Work/Life Balance at a Startup — Just a Pipedream?
This post has been a long time coming, and it’s something that’s been on my mind for quite awhile now. I don’t have all the answers, or really any answers. I don’t even know if there are right answers for something like this. Judging from Quora, there are a lot of varying philosophies about work/life balance for entrepreneurs, ranging from, you need a balanced and healthy lifestyle to stay sane and not burn out, all the way to, if you are passionate about it, it won’t seem like work.
I’ve been at a startup as an Android developer for almost exactly 5 months now. I work with 6 awesome full-timers and we are working quickly–always quickly–trying to get out the next release, and once that’s out, the release after that (not to mention getting through the never-ending stream of bug fixes, feedback emails, resumes, etc). Everyone else in the industry is working quickly too. The fast-paced environment is one of the many things I love about working at Pulse. Through it all, I’ve been learning so much, not only about Android, but about startups, marketing, negotiations, design, and yes, customer support. The biggest challenge by far is figuring out how to find some semblance of work/life balance.
Pulse is very important to me, but it’s hard to quantify how important an aspect of your life is. More important than my family? Of course not. But for other aspects of my life, I understand that some things will inevitably fall by the wayside. I haven’t checked on the plants on our patio in weeks, but I’m ok with that. I understand that I can’t have everything, but can I have the things that are most important to me? Sleep, exercise, a healthy diet, fulfilling work, a good relationship–is all of those at once too much to ask for?
It’s incredibly discouraging to see articles and comments that refer to work/life balance as a futile pipedream, and that one or the other must suffer. I guess work/life balance is not a great term if you work at a startup, because they are no longer mutually exclusive–maybe work/non-work balance? I spoke to someone a few months ago, and what I remember most vividly about the conversation was when he said, “once your team starts going home for dinner, you know you’re in trouble.” There is a strong sense in engineering culture, especially in young teams and startups, that working long hours and working late into the night is the best way to be competitive and successful. Maybe this is ridiculous, but I’d like to think that working efficiently and managing your time well can be equally effective.
With some exceptions, I go home every night to have dinner with my husband, though I do usually work from home for a few more hours after dinner. There are some things that I miss in my life, and am actively trying to make time for, but all in all, I think I’m doing alright.
Related posts:
- 99 Days at a Startup
- Thoughts about School and Work
- My First Three Days with a Data Plan
- Does Working at a Startup Ever Get Hectic?
- The Thrill of a Deadline
Comments (13)
For sure, life when you’re an entrepreneur is a lot different from the normal life of most of the people. At the beginning we can forget about the 40 hours. Then, when the product is launched and works pretty well, then I think we can release the pressure a bit, hire more people to share out the work, and start to enjoy our money a bit…
If that time didn’t come (or at least if I wasn’t sure it came), I’m not sure I would have continued my startup… What’s the point of making a lot of money if you have to give up the essential things in life besides?
Thanks for the comment Cyril! Glad to hear your startup is doing well!
I think the only rational conclusion of considering the problem is that near-full dedication is the only way to be successful (where ‘successful’ means ‘on top of the game’ / ‘top 1% in performance’ / something along that line – not just ‘live a happy life’. If this is a correct definition is another discussion I guess).
Basically, ‘success’ is ‘beating the others’. There are two ways to beat the others: work harder/more, or be smarter. It’s folly (and statistically highly unlikely) to assume that any one person (or small group) can be significantly smarter than another; at least so much to be really dominant (the same reason no boxer can be a champion based on his sheer muscle power alone). So the only conclusion is that to be on top in a field, you have to dedicate yourself equally, or more, than your competitors. This is a race to the top (or bottom, depends on how you look at it); there will always be people willing to go to extreme lengths, raising the bar for the rest. So to be great at something, 100% dedication, to the exclusion of most other things, is in most circumstances a necessary precondition.
Expecting to be great at something while at the same time keeping up with the news and cultural events, with friends and extended family, doing sports and traveling – I don’t see how that’s possible. It is what many people seem to expect though with ‘work-life balance’. I see no way how this can be realized within the societal context we live in.
“Maybe this is ridiculous, but I’d like to think that working efficiently and managing your time well can be equally effective.” I think you hit the nail on the head with this statement. All too often people assume that spending a lot of time on something, means you are being productive. For me at least, I find that taking a step back at least once a day helps me focus on the big picture. It is all too easy in a startup environment no to do this.
Ian
Webmaster – car insurance quotes
Never do that, never compromise your health for your work. Sleep, exercise and diet is not important for you, IT IS NECESSARY FOR YOUR WORK!! They gives you energy. It is called “sharpen the saw”, if you saw with a worn saw you could feel proud of making excessive effort, fell good about “sacrificing” yourself, but you will be being stupid.
Tony Swartz have specialized on that:
http://www.theenergyproject.com/
His book:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Full-Engagement-Managing-Performance/dp/0743226755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301485314&sr=8-1
If you need to make a temporary excess(launching of a product) you need to take the corresponding relief right after that. If not you will be burning yourself, you will depress, your life will become miserable and your relationships will pay for that, because your body will be asking for the essential and you do not give her, your body will create anxiety you will have to fight against almost every single working minute.
There is a social trap when you not only have to work but look as you work to others. Read the book “Perestroika” from Gorvachev to look at the Soviet Union as an example of an entire society in witch it became more important the perception of how much you were working from others, that the actual work you did.
Thanks for the reading suggestions–I do take care of myself and sleep enough, and am trying get regular exercise back into my life. If I start to feel like I’m coming down with a cold, it’s easy to work think I can work through it, but experience has told me that it’s better to take it easy and nip it in the bud, rather be sick for two weeks…
Unless they’re cacti, I’d go water those plants on the patio
Seriously, good post.
I prefer the frenetic pace of a startup or smaller company, because I’m much more engaged in my work and I’m learning more and having more fun.
Big companies are full of people who use the term “work/life balance” but in reality are practicing work *avoidance*. I hate that. I much prefer a fast-paced startup.
I think you’re making the right choice.
Thankfully, they are all succulents, and we’ve getting rain every few days. I can’t keep non-succulents alive…I figured that out awhile ago =) I also like the fast pace of a startup and am much happier here than previously at a large company.
Hi!
I have a question, in a startup, how many people has it to call startup? 2? 10? 40??
Hi Hugo,
I don’t think there’s a rule–maybe more how the culture of the company feels?
This is what worked for me over the last 25 years. I worked very hard while young, moved up in rank and got very financially stable. After some years I backed off for a realistic work-life balance. I worked in silicon valley for years, earned engineering wages and simply rented a room. I banked quite a few paychecks. If I had to work more than 40 hours a week, it was either through a hourly job or hourly contract work. When I worked more than 40 in salaried positions, I would take back the extra hours worked immediately the next day or week. For example… I worked on systems where Sunday grave shift was the only downtime window. If I ended up putting in 60 hours, including the 10 hour downtime. I would take Monday and Tuesday off as comp time. Which by the way allowed vacation time to pile up appropriately.
It really comes down to ethics. There is more to life than work. You do not want to be an old man or woman and look back and say, wow, I’m glad I worked 3000 hours a year! Unless it is financially worth it… that is the key. At one point of the dot.com era, I worked 3×12′s as my normal shift, and 4×10 (thats 40 hours!) of overtime! So I was working an 80 hour weeks. It was 1.5 x Wage over 8 hours, double time over 12 and on 7th day, plus triple time on holidays. You guys get the point, if your going to work mega, make it pay!!! Do not do this in a salaried position.
If you do the math and compute the percentage of days off over a 30 year career with 10 holidays and 3-4 weeks vacation, you’ll find a very scary number (weekends don’t count! they are for doing a wash and taking a breather).
Like I said above, the exception is when your young and starting out. By all means put in that extra time as it will pay off in experience and eventually wages.
Jean you are so right, it took me a whole year to finally decide to leave my job. A book hugely influenced me in my decision, The Monk and the Riddle, by Komisar. It ultimately discusses the risks of leaving a lucrative job and in the end, you’ll never know if it’s worth it unless you actually take that risk. I’m in the same boat, I have a business venture that may or may not pan out and I am very happy that I’m taking the risk.
btw: thanks for your blog, it’s brought back a lot of memories of the work world
Work-life balance issues depend on lots of things: the individual; the job; the overall economy. I left my (non-startup) job a few months ago becuase I was burned out. Taking vacation did not (and would not) help, because I kept getting contacted while I was gone. I needed REAL REST — not to have to worry about my projects any more.
Startups are perhaps not unique in their ability to burn someone out. It’s probably the case that due to their small size, capitalization, and focus, there is an urgency that might not be present in a larger company that would compel employees to make huge time sacrifices. But this could also be the case in a larger company working on a very intensive project that is not core to the business of the company, therefore does not get the same types of resources other, more critical projects do.
For more info, see http://www.oocities.com/drhenke/ and http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/25/career-advice-from-a-google-vet-10-guidelines/ (particularly item #10).
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