Working Hard With No Regrets

It all depends on the type of your work.<p>While I did my PhD I've often worked multiple days without a real sleep in between, because some problems were so interesting to me. At those times I would wake up in the night, think about how I can more effectively implement something, and then spend the remainder of the night hacking on the problem. I didn't even really consider this as work, but more as side-project for which I have infinite time and for which I'm getting paid for.<p>On the other hand, there are also some dull works you have to do as a research assistant, such as writing project reports, so that the funding agency continues to send you money. When working on those kinds of things it often took less than 8 hours until brain fog set in and forced me to work on more interesting things. If writing those reports would have been a full-time job I'm sure I wouldn't even have handled standard 9-to-5 work without going crazy.

I think this boils to down to definition of working hard. For a lot of my friends, that would mean "working more at the same thing".<p>I've been in the same situation as described in the OP, but I would call it "working hard at something new". That may entail more work, but man, once you nail it, that's a great feeling. You're not going to get that when you go from 100 support tickets/day to 1000 or even 10,000 - or something similarly routine.<p>Often, once I actually explain what I was doing during that 120hr week or all-nighter my friends typically respond: "Oh, that's pretty cool. I wish I did stuff like that."<p>I'm not saying friend and family aren't important, but I think this quote from the OP sums it up:<p>&#62;However, sometimes I do get caught up in chasing my dreams and forget to make time for friends and family.

I wonder how long you can get away with abusing your health? I wonder how much longer older people would feel young if they hadn't abused their health?

Working hard can be very rewarding. But for the long haul you need balance or you will burn out. Find out what your balance is before you hit the wall.

Please let us end the myth of staying up all night as some noble right of passage, or that if you don't find this enjoyable you're not really a hacker or you don't enjoy your work.<p>I'm a hacker. I don't enjoy hacking for 18 hours straight because I feel tired and groggy unless I take drugs.<p>I work better when I'm rested and focused. Everybody does.

Some people don't understand how much hacking is fun for some of us; money, fame, fortune, the monthly check from a shady employer - they are are just useful side-effects.

Ha, way to self-post, greg ;) but it seems like people are feelin' your article, so keep up the good work.<p>My oversimplified view of the world is that there's a 2x2 matrix: {need to work hard, don't need to work hard} x {doing what you love, doing what you don't love}. you're obviously in (1,1). i think the goal is to avoid (1,2) at all costs. i imagine that most people's jobs are in (2,2), which is fine and better than (1,2).

Work hard, just don't push yourself harder than you find enjoyable. For a lot of us that threshold is extremely high for hacking. This has always been my philosophy and it work really well for a long time. I broke it recently and paid the price.

Is it truly work if you are enjoying what you are doing? One of the keys to avoiding regret is to figure out how the things you need to do and the things you love to do can be one and the same.

<i>However, sometimes I do get caught up in chasing my dreams and forget to make time for friends and family. Just like realizing dreams, successful relationships are built on quality time spent together. I always appreciate being reminded to dedicate more time to this essential part of life, as I was today. I’d love to hear your thoughts or personal experiences on achieving the right balance.</i><p>Work and family/friends are big priorities in my life. I don't see what the issue is. I think most folks piss too much time away on hobbies, seeing the latest movie, filling their lives with material crapola, unnecessarily long commutes and other pointless "filler". If you keep those things under control, I think there is time for both work and "love"/relationships.