

Ask HN: Amount of free time to prevent burnout? - ruswick

People often emphasize work-life balance as a way to prevent burnout, but the proportion of work to life necessary for happiness is very idiosyncratic.  What is your requisite balance or amount of free time necessary to prevent burnout and achieve maximum contentment?<p>(For instance, school and the occasional coding work take up about 60 to 70 hours per week, which I consider to be pure, obligatory working time totally distinguished from leisure. However, I usually get between 15 and 25 "pure leisure" hours per week, during which time I have no professional or scholastic obligations. This is time during which I read, take photographs, and of course perform basic tasks like hygiene and eating. This seems to work well for me, and I can complete all of my work while still allocation time for personal pleasure, and so 15 hours per week would be my minimum requisite leisure time.)
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terrykohla
For life balance I wouldn't try balancing work/school vs free time but in
stead fun tasks vs tedious tasks. Perhaps you find your job to be fun and you
don't mind working crazy hours, but other people hate their job and working
too much makes them depressed. So you gotta find a balance between stuff you
enjoy doing (it could include work, school, hobby or sport) and stuff you hate
doing but still have to do (it could be cardiovascular exercise, your job,
your taxes, cleaning your house, etc). Stuff you enjoy doing gives you energy
and revives you. Stuff you hate doing drains you. Therefore you gotta balance
these two in such a way to optimize your productivity and your health.

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rdouble
In my experience, exercise is more important than free time to prevent
burnout.

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1123581321
Just as deliberate practice and focus help you work much better at your job
and other pursuits, deliberate, focused leisure will get you much more for
your time spent. If you are a heavy TV watcher, you might not be fully rested
with 50 free hours per week. If you exercise and do restorative, creative
things that are complementary to your day job, you might be able to recharge
in very little time.

A lot also depends on the quality of your sleep. If you sleep well, you'll
have more time for recreative leisure and also perform better/reduce energy
dissipation at your job.

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GFischer
If your job is unsatisfying, you can experience burnout even working 50 hours
a week.

That said, it's a good idea to have free time even if you love your job - my
father's a workaholic and he had heart problems, now he makes time to go
fishing and is much better off.

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orangethirty
A couple of days every three months. Plus 15 minutes a day to water my plants.
(:

