Marc Andreessen on productivity, scheduling, reading habits, work(a16z.com)
a16z.com
Marc Andreessen on productivity, scheduling, reading habits, work
https://a16z.com/2020/09/07/on-productivity-scheduling-reading-habits-marc-andreessen/
103 comments
At one time I was involved with 4 major programs of work and saw my whole week disappear in a patchwork of weekly scheduled meetings.
My solution was to get really pushy with meeting organisers to (a) cut the default time from an hour to 30 minutes; (b) schedule them back-to-back (if not, I'd decline and ask them to be rescheduled); (c) merge similar meetings; (d) tell each program manager I'd attend max 1 weekly meeting and one monthly steering committee, and everything else would be async; (e) drop off any call that didn't have a clear agenda and deliverables.
Before doing this, I told each of the programs' execs and dev leads what I was doing, making it clear it was the only way I could balance my roles as team lead, workstream lead and individual contributor.
The other thing is to drop any feeling of guilt for dropping off calls that aren't productive.
My solution was to get really pushy with meeting organisers to (a) cut the default time from an hour to 30 minutes; (b) schedule them back-to-back (if not, I'd decline and ask them to be rescheduled); (c) merge similar meetings; (d) tell each program manager I'd attend max 1 weekly meeting and one monthly steering committee, and everything else would be async; (e) drop off any call that didn't have a clear agenda and deliverables.
Before doing this, I told each of the programs' execs and dev leads what I was doing, making it clear it was the only way I could balance my roles as team lead, workstream lead and individual contributor.
The other thing is to drop any feeling of guilt for dropping off calls that aren't productive.
Agree with you on this. Advice, coming from any billionaire, millionaire or otherwise top percentile person, should be taken with a grain of salt. Main reason in my opinion is that it's ingrained into their personality. A lot of them are not "normal". I don't want to label people, but their brains function differently than mine at least. I remember Nietszche's argument, probably from "Beyon Good and Evil", that philosophy cannot be separated from the philosopher. Stoics were stoics, because their personalities were fitted for this kind of philosophy. You can become "successful" only, when your personality is already predispositioned for this kind of life.
While I love Nietszche, and agree that the philisophy cannot be separated from the philosopher. I am not sure that the way you've applied it to the stoics is accurate.
If we take two of the most well known, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. Seneca is well known to have been quite hypocritical. He apparently lived quit a hedonistic life. And reading the Meditations, I see Marcus Aurelius constantly admonishing, himslef for his failings to stick to the stoic principles; or reminding himself to do so.[0]
I personally think that those that seek out specific philosophies are often those that need them the most; not those that fit them the best. I'm extremely drawn to stoic philosophy, but am definitely not stoic in character! Personal philosophies especially. It reminds me of this scene in Parks and Recreation. Ron Swanson goes meditating with Chris Treger, and says the following afterwards: "All told we were in there about 6 hour, and no I was not meditating. I just stood there quietly breathing. There were no thougths in my head whatsoever. My mind was blank. I don’t know what the hell these other crack pots are doing". The irony being that he's so good at meditation that he sees no value in the practice.
[0] Nietszche might well say that this means the stoic life was too unnatural to be followed without failure; if it's most well known proponents couldn't even stick to it. I certainly disagree there.
If we take two of the most well known, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. Seneca is well known to have been quite hypocritical. He apparently lived quit a hedonistic life. And reading the Meditations, I see Marcus Aurelius constantly admonishing, himslef for his failings to stick to the stoic principles; or reminding himself to do so.[0]
I personally think that those that seek out specific philosophies are often those that need them the most; not those that fit them the best. I'm extremely drawn to stoic philosophy, but am definitely not stoic in character! Personal philosophies especially. It reminds me of this scene in Parks and Recreation. Ron Swanson goes meditating with Chris Treger, and says the following afterwards: "All told we were in there about 6 hour, and no I was not meditating. I just stood there quietly breathing. There were no thougths in my head whatsoever. My mind was blank. I don’t know what the hell these other crack pots are doing". The irony being that he's so good at meditation that he sees no value in the practice.
[0] Nietszche might well say that this means the stoic life was too unnatural to be followed without failure; if it's most well known proponents couldn't even stick to it. I certainly disagree there.
Top percentile persons tend to have more assistants, sometimes inducing quite a leverage quantitatively (amount of work) and also qualitatively (not having to arrange or even think about logistics/schedule/... may be let one focus on "his" field).
To your point, we can't be certain these tools are why Mr A has been so successful. There's no control group. It's possible only one is cause, and the rest correlation.
On top of that, your or my results may vary. What if his "tools" made you, your family and/or manager miserable? Is that "success."
I'm an older white male and even I'm troubled by the old white male paradigm of success. That system works well for some. But it's less and less so for the rest of us. I'm not saying it's wrong per se. Only that we'd all be wise to think outside that paradigm. To consider optimizing for things other than the usual suspects.
On top of that, your or my results may vary. What if his "tools" made you, your family and/or manager miserable? Is that "success."
I'm an older white male and even I'm troubled by the old white male paradigm of success. That system works well for some. But it's less and less so for the rest of us. I'm not saying it's wrong per se. Only that we'd all be wise to think outside that paradigm. To consider optimizing for things other than the usual suspects.
You’re gonna hate me, but I have the answer: get up at 5am.
I know, I know, I sound like a douche already. I used to hate early mornings. Then I met my partner, and she’d get up early, and slowly it just happened. Now it’s me that sets the alarm.
Here’s the schedule: 5am wake up. Take a full hour to drink tea and read the news and eat some cereal or whatever. Go slow. Don’t go to the gym, that’s barbaric.
6am. Stretch a bit. 6:30am, sit down, start work. Ideally already have an idea of what you want to do – plan it the night before. DO NOT JUST OPEN YOUR EMAIL. By the time everyone else has settled in at 9:30am, you’ve already done all of the productive stuff.
It helps if you can block out your calendar until 11am, which I do, and it’s mostly respected. So I get from ~6am until 11am to myself. Magic.
On the topic of planning your day the day before, I can thoroughly recommend that as well. Check out the app Sorted3 (that’s a superscript for ‘cubed’) for iOS, that’s changed my life.
Oh, and of course if you’re up at 5am you need to be in bed early too. It’s 20:39 here in Canberra and I’m already tucked in. Night night. x
I know, I know, I sound like a douche already. I used to hate early mornings. Then I met my partner, and she’d get up early, and slowly it just happened. Now it’s me that sets the alarm.
