Anonymous wrote:I run a small business with about 12 employees and make about $300k+ per year. I work really hard to grow my business to make more, but I prevent myself from working 60+ hours a week by a) delegating and b) limiting what I do. I almost never work weekends and come home at 5, then work after my kids go to bed.
I read all the time on this board about people who never see their spouses because they are working all the time? What are they doing? Is it really necessary?
I mean Steve Jobs was home every night with his kids for dinner and so are Sheryl Sandberg and Susan Wojcicki. Obama goes on dates with his wife.
If you feel like you'd lose your job for working fewer hours could you imagine a way that your job could be reorganized so that it could be done in fewer hours, possibly by more people?
It just seems crazy to me that people really feel they are so essential all the time at work that there is nothing else. It seems more like people are just addicted to work
Not everyone can take on the risk of a small business (if the company fails, what would be your fallback plan? Do you have parents who depend on your income as well?). You make good money now but in the early days when you start with nothing, what would have happened? That is the lot for many people, they need immediate stability and can't afford the risk and reward of their own business. And once you are working for someone it can be really had to 'delegate' or limit your hours, especially to afford a good life in DC or a SAHM.