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[quote=Anonymous]I thought about this this morning when I saw the story in WaPo about how AI startups expect a 996 schedule (9am-9pm, 6 days a week). This is not at all shocking for a tech startup and I could even see a time in my life where I might have been willing to do that for a company and project I was excited by. But after about 30, I would never have been willing to sacrifice quite that much of my life to any job. It's not even just about kids (though its a lot about kids), it's also about getting older and realizing that very long work hours and spending so much of my time among work colleagues and no one else is not good for my mental health or just having a sense of reality and a place in society. I now look at how I worked in my 20s, as a very ambitious high achiever, and I think it was youthful stupidity. I now very much believe in working smarter, not harder, and see how leisure time and quality time with loved ones actually makes me better at my job by giving me needed perspective and a broader understanding of the world.

An obsession with work has long been part of America's DNA, and I don't think we'll ever achieve the kind of Scandinavian work-life balance you see in Denmark (I'm also unsure that Denmark or other European nations will be able to sustain what they have, based on my recent work and conversations with people in those countries, which are slowly pushing towards more American-style work attitudes.

But I do think it would be worth talking more about what we lose with the super long hours and the expectation of constant connection and availability. Not just what individuals lose as people (though yes, that) but also what workplaces lose, what industries lose, what societies lose.

I don't actually think industries run entirely by myopic 20-something and older people who don't care about their families or anything outside work is going to create the best outcomes. Some people like that? Sure, and I hope they are well rewarded for their dedication. But the expectation that everyone work that way has some very high costs across the board.[/quote]

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