In an era of ninja coders and tech gurus, the feeling that we need to work 24/7 can be overwhelming. 60 hours at the office and another 40 on your personal project or core contributions to prove you've got what it takes starts to sound reasonable - hey, Zuckerberg probably never slept, right? Maybe Dries didn't either. But you can have a kickass career while balancing the other things in your life.
If working 100 hours a week at a huge tech company and sleeping under your desk sounds like your dream, then this talk probably isn't for you. But that isn't everyone's goal, and it shouldn't be how we measure success in our lives or careers.
You'll learn how to prioritize what it is you want in your life and career, how to communicate that to your boss and the others in your life, and how to back down from the “do it all!” mentality. It can be easy to feel like you're the only person who can get something done, and get it done right, especially in a small company.
You'll learn how to address those feelings, how to bring them up to your company, and how to structure your company and your work so that you aren't the sole person responsible for anything.
We'll talk about distributed teams and how you can feel tempted or obligated to work all the hours that people across the globe are working, and how to set yourself a schedule and stick to it. We'll talk about how working from home can lead to a lack of boundaries, and how to set them.
You should come away from this talk with some ideas and an action plan on finding your balance, setting some boundaries, and having more quality time on both sides.
This session is appropriate for all levels of experience or specialization, and any level within an organization. Employees, managers, and C-level folks should all come away from this talk with valuable ideas and information.
