super stressed, which negatively impacts my personality.

I haven't found a solution for myself so far, and I probably shouldn't complain too much as many people would probably give an arm and a leg for working conditions like these.

Other side of the fence I guess.

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:08 am

It’s nice that you compensated for overtime. Here’s how I’ve been paid for the countless hours of overtime I’ve done, when I was lucky: “thank you”, which is better than nothing, but barely.

But to be honest it sounds like you’re not in a great work culture. ML is booming maybe you should explore to the job market!?

Speaking of working in places that have no work culture. I changed job recently. I worked for a mega corporation and hated it. The thing is they paid very well so I felt compelled to try. I didn’t work out for me (they loved me on the other hand). I took a pay hit, but it was worth it. I now sometimes do the minimum of hours in my work day. This is a first in my almost 15 year career.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:59 am

Here's how I get compensated for my overtime. "You're still not making production." Fuck you. You're still expecting too much work in too little time. There's no balance in my work/life.

Mitsurugi CP · Post by **Mitsurugi CP** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:48 pm

Is there anyone you know who actually meets those goals and isn't a slave to their work?

B0N3M4N · Post by **B0N3M4N** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:48 pm

WaWard wrote:It’s nice that you compensated for overtime. Here’s how I’ve been paid for the countless hours of overtime I’ve done, when I was lucky: “thank you”, which is better than nothing, but barely.

But to be honest it sounds like you’re not in a great work culture. ML is booming maybe you should explore to the job market!?

I've been thinking about quitting for a long time now, but the conditions are just too good to pass up. My employer is very employee-friendly, it's a company-wide thing. The pay is good, and work times are pretty flexible. It's just not a fulfilling job for something that I spend a third of my day with. And quitting would likely equate to moving which is out of the question due to family/housing. Funny to realize how much I miss the option of just going anywhere in the world to earn my living.

Mitsurugi CP wrote:Is there anyone you know who actually meets those goals and isn't a slave to their work?

Nah, it's a department-wide issue. Everyone on my team has the same problems as it's a mixture of problematic organization from within and customer pressure from outside, but I guess most other people have thicker skin and can deal with this better. I should add that this was my first job after finishing university, so I have no first-hand experience with how bad it could be at other employers. Some of my colleagues do, so maybe that's why they can deal with that situation better.

I know me complaining probably sounds horrible compared to some of things posted here, so maybe I should just appreciate what I have more.

I just wish I could get to a point where I am proud of what I'm doing or get some recognition for putting in extra effort.

RDM · Post by **RDM** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:51 pm

The best you can get on a performance review at the RDM's current job is "Adequately meets expectations of position.". Literally.

That said, the RDM likes this job. He drove past his old work the other day...two years on, he still feels a rush of relief knowing he never has to go back there.

Fei Ayanami · Post by **Fei Ayanami** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:01 pm

That’s how I feel about grad school.

But I largely sympathize with you, Boneman. I have a job that pays well and is not hard, and my boss is a very reasonable person. And I even work from home! But the my coworkers are generally not people I have anything in common with, the work is unsatisfying, all that jazz. My main positive (aside from pay and no commute) is that my lack of emotional investment in the job means I think about it almost not at all outside of 9-5 on weekdays.

All things considered, I feel pretty lucky with this boring job!

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:58 pm

Mitsurugi CP wrote:Is there anyone you know who actually meets those goals and isn't a slave to their work?

I know plenty who meet their goals. Whether they're slaves to work is hard to gauge. Keep in mind that quality of output varies wildly though.

RDM · Post by **RDM** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:09 pm

The answer is staring you in the face, Golbez: do a crappy job.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:42 pm

I actually think you're probably correct and have even been told whatvI write is more detailed than necessary and stuff like that. Still I think it's easier said than done. I have to figure out in what ways I can lower the quality of my work that will still be accepted. I can't just do complete trainwrecks of office actions.

RDM · Post by **RDM** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:12 pm

The RDM is continuously telling his wife to do a worse job for her own sanity. Perfectionism is the way to misery.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:56 pm

Well, like I said, if I knew the exact way to do a worse job that I could get away with without constantly having stuff sent back to me to redo or having to do work without credit because an attorney argued successfully against a rejection but my primary isn't convinced it's allowable..... It's a tough balance to find.

RDM · Post by **RDM** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:56 pm

Maybe you should just go on strike.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:02 pm

I wish my union wasn't a joke. They can't strike.

Mitsurugi CP · Post by **Mitsurugi CP** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:57 am

The only time I was part of a union it was a joke. Our rep only showed up when it was time to elect another rep, and they never pushed back against management raising productivity goals what seemed like every quarter, cutting staff, etc. And dues were $100 a month for a job that paid $12/hr.

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:22 pm

I’ve never been in a union. I’m a dirty capitalist!

My wife is. She has had two encounters with her union.

10 years ago she was in constant pain due to back problems. One day she snapped at her colleague because she didn’t pay attention and hurt her for the 20th time. The union reps went after my wife after a complaint was made due tto snapping of course. What a joke.

Now the gov stopped paying a bunch of people because of IT issues. Wife was overpaid (which is also a problem because we are now in a higher tax bracket and we won’t get that tax money back). She’s called them to complain and strike many times and they said that’s not a good reason to strike.

That’s right. Not getting paid is not reason for striking.

*facepalm*

Fei Ayanami · Post by **Fei Ayanami** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:01 pm

There are a zillion ways various unions are problematic, but I’ll be damned if I’ll ever take that as a reason to bash unions (not saying that’s really happening here, but I see it a lot). Should they be improved? Sure. They’ve also been hobbled like crazy.

B0N3M4N · Post by **B0N3M4N** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:24 pm

Depends on the size/strength of the union, the sector and likely the country.

Just this year Germany's IG Metall (metalworker's union) went on strike and were able to secure a 4.8% pay raise with additional social benefits.
In the last decades they subsequently secured a 13th salary (christmas pay), the 5-day work week, a 14th salary (vacation pay), paid sick leave and the 35-hour work week. In addition there are regular pay raises.

Of course all of this is only possible in an industry that makes a lot of money and I would clearly count metalworkers among them. For smaller sectors that don't have money to throw around, unions obviously have a tougher time getting through with their goals (if they even try).

RDM · Post by **RDM** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:45 pm

The RDM's union seems solid. They provide a bunch of benefits beyond what the employer does and pretty much pays for the dues. And the contract has good raises built-in.

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Wed Apr 04, 2018 10:44 pm

smeared ink wrote:There are a zillion ways various unions are problematic, but I’ll be damned if I’ll ever take that as a reason to bash unions (not saying that’s really happening here, but I see it a lot). Should they be improved? Sure. They’ve also been hobbled like crazy.

Oh I’m not shitting on unions. But that was incredibly shitty from her union. Especially the not striking for not being paid part, which you would think would be one of their top reasons to exist.

Mitsurugi CP · Post by **Mitsurugi CP** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:28 am

I'm definitely not anti-union in any sense, it just happened that the one I was part of was complete shit.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:09 pm

Speaking of work-life balance, I'm obviously still failing. I know it should get better soon though and apart from the long hours I can't really complain about my job. Since I'm in charge, it's up to me to make things better really.

A while back I met a guy who works for Mozilla and he seems super happy about the work-life balance working with them; he works from home and the work culture is nice apparently. I'm kinda jealous really.