Ask HN: are there tech jobs that require very little time?

It's not the role, it's the organization that's the problem. There's an excellent thread on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7001929

It's more than just about vacation. It's about having a good work/life balance, something that's oddly missing in a lot of American companies. My current work/life balance is excellent (I'm Dutch, BTW): I work 4 days a week as a dev/marketing guy, I get to work from home when I want to and nobody bats an eye if I take 25 days paid time off a year.

The main thing in my opninion: be crystal clear when you're appplying for a job that you value your free time. Motivