Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I have a friend who graduated from college double majoring in Physics and Economics... and now works maybe 15 hours a week at a grocery store and plays video games most of the time, and this is by choice. Strange conditioning, or living naturally?

Oh, and in case you think this is merely a phase, he's been doing this for over a year now.



I think 15-20 hours of work a week is natural. That is the amount the Kung Bushmen have been known to work per week gathering food. The rest of the time is leisure.

When at work, I use a timer to time the time spent in actual productive programming. I find that if I start to go over 20 hours of productive work a week, I start to become miserable and my body reacts by bringing on colds or allergies.

Perhaps your friend chooses to work at a grocery store because he can't find a job in his field where he would have the opportunity to only work 15 hours.


I've found the exact same thing. 20 hours of real, actual, focused work seems about right. I average about that: http://files.dangrover.com/timechart081909.jpg

A 25 real-hours-of-work week ends up being a pretty productive and intense one for me. I feel lazy with such a low number, but I bet most office workers do far less.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: