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Discussion on: Excerpts from ‘The Clean Coder'

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timmybird profile image
Bartek Svaberg

Sorry but no, very much no! When I'm not at work it is my responsibility to take care of my marriage,my wife, my children, my home and my life in order to be able to come to work well rested and able to focus on work. I simply don't have time for a half time extra job if I want to be good at doing the important things in life. Quality is everything, quantity is useless if quality is lacking.

Luckily my employer and my boss are on the same page as me. That's why I am not keen on looking for a new job and that's also why me or my family never object when my employer needs a little extra from me on the odd occasion. Swings and roundabouts.

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nickpolyder profile image
Nick Polyderopoulos

Hello,

Personally i think that the 20 hours a week are manageable.
I do an one hour research before and after work.
3 - 5 hours the weekend.

Of course this can be altered to anyone's preference and timeline.

For me its important to do a little reading, but its not a requirement to do for 20 hours. You can adjust it to your liking.

Although i should say i like your opinion based on the time you need to spent with your family.
I would do the same if i had time to do only one thing.

Thanks for your time

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alainvanhout profile image
Alain Van Hout

"Personally i think that the 20 hours a week are manageable"

... for you. Don't expect other people's situations to be similar to yours. And be ware of "can't you just" suggestions. They may sound helpful in your head, but they come across poorly.

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nickpolyder profile image
Nick Polyderopoulos • Edited

Hello @Alain Van Hout,
I don't know if you read my whole comment.
But i didn't say that i'm absolute with this but what works for me.

I stated that if i had to choose between family and work (and couldn't do these 2 things together) I would choose family of course.

Please don't be quick on your judgement to others.
I merely said what is on my head and on my daily routine. I don't expect anyone to follow my routine because they don't have my life.

Thanks,

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alainvanhout profile image
Alain Van Hout

That's good to hear.

I did read the rest of your comment before replying, and even then the first sentence still sounded like an absolute, in the sense that it seemed that you'd expect it to be true for most people -- i.e. barring unusual exceptions.

That's the problem with language I suppose, especially in written form: it's very easy to find different meanings in the same piece of text :).

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair • Edited

If it's manageable for some people, that's great. I'm extremely wary of anyone suggesting that it should be the norm, though, because:

  1. some people don't have the time
  2. some people don't have the health
  3. it fosters an environment where people will expect you to behave that way and if you don't you'll be seen as somehow lesser than your peers - regardless of how you perform in your job.

As a soundbite, expecting a 60-hour week isn't a work ethic, it's commitment creep.

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blonkm profile image
Michiel van der Blonk

Expecting a 60 hour week and paying for 40? Those 20 hours are slavery.

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maninthebox profile image
Zarko Stankovic

This is a great suggestion! I agree that 20 extra hours per week dedicated solely to yourself can be a burden. Some other commenter already said here that he spends one hour before the work, and one hour after his work. That's 10 hours during work days. I believe that's already a great achievement. However, that might not be always possible. But that's also ok. To me, the best thing is to be consistent and try to achieve some small thing every day (for yourself, not your employer!). Of course, family and private life is extremely important and should be always more important than professional career IMHO!