Here’s the schedule: 5am wake up. Take a full hour to drink tea and read the news and eat some cereal or whatever. Go slow. Don’t go to the gym, that’s barbaric.
6am. Stretch a bit. 6:30am, sit down, start work. Ideally already have an idea of what you want to do – plan it the night before. DO NOT JUST OPEN YOUR EMAIL. By the time everyone else has settled in at 9:30am, you’ve already done all of the productive stuff.
It helps if you can block out your calendar until 11am, which I do, and it’s mostly respected. So I get from ~6am until 11am to myself. Magic.
On the topic of planning your day the day before, I can thoroughly recommend that as well. Check out the app Sorted3 (that’s a superscript for ‘cubed’) for iOS, that’s changed my life.
Oh, and of course if you’re up at 5am you need to be in bed early too. It’s 20:39 here in Canberra and I’m already tucked in. Night night. x
I used to hate early mornings. Then I met my partner, and she’d get up early, and slowly it just happened. She now sleeps in to 6:30.
This might work for you, but from my outside perspective that seems incredibly dystopian and depressing.
When do you see friends? When do you exercise? When do you go out to eat? Watch a film? Play video games?
Seems like that entire routine is about maximising your time working.
I'd rather be somewhat inefficient at work if it means I can have a balance which means I enjoy my life.
When do you see friends? When do you exercise? When do you go out to eat? Watch a film? Play video games?
Seems like that entire routine is about maximising your time working.
I'd rather be somewhat inefficient at work if it means I can have a balance which means I enjoy my life.
From one POV:
I wake at 430a and work-out first thing. I start working around 730a. I'm usually in bed around 9. If I'm in a creative mode, I can shorten the workout a bit and grab an extra hour in the mornings to write, etc.
I am usually done with job-work around 4p. My family and I, if we go out go out early. We joke we have an "early empty restaurant" habit. We usually watch a show or two each night (or Youtube playlists, movies). Our family things are running, hiking, working out, dog outings.
I see "friends" maybe once/month. That's all I need (should be said -- most people have a cancellation rate on "plans" -- so I'll make plans, but only have to show up periodically because people end up with conflicts; don't know how other people manage this, but it does make me reluctant to increase the "planning" requests from other people).
I do stuff with my son most days (gym, disc golf, pickle/raquetball, tennis), but he also goes to his mother's half-time. My partner goes out of her way to see her friends a few times/month (book club, girls group, happy hours).
Thing is, we don't drink. Not never-ever, but almost-never. One night out.. a few drinks.. upends our flow for a few days. I don't wake up wanting to get at things. Weekends we tend to do MORE of the list above (gym workout in the morning, disc golf in the afternoon, pickle ball in the evening, etc).
Video games? I've never played them. My son plays Minecraft/KSP 60-90 minutes/night, before bed.
And yes, I'm old enough to have a teenage son and I WFH.
I wake at 430a and work-out first thing. I start working around 730a. I'm usually in bed around 9. If I'm in a creative mode, I can shorten the workout a bit and grab an extra hour in the mornings to write, etc.
I am usually done with job-work around 4p. My family and I, if we go out go out early. We joke we have an "early empty restaurant" habit. We usually watch a show or two each night (or Youtube playlists, movies). Our family things are running, hiking, working out, dog outings.
I see "friends" maybe once/month. That's all I need (should be said -- most people have a cancellation rate on "plans" -- so I'll make plans, but only have to show up periodically because people end up with conflicts; don't know how other people manage this, but it does make me reluctant to increase the "planning" requests from other people).
I do stuff with my son most days (gym, disc golf, pickle/raquetball, tennis), but he also goes to his mother's half-time. My partner goes out of her way to see her friends a few times/month (book club, girls group, happy hours).
Thing is, we don't drink. Not never-ever, but almost-never. One night out.. a few drinks.. upends our flow for a few days. I don't wake up wanting to get at things. Weekends we tend to do MORE of the list above (gym workout in the morning, disc golf in the afternoon, pickle ball in the evening, etc).
Video games? I've never played them. My son plays Minecraft/KSP 60-90 minutes/night, before bed.
And yes, I'm old enough to have a teenage son and I WFH.
Hey! Yeah this sounds familiar. We’re definitely in at the early restaurant sitting!
We do drink (weekends, a nice cocktail on the front porch), we don’t play video games (I used to when I was younger, but have no desire now), and we typically watch one episode of something with dinner. That’s all the TV I need. I have plenty of time that I could be watching more TV, we just choose not to.
Like, I have a ton of time to read and do my hobby projects. A ton.
We do drink (weekends, a nice cocktail on the front porch), we don’t play video games (I used to when I was younger, but have no desire now), and we typically watch one episode of something with dinner. That’s all the TV I need. I have plenty of time that I could be watching more TV, we just choose not to.
Like, I have a ton of time to read and do my hobby projects. A ton.
I do those things after 4pm when I knock off work, which is at home in the small city that I live in (which happens to be the capital of Australia), so at 4pm I’m done. No commuting.
I also do them through the day, because I work flexibly and can do things like cycle to the shops for the groceries at 11am just because I want to.
See my sibling comment here about fitness, and also not working Monday.
If it seems depressing I failed in my description. I apologise. It’s actually incredibly relaxing. My partner and I often joke that it feels like we’re already retired. I’m 44 and I work 36-40 hours/week for a large IT integrator!
Edit: I just realised another thing. No kids. We don’t want them. My god I don’t know how you people fit kids in. So, that helps a lot.
I also do them through the day, because I work flexibly and can do things like cycle to the shops for the groceries at 11am just because I want to.
See my sibling comment here about fitness, and also not working Monday.
If it seems depressing I failed in my description. I apologise. It’s actually incredibly relaxing. My partner and I often joke that it feels like we’re already retired. I’m 44 and I work 36-40 hours/week for a large IT integrator!
Edit: I just realised another thing. No kids. We don’t want them. My god I don’t know how you people fit kids in. So, that helps a lot.
Absolutely no.
Sleep deprivation is the worst thing you can do to increase productivity, long-term.
Actually, let me give this single, most important piece of advice: try to sleep 8 hours a day.
Sleep deprivation is the worst thing you can do to increase productivity, long-term.
Actually, let me give this single, most important piece of advice: try to sleep 8 hours a day.
Dude I sleep at least 7.5 hours a night. I just go to bed early: see the last sentence in my post. (Edit: just checked AutoSleep. Average is 7h:58m. Edit edit: And that’s 90% weeknight sleep as I don’t usually wear the watch on the weekend. So my actual weekly average must be closer to 9h.)
Think about it this way: instead of getting up at 7am and going to bed at 11pm – a perfectly socially acceptable schedule – I shift it forward 2 hours.
It really isn’t that radical of an idea.
Think about it this way: instead of getting up at 7am and going to bed at 11pm – a perfectly socially acceptable schedule – I shift it forward 2 hours.
It really isn’t that radical of an idea.
Also a Canberran! There once was a time in my life when I woke up at 5am every day for two weeks straight. It was magic.
You've prompted me to try again. Cheers mate!
You've prompted me to try again. Cheers mate!
If I may ask, at what time do you exercise?
Throughout the day, whenever it fits in.
Yesterday (I don’t work Mondays - getting up at 5am means I fit 36-40 hours in to Tue-Fri) we cycled to then walked up the hill after breakfast. That plus a couple of walks to town and back did me right.
Today it’ll probably be walks and perhaps a cycle to the shops which are a bit further away. I’m not a gym type, never have been. My physiology lets me get away with it.
Top tip for keeping fit: don’t own a car. :-)
Yesterday (I don’t work Mondays - getting up at 5am means I fit 36-40 hours in to Tue-Fri) we cycled to then walked up the hill after breakfast. That plus a couple of walks to town and back did me right.
Today it’ll probably be walks and perhaps a cycle to the shops which are a bit further away. I’m not a gym type, never have been. My physiology lets me get away with it.
Top tip for keeping fit: don’t own a car. :-)
Sounds like a neat routine. Thanks for sharing. It has definitely motivated me to be an early riser.
Thanks, but no.
Protip: Start observing a No-meeting day. Even better if the whole team buys into it.
For a few weeks, send out reminders to other teams you collaborate with that "X is no meeting day for the team, we'd appreciate your understanding". If anyone schedules something on X day, politely ask for it to be rescheduled to a different day.
For the first few weeks it'll be hard, esp. because there'll be a lot of last minute meetings, or planned meetings with members from different teams but after the initial hiccups you more or less have an entire day every week to focus on what you want to focus on and that is a crazy productivity multiplier. A nice side-effect is that it has led to better asynchronous processes as well (eg. people write much more instead of making decisions during a meeting with the whole team etc.)
In my team, we initially started it off with "No team meetings on Wednesdays", but pretty soon team members realized how freeing it is to have no meetings at all for an entire day, so we started avoiding even personal meetings on Wednesday. Fairly soon, other teams saw the productivity gains we were getting and also started observing the same on Wednesdays.
Slowly, we're considering to having no meetings on 2 days a week (Wednesday was an easy choice because of it's location in the week, finding the second day is harder), esp now that other teams also adopted Wednesday.
With Covid, specifically for people working at companies like mine which thrived in a non-remote environment, the need for everything to be done/decided in meetings and an unsubstantiated FOMO has crept into most of our lives. And we really need to start trying to fix that through process rather than pushing everyone into a trench of non-productive but up-to-speed.
For a few weeks, send out reminders to other teams you collaborate with that "X is no meeting day for the team, we'd appreciate your understanding". If anyone schedules something on X day, politely ask for it to be rescheduled to a different day.
For the first few weeks it'll be hard, esp. because there'll be a lot of last minute meetings, or planned meetings with members from different teams but after the initial hiccups you more or less have an entire day every week to focus on what you want to focus on and that is a crazy productivity multiplier. A nice side-effect is that it has led to better asynchronous processes as well (eg. people write much more instead of making decisions during a meeting with the whole team etc.)
In my team, we initially started it off with "No team meetings on Wednesdays", but pretty soon team members realized how freeing it is to have no meetings at all for an entire day, so we started avoiding even personal meetings on Wednesday. Fairly soon, other teams saw the productivity gains we were getting and also started observing the same on Wednesdays.
Slowly, we're considering to having no meetings on 2 days a week (Wednesday was an easy choice because of it's location in the week, finding the second day is harder), esp now that other teams also adopted Wednesday.
With Covid, specifically for people working at companies like mine which thrived in a non-remote environment, the need for everything to be done/decided in meetings and an unsubstantiated FOMO has crept into most of our lives. And we really need to start trying to fix that through process rather than pushing everyone into a trench of non-productive but up-to-speed.
I would recommend changing your mind instead of your behavior. In particular, stop making your employer's problems your problems. You have enough to worry about. If your employer is keeping you cooped up in meetings all day, let them. That's their problem, not yours. If you want to be really generous, you could politely advise them that you could be more productive if you weren't in meetings all day. But that's sort of "management consulting" level advice, and there's a good chance you don't make "management consulting" money.
If the meetings themselves bother you, and not some imagined "lack of productivity" then start sabotaging your value in meetings. If you keep being useful, you will keep being invited. Only allow yourself to be perceived as "useful" doing the things you want to do.
If the meetings themselves bother you, and not some imagined "lack of productivity" then start sabotaging your value in meetings. If you keep being useful, you will keep being invited. Only allow yourself to be perceived as "useful" doing the things you want to do.
While I agree with your overall comment, it is dangerous to be seen as "not useful"...
What I do is force the decision on those who are there to make this sort of decision: management.
That is, all my estimates include my honest assessment of all the time I will spend on meetings, etc. Then I can suggest that this could be shortened if I could skip this meeting and that meeting if they are deemed less important.
That way I'm being useful while skipping meetings. In fact, I'm so useful that the time I can spare on meetings is very limited ;)
Now, on the other hand, if the decision is made that the meetings are more important then when the dev. schedule slips it has nothing to do with me.
What I do is force the decision on those who are there to make this sort of decision: management.
That is, all my estimates include my honest assessment of all the time I will spend on meetings, etc. Then I can suggest that this could be shortened if I could skip this meeting and that meeting if they are deemed less important.
That way I'm being useful while skipping meetings. In fact, I'm so useful that the time I can spare on meetings is very limited ;)
Now, on the other hand, if the decision is made that the meetings are more important then when the dev. schedule slips it has nothing to do with me.
Question - is the team that you're leading successful at what its primary objective/OKR is?
If yes, then do you consider others individual success as part of your own productivity? If you do consider your team's work as part of your productiveness, why do you feel like you are unproductive? If you don't, you probably need to look at longer time horizons and letting go of being as much of an IC.
If your team doesn't meet its goals, then I agree you are not as 'productive' as one would desire. Generally best to re-prioritize.
If yes, then do you consider others individual success as part of your own productivity? If you do consider your team's work as part of your productiveness, why do you feel like you are unproductive? If you don't, you probably need to look at longer time horizons and letting go of being as much of an IC.
If your team doesn't meet its goals, then I agree you are not as 'productive' as one would desire. Generally best to re-prioritize.
Before doing something, define and note down the connection this activity has to specific needs you have.
For example, if I don't need to ride bicycle anywhere, spending my weekend repairing my bicycle will leave me with a sense of having wasted a weekend. So when I was looking through my stale TODO list entries, I had hard time figuring out which need a bicycle repair would contribute to, and this was itself an indication of the problem ("why I never do that despite having thought of it so long ago").
In someone's words, "focus on activities which move the needle of your work".
I believe graph-based task manager is the right tool to address this.
This one is good: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22591311
My take on this is: https://github.com/andrey-utkin/taskdb/wiki/Live-demo#task-d... (also i have such graph for all of my personal needs, in Maslow's theory terms).
For example, if I don't need to ride bicycle anywhere, spending my weekend repairing my bicycle will leave me with a sense of having wasted a weekend. So when I was looking through my stale TODO list entries, I had hard time figuring out which need a bicycle repair would contribute to, and this was itself an indication of the problem ("why I never do that despite having thought of it so long ago").
In someone's words, "focus on activities which move the needle of your work".
I believe graph-based task manager is the right tool to address this.
This one is good: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22591311
My take on this is: https://github.com/andrey-utkin/taskdb/wiki/Live-demo#task-d... (also i have such graph for all of my personal needs, in Maslow's theory terms).
You'd have to start with what needs to be done. Let it flesh out and develop in the back of your mind throughout the days. Learn how to delegate once you have less than 4 contiguous hours in a day.
I need at least 3 days of continuous uninterrupted immersion to make any progress.
You could try working elsewhere 1 day/week. Shift all meetings.
Executives back in the day had secret offices elsewhere that they'd go to each morning for a few hours before showing up at work. Same hours. Some in silence. Then the rest of the day was wasted.
Some wake up earlier, as though they are still in high school. 6 am. After going to bed at 10 pm. Work from home. Before day begins. Unless they have kids. Then they are just up at 6 am. Heh.
Some plan or prepare for their next day each night. Then they sleep on it, wake up earlier, get it moving a bit (after meditating, repeating their affirmations and what they are grateful for, exercising or yoga posing, and taking their supplements/cocktail/smoothie), and then sit back in the swamp/blackhole.
I need at least 3 days of continuous uninterrupted immersion to make any progress.
You could try working elsewhere 1 day/week. Shift all meetings.
Executives back in the day had secret offices elsewhere that they'd go to each morning for a few hours before showing up at work. Same hours. Some in silence. Then the rest of the day was wasted.
Some wake up earlier, as though they are still in high school. 6 am. After going to bed at 10 pm. Work from home. Before day begins. Unless they have kids. Then they are just up at 6 am. Heh.
Some plan or prepare for their next day each night. Then they sleep on it, wake up earlier, get it moving a bit (after meditating, repeating their affirmations and what they are grateful for, exercising or yoga posing, and taking their supplements/cocktail/smoothie), and then sit back in the swamp/blackhole.
There is no such thing as a "productivity tip" for humans. Being productive is a very subjective thing. So the first step is to figure out what it means for you to be productive and in what conditions. You should start logging everything you do during the day, with a conclusion remark at the end "I was/was not productive today". Do this for some months, maybe a year, then analyze the data, draw conclusions and adjust your schedule to fix the drawbacks. Then go back to step 1.
You also need to keep a very open mind on what means to be productive. Does your participation in the review meetings, 1:1s, planning sessions help the team(s)/projects move forward? If yes, then you where productive, if not, then not. You need to fully engage in any activity you end up doing, or you won't feel you were productive. Any halfassed thing you do is not going to feel productive (or even be for that matter).
You also need to keep a very open mind on what means to be productive. Does your participation in the review meetings, 1:1s, planning sessions help the team(s)/projects move forward? If yes, then you where productive, if not, then not. You need to fully engage in any activity you end up doing, or you won't feel you were productive. Any halfassed thing you do is not going to feel productive (or even be for that matter).
I just said to a colleague at the end of last week:
"If, by the end of the week, it feels as if we've completed what we expected to do in one day, then we should consider it a successful week".
Otherwise... endless frustration.
"If, by the end of the week, it feels as if we've completed what we expected to do in one day, then we should consider it a successful week".
Otherwise... endless frustration.
Take control of the 60%. Block time on calendar for yourself in minimum quantum of time that you need to be productive, say 2 hours or 4 hours. Also, maybe frontload your time for deep work towards the beginning of the week and increase the meetings skew towards the second half of the week. Say no to meetings with poor agenda or request to reschedule if they are scheduled on a time you are not comfortable with.
I like how the book The 4 Disciplines of Execution describes this: they call this the Whirlwind aka the operational, day-to-day stuff that is really important. They say your day should be 80/20 between this operational stuff and strategic stuff or core goals. The 80 keeps the lights on, the 20 improves the state of your art. This translated to 1 day a week which I like to call no-meet-mondays.
What is your job? I almost never look at my calendar. I have maybe 2 meetings per week. I spend maybe 80% of my work hours programming and thinking. I arrived at this situation by actively looking for a job where meetings were despised. I’m very happy with my choice, and highly recommend it to anyone.
You could check out the book 'Essentialism'
I'm sure I get the gist from just the Amazon summary: focus on the essential and throw away everything else.
Except... I need to have 1:1s with team, and I need to attend my manager's staff meeting, and his 1:1, and his weekly status review, and my own reviews, and my director's weekly meeting, and our division's weekly all-hands, and standups.
Holy fucking shit. Maybe it's just time to send my own management a note on how much overhead we're drowning in.
Except... I need to have 1:1s with team, and I need to attend my manager's staff meeting, and his 1:1, and his weekly status review, and my own reviews, and my director's weekly meeting, and our division's weekly all-hands, and standups.
Holy fucking shit. Maybe it's just time to send my own management a note on how much overhead we're drowning in.
I’m just wondering when he has time for family. I’m making breakfast and dinner for my family, cleaning up after, giving them baths, reading to them putting them to bed. Some of this could be outsourced but a lot of it is quality time with your kids.
There is a long tradition of wealthy people not actually raising their own kids. They have kids to carry on their legacy, not for the joy of having them.
They have round the clock nannies and tutors so they never have to deal with the kids. Sometimes they might see the kids at dinner or on weekends, but really it's the nannies that raise the child.
I'm not saying Marc is that kind of person, but he might be. Or maybe his spouse does most of the child rearing.
In Marc's defense, the schedule presented here is pretty family compatible. He has lots of free time in the evenings.
They have round the clock nannies and tutors so they never have to deal with the kids. Sometimes they might see the kids at dinner or on weekends, but really it's the nannies that raise the child.
I'm not saying Marc is that kind of person, but he might be. Or maybe his spouse does most of the child rearing.
In Marc's defense, the schedule presented here is pretty family compatible. He has lots of free time in the evenings.
> They have kids to carry on their legacy, not for the joy of having them
For anyone wanting their children to be a legacy of themselves, the (blatantly obvious) irony in the above is that the less time a parent spends with their child, the less actual legacy they're leaving of themselves. Having other people raise your children means the legacy being left is that of the nannies or tutors or grandparents or teachers or the child's friend's parents.
If they don't see who you are and how you conduct yourself, they won't be filling your shoes.
But reverse-ironically, they'll probably be just as absent for their children, so there's a little inevitable legacy that will be passed on.
For anyone wanting their children to be a legacy of themselves, the (blatantly obvious) irony in the above is that the less time a parent spends with their child, the less actual legacy they're leaving of themselves. Having other people raise your children means the legacy being left is that of the nannies or tutors or grandparents or teachers or the child's friend's parents.
If they don't see who you are and how you conduct yourself, they won't be filling your shoes.
But reverse-ironically, they'll probably be just as absent for their children, so there's a little inevitable legacy that will be passed on.
For a lot, the family name to live on is more important than their thoughts or values to do the same.
Often, billionaires' legacies are only their name, their power, and their wealth. If anything, their actual personalities may be something even they hope people forget. The name, power, and wealth is what they want their children to carry on
I think most highly successful people sacrifice time with their young families for more time later, assuming it works out.
For many, they don't want to sacrifice this. For example, I won't, even if I _really_ want to. So if I want to succeed, I need to optimize the heck out of the free time I _do_ have.
Bill Gates famously took weeks away in a cabin to get work done. Ruth Bader Ginsburg would work like crazy during the week while spending some time with her young child during that time, only to sleep the entire weekend to catch up.
For many, they don't want to sacrifice this. For example, I won't, even if I _really_ want to. So if I want to succeed, I need to optimize the heck out of the free time I _do_ have.
Bill Gates famously took weeks away in a cabin to get work done. Ruth Bader Ginsburg would work like crazy during the week while spending some time with her young child during that time, only to sleep the entire weekend to catch up.
> So if I want to succeed, I need to optimize the heck out of the free time I _do_ have
I'm kind of the opinion that there is no such thing as optimizing your time, only the way you distribute your energy and focus.
Allocating time to do something is meaningless if you've already spent all your mental energy on other tasks.
For most people, free time = a break. So if you're already using 100% of your energy on other things and also expect to be productive in your free time... I'm don't think it adds up.
I'm kind of the opinion that there is no such thing as optimizing your time, only the way you distribute your energy and focus.
Allocating time to do something is meaningless if you've already spent all your mental energy on other tasks.
For most people, free time = a break. So if you're already using 100% of your energy on other things and also expect to be productive in your free time... I'm don't think it adds up.
>I'm kind of the opinion that there is no such thing as optimizing your time, only the way you distribute your energy and focus.
This. People constantly say they only have 24 hours, I felt I have ample of time. But my energy doesn't replenish as quickly. Human are not machine, you have to optimise your energy usage. Try to play a game of Go for hours and you have absolutely zero energy left for the rest of the day to think about anything. May be their are super human that can do that. I certainly cant.
My guess is that it is similar to that some people are very good at long distance running. While I prefer to sprint, walk, run, and sprint again. Where walk = resting.
This. People constantly say they only have 24 hours, I felt I have ample of time. But my energy doesn't replenish as quickly. Human are not machine, you have to optimise your energy usage. Try to play a game of Go for hours and you have absolutely zero energy left for the rest of the day to think about anything. May be their are super human that can do that. I certainly cant.
My guess is that it is similar to that some people are very good at long distance running. While I prefer to sprint, walk, run, and sprint again. Where walk = resting.
Right, I agree with your point. If you are dying from death by a thousand cuts, no amount of time optimization will help. Need to cut, outsource, distribute.
> I think most highly successful people sacrifice time with their young families for more time later, assuming it works out.
That means either divorce or alienated wife that is with you solely for money/livestyle long before the have time part happens. And even if not, if you spent all the time in work for years, adjusting to something different is hard.
That means either divorce or alienated wife that is with you solely for money/livestyle long before the have time part happens. And even if not, if you spent all the time in work for years, adjusting to something different is hard.
> Bill Gates famously took weeks away in a cabin to get work done. Ruth Bader Ginsburg would work like crazy during the week while spending some time with her young child during that time, only to sleep the entire weekend to catch up.
To me stories like that just play into the dangerous idea of magical voluntarism in our current culture
To me stories like that just play into the dangerous idea of magical voluntarism in our current culture
My interpretation is that magical voluntarism is just a newer name for "prosperity gospel". The same criticisms apply- that individuals are somehow fully in charge of their circumstances, that a strong will and focus are all that matter, and if you fail it's because of you, nothing else. In the prosperity gospel it tells people they'll be successful if they are devout and earn God's love, and if they are not successful it is because they haven't earned it from God. As with magical voluntarism, if can and is used to justify all manner of things, including disdain for the poor or sick, because they must have done something wrong to get there.
I honestly think extra hard work actually makes a significant difference for rising above, even though it's probably a bad idea to expect it of everyone. Necessary but not sufficient for rising above.
Bill Gates was born in an environment of rich people, his father then himself was friend with Warren Buffet... Maybe there is a myth...
As I said, necessary but not sufficient. There are a lot more failsons descended from rich folk than there are Bill Gateses out there.
If it was just pure hard work alone that determined success, the women of Subsaharan Africa would all be billionaires. Necessary but not sufficient. (Side note: Africa will become rich by the end of the century.)
If it was just pure hard work alone that determined success, the women of Subsaharan Africa would all be billionaires. Necessary but not sufficient. (Side note: Africa will become rich by the end of the century.)
I've met several rich VC's, founders and all of them had au pairs talking care of their kids and house help for other stuff.
The problem of having to finish every book is you’re not only spending time on books you shouldn’t be but it also causes you to stall out on reading in general. If I can’t start the next book until I finish this one, but I don’t want to read this one, I might as well go watch TV. Before you know it, you’ve stopped reading for a month and you’re asking “what have I done?!”
Yeah I've found that many people have a weird hangup about this. I guess it's because of how they learned to study in school. You're "supposed to" finish the book.
In my mind, the point of reading is learning/retention/permanent change, not "completionism" in finishing the book. I just get a bunch of books from the library, and read the PARTS of the ones I feel like reading, that I feel have some relevance. I get 5 books for every one I finish, and I don't feel bad about it.
Often when I get to a "bad part" (and most books are filled with bad parts), I just read the first sentence of every paragraph, and nothing is lost. Paradoxically, you may get more retention that way! The bad parts have low information density.
But there has to be some retention, and I have a couple tactics for that:
- I take notes on every book I read. Key point: it's not a lot of notes. It's not page-by-page notes, and I don't do it while I read. It can be 4 sentences for some entire books. If you can't remember the notes you want to write after 24 hours, then the book might not be that good.
- I take notes in a wiki and use hyperlinks. If what you read doesn't cause you to think of some other book you read, or something someone said, then you probably didn't learn anything. Everything is related, and different authors say the same thing in different ways. If you're not recognizing that, then you're probably reading the material without understanding it.
-----
Related:
http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html
What use is it to read all these books if I remember so little from them?
Yeah I've found that many people have a weird hangup about this. I guess it's because of how they learned to study in school. You're "supposed to" finish the book.
In my mind, the point of reading is learning/retention/permanent change, not "completionism" in finishing the book. I just get a bunch of books from the library, and read the PARTS of the ones I feel like reading, that I feel have some relevance. I get 5 books for every one I finish, and I don't feel bad about it.
Often when I get to a "bad part" (and most books are filled with bad parts), I just read the first sentence of every paragraph, and nothing is lost. Paradoxically, you may get more retention that way! The bad parts have low information density.
But there has to be some retention, and I have a couple tactics for that:
- I take notes on every book I read. Key point: it's not a lot of notes. It's not page-by-page notes, and I don't do it while I read. It can be 4 sentences for some entire books. If you can't remember the notes you want to write after 24 hours, then the book might not be that good.
- I take notes in a wiki and use hyperlinks. If what you read doesn't cause you to think of some other book you read, or something someone said, then you probably didn't learn anything. Everything is related, and different authors say the same thing in different ways. If you're not recognizing that, then you're probably reading the material without understanding it.
-----
Related:
http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html
What use is it to read all these books if I remember so little from them?
Most non-fiction has a recursive introduction, body, conclusion structure. The nature of the structure varies a little from author to author, but can be identified pretty quickly. In pop non-fiction (and especially in business/management/productivity non-fiction) at a certain depth in the tree the body will be entirely filler and can be skipped wholesale. This is how I "read" most non-fiction now: first and last paragraph of each chapter (or section), first sentence of each paragraph in between, if something strikes me as particularly interesting or unintuitive I'll backtrack and read the full paragraphs before and after. Once I've done a first pass like this I'll decide whether I want to go back and read the full thing word-for-word. Typically the answer is "no."
I need a service to summarize pop non-fiction books in some similar way, cut out all the bullshit and leave the perhaps blog length substance and list of references.
I can’t stand where a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the book is spent on trying to convince me to read the book, extolling the benefits I’ll get from reading it. I don’t need to be sold on it, I already wasted the money for the book, now all I want to do is avoid also wasting time on filler.
I can’t stand where a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the book is spent on trying to convince me to read the book, extolling the benefits I’ll get from reading it. I don’t need to be sold on it, I already wasted the money for the book, now all I want to do is avoid also wasting time on filler.
I used getabstract[0] in the past, where they give you a five page summary of the entire book. After reading a lot of them though, you start realizing a lot of business books are rather full of fluff.
[0] https://www.getabstract.com/en/
[0] https://www.getabstract.com/en/
I agree, there's a lot of fluff in business/productivity/self-improvement books. They're repetitive and often refer to the same decade old studies. I've also found that I need to be in the proper state of mind for a message to sink in. Maybe the regurgitation helps but I should reread a good book instead.
That’s what Blinkist is, isn’t it?
Derek Sivers has good summaries on some of these: https://sive.rs/book
I've never actually used this, but I remember the story from a few days ago from a guy who's doing exactly that?
https://durmonski.com/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24469292
If you use it, tell us how it is :)
https://durmonski.com/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24469292
If you use it, tell us how it is :)
I wrote a multi-paged essay on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and all the nerve-themes it touched for me. Not because I had to, but because the reading of the book itself compelled me to do so. It's become lost in time, but I want to re-read the book just in order to re-write the essay. The Picture of Dorian Gray had a similar effect, but for only one perspective that rocked my worldview:
Life experience as art.
Life experience as art.
Do you keep these notes somewhere. Have you ever considered sharing them? I would be delighted to read some
I haven't shared them -- they're interesting and valuable to me, but I don't think they're polished enough to be interesting to others.
Actually I had a conversation with someone on HN who had made notes over a similar time period (16 years now for me), and some of the topics even overlapped (CS, programming, etc.) They are hyperlinked as well.
So you could simulate the experience by reading some of these notes, which are published in a raw form:
https://gitlab.com/kragen/dercuano
Personally I found it compelling enough to browse through about 20 notes over an hour or three, but no more than that. It didn't hold my interest -- not because the topics aren't interesting or they're not good notes, but because of the "shorthand problem". Notes to yourself have a lot of shorthand that doesn't need to be expanded, which makes it hard to read for others.
If you actually spend a lot of time reading those notes, I'd be surprised and interested to hear it :)
Actually I had a conversation with someone on HN who had made notes over a similar time period (16 years now for me), and some of the topics even overlapped (CS, programming, etc.) They are hyperlinked as well.
So you could simulate the experience by reading some of these notes, which are published in a raw form:
https://gitlab.com/kragen/dercuano
Personally I found it compelling enough to browse through about 20 notes over an hour or three, but no more than that. It didn't hold my interest -- not because the topics aren't interesting or they're not good notes, but because of the "shorthand problem". Notes to yourself have a lot of shorthand that doesn't need to be expanded, which makes it hard to read for others.
If you actually spend a lot of time reading those notes, I'd be surprised and interested to hear it :)
What I learned from this was that it is great (if you can afford it) to have an "amazing and indefatigable assistant". In Andreessen's case, this assistant, Arsho Avetian, is credited, but her contribution is not described beyond that. Some highly successful people employ staff that helps them produce. How does having staff benefit?
Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled and more demands on their time than they can deal with:
- Pre-screening
- Making travel arrangements based on known preferences
- Setting up meetings with other people who are hard to reach and also have busy schedules
- Following up on various things
And so forth. Not that I'm at that level but my understanding is that executive assistants can be incredibly helpful.
- Pre-screening
- Making travel arrangements based on known preferences
- Setting up meetings with other people who are hard to reach and also have busy schedules
- Following up on various things
And so forth. Not that I'm at that level but my understanding is that executive assistants can be incredibly helpful.
> Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled
If you can afford it, you can start doing it before you get too busy. In fact you can do it as a means of staying less busy (at least work/chore-wise).
If you can afford it, you can start doing it before you get too busy. In fact you can do it as a means of staying less busy (at least work/chore-wise).
To a degree. Most people wouldn't be able to get away with having an assistant handle things like meeting schedules.
You'd be surprised. There are companies that you can outsource that kind of work to. You can also get a decent personal assistant for $200-300/month.
Golf handicap: a number which reflects how many hours a week the holder spends in the office.
(Even when I was a summer intern, I shared an admin who gave me leverage: she played phone tag, tracked down pricing and availability from vendors, and told everyone who was not explicitly whitelisted that I was "in a meeting." But we also had offices with doors back then too, so maybe it was a different world?)
(Even when I was a summer intern, I shared an admin who gave me leverage: she played phone tag, tracked down pricing and availability from vendors, and told everyone who was not explicitly whitelisted that I was "in a meeting." But we also had offices with doors back then too, so maybe it was a different world?)
I call it "disruption management". A strong assistant knows your priorities, often times better than you when you're being bombarded. They help manage the firehose of requests, logistics, details, and information to keep you focused on what's important.
If you can afford a nanny, hire one. It gives you flexibility at a minimum.
I admire the drive and capital that he and others like him/her offer, which in turn empowers a decent chunk of our economy and technological development, but o lord what a cross to bear. I feel especially thankful for my own schedule now, which is maybe two meetings a week and the rest creative engineering... having to schedule sleep!? What a world our souls occupy.
It’s important to recognize that different people have different goals in life and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
This advice is great for people looking to maximize productivity. If that’s not your thing, that’s fine too.
This advice is great for people looking to maximize productivity. If that’s not your thing, that’s fine too.
I can speak from direct experience that a lot of highly successful people in tech are miserable. This is not a path to try and copy.
Yeah I’ve seen it too. It’s damaging how our current culture often dangerously attributes ‘success’ to lone individuals [1].
[1] https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/08/04/166593/techs-end...
[1] https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/08/04/166593/techs-end...
Being miserable or not does not have much to do with success. It does not mean that it's not a path to try.
This productivity porn needs to end.
not without the obligatory comment about orgmode :>
This does not sound like a fun life. Spontaneity brings life's most rewarding moments. He's basically reduced spontaneity to zero. He may be successful, but success is sometimes a prison.
Honestly, what a boring life :)
Basically few hours of sleep, plus a lot of business meetings in a rigid schedule!
Basically few hours of sleep, plus a lot of business meetings in a rigid schedule!
He gets a solid 8 hours of sleep, 19:30 to 23:30 are his to spend with friends/family/hobbies/reading.
His working days are arguably packed working on the cutting-edge of business and technology, working with the individuals from 0.001% of the world's most talented/lucky/interesting/educated/resourced/entrepreneurial/hardworking people.
+ vacations and weekends almost entirely free.
I definitely wouldn't want to trade with him, but it's because I'd burn out and have no real passion for the life of a VC, not because my life is so any more interesting.
His working days are arguably packed working on the cutting-edge of business and technology, working with the individuals from 0.001% of the world's most talented/lucky/interesting/educated/resourced/entrepreneurial/hardworking people.
+ vacations and weekends almost entirely free.
I definitely wouldn't want to trade with him, but it's because I'd burn out and have no real passion for the life of a VC, not because my life is so any more interesting.
Rigid schedules are good if the things you plan are the things that you actually want to spend time on. Time allocation guarantees that you'll work on whatever is scheduled and a side-effect is that it forces you to be be more effective.
Curious if this applies to people who do not have the same wealth and power.
My anecdotal experience (and I'm not remotely close to Marc Andreessen in wealth and power) is that there is a lot of benefits in structure and schedule.
Knowing how big part of your day will play out is a very powerful thing. It removes so much stress and uncertainty.
In the end of the day it's a question of balance. It's probably unhealthy to plan every single hour of your life in advance (which Marc does not do), and the same goes with allowing too much spontaneity.
Knowing how big part of your day will play out is a very powerful thing. It removes so much stress and uncertainty.
In the end of the day it's a question of balance. It's probably unhealthy to plan every single hour of your life in advance (which Marc does not do), and the same goes with allowing too much spontaneity.
I'm strikingly reminded of Jocko's book "Discipline Equals Freedom". Not the contents, just the title. (Echoing: http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html)
I heard, the average nun looks much younger than the average woman, because of the rigid lifestyle.
Interesting. In the article it mentions Fortune 500 CEOs having highly regulated schedules without downtime (because they are meeting with different stakeholders all the time). It seems they have the wealth but maybe not the power?
Where as a nun perhaps doesn’t have wealth but has power over their time.
Where as a nun perhaps doesn’t have wealth but has power over their time.
My wife and I have noted, that in our area, nuns tend to live well into their 90s based on our personal observation and reading tombstones. It's pretty remarkable.
ha, interesting. I was personally impressed (and inspired!) how much of a free unscheduled time Marc maintains.
I disagree that his life is boring. He is influencing directly and non-directly the decisions that shape the future of humanity. What is boring about that?
I disagree that his life is boring. He is influencing directly and non-directly the decisions that shape the future of humanity. What is boring about that?
>It’s things like — I want to be able to own a house, I want to live in a nice neighborhood, and I want to be able to send my kids to a really good school and I want to have really good healthcare.
And those are the three things where the price levels are increasingly out of reach. However we built those systems in the past, it’s failing us. And so we need to rethink. Quite literally, it’s like, okay, where are the schools? Where are the hospitals? Where are the houses?
The way these systems are assembled now is the more miserable failure, not the past.
Those institutions that remain successful are noticeably those that were actually built in the past, and worked even better until demand outstripped supply.
Working people can't afford that kind of thing or standard of living any more, so companies that want to survive can't afford to sell to or build things for average working people.
We just have to continue getting by on the remaining wealth left over from a time when greed, dishonesty, and predatory behavior were not as acceptable or prevalent.
The way these systems are assembled now is the more miserable failure, not the past.
Those institutions that remain successful are noticeably those that were actually built in the past, and worked even better until demand outstripped supply.
Working people can't afford that kind of thing or standard of living any more, so companies that want to survive can't afford to sell to or build things for average working people.
We just have to continue getting by on the remaining wealth left over from a time when greed, dishonesty, and predatory behavior were not as acceptable or prevalent.
The guy doesn't seem to take a lunch break, ever.
When I worked at my last corporate job, they would bring lunch boxes every day at 11am. If you had a meeting any time between 11am and 2pm it was generally accepted that you might be eating during that meeting.
I never really had a lunch break when I worked there, I just ate through my noon meeting.
I never really had a lunch break when I worked there, I just ate through my noon meeting.
[deleted]
Good point. When does he eat?
Often when i see these productivity and private/working habits interviews i cannot stop thinking if people live in the same world as me. I saw a similar approach recently by Lex Fridman but i saw in the past similar tech people with very similar schedules. At the same time i cannot stop thinking how much real it is, lets see in a period of 1 month. Example if you have to go outside you cannot easily predict and keep your schedule since you depend on lots of external factors like: traffic, weather, etc... etc... Instead i want to think that these people try to follow some sort of schedule during their routines and they mention whatever they feel it should be the perfect schedule for them.
If, for one day, i would follow a similar schedule i would be actually very surprised. In my actual life, i work more hours (but not crazy non-sense 60h week like tech people often say), need to have lunch and dinner breaks, take a shower, breakfast, take care of kids and play with them, find time to go to grocery, help with the usual homework, find sometime for myself to watch netflix or play some game in my PC, go outside and then at the end of the day find sometime to sleep. On weekends plan something with family, take longer breaks for lunch/dinner, etc...
So yeah, i guess thats how life is.
If, for one day, i would follow a similar schedule i would be actually very surprised. In my actual life, i work more hours (but not crazy non-sense 60h week like tech people often say), need to have lunch and dinner breaks, take a shower, breakfast, take care of kids and play with them, find time to go to grocery, help with the usual homework, find sometime for myself to watch netflix or play some game in my PC, go outside and then at the end of the day find sometime to sleep. On weekends plan something with family, take longer breaks for lunch/dinner, etc...
So yeah, i guess thats how life is.
[deleted]
Im a little surprised everyone is commenting about Marc's quality of life. And yet fail to mention Ben.
You guys know that they work together right?
Ben literally has a book, and it literally sounds like he has a high quality of life. They pretty much have the same job, and you can infer that they prob have the same quality of life
Anyways, his workout schedule and his reading schedule doesnt really look efficient (unless if he is training to compete or includes shower time / sauna). It looks very inefficient. He has a lot of money, i wonder why he hasnt consider optimizing those instead and have more time on his hands
You guys know that they work together right?
Ben literally has a book, and it literally sounds like he has a high quality of life. They pretty much have the same job, and you can infer that they prob have the same quality of life
Anyways, his workout schedule and his reading schedule doesnt really look efficient (unless if he is training to compete or includes shower time / sauna). It looks very inefficient. He has a lot of money, i wonder why he hasnt consider optimizing those instead and have more time on his hands
[deleted]
Tracking your schedule is a good way to curb procrastination. Track everything except work. Then see what time you have left and don’t fill in those times with work tasks you can’t get done. Scheduling free time and vacations is also a good way to reward yourself for doing work. So schedule work around your life and not your life against work.
That's actually a repost from three months ago.
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23516890
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23516890
Read full-transcript in its entirety. TLDR / Key learnings I got from PMarca:
- Original 2007 Pmarca guide to productivity far more useful to Hacker audience; Updated 2020 Pmarca guide to productivity is better for the executive.
- a16z is more about inputs and process vs. John Doerr / Kleiner Perkins is more on OKRs whereby you quantify results objectively
-Barbell Strategy to Book reading "I basically read things that are either up to this minute or things that are timeless"
-Lindy Effect to find key signals, Pmarca avoids "all the commentary and all the interpretation"
-"Strong views weakly held" going from zero to one in a new space.
- Original 2007 Pmarca guide to productivity far more useful to Hacker audience; Updated 2020 Pmarca guide to productivity is better for the executive.
- a16z is more about inputs and process vs. John Doerr / Kleiner Perkins is more on OKRs whereby you quantify results objectively
-Barbell Strategy to Book reading "I basically read things that are either up to this minute or things that are timeless"
-Lindy Effect to find key signals, Pmarca avoids "all the commentary and all the interpretation"
-"Strong views weakly held" going from zero to one in a new space.
Mind blowing that such a pedestrian (dare I say Protestant?) life is so venerated and celebrated. Do as you like, but is this guy really one of our deities?
The whole glory of work thing is so droll. Outcomes are what matter imo.
The whole glory of work thing is so droll. Outcomes are what matter imo.
'Protestant work ethic' is 'hard work', diligence, consistency, frugality, but not necessarily 'work all hours' esp. not family time or weekends. Also, those who have come from humble means towards building themselves through capability and integrity ... as opposed to being handed their station.
I feels sorry for Andressen because though his assistant seems to manage his weekend and evening schedule, I'll bet $100 his wife does even more so.
I feels sorry for Andressen because though his assistant seems to manage his weekend and evening schedule, I'll bet $100 his wife does even more so.
2 weeks ago called, they want their #1 spot back.
My day is about 40% calendar-based, and at the end of every week I feel like I've gotten nearly zero done. I've tried to cut out all the meetings I can, but still. Between must-attend review meetings, 1:1s, "planning sessions"... and then it's brutally difficult to make the 1-hour breaks between meetings to be actually productive.
Anyone doing better than me at this, or do I need to just accept the feeling of non-productivity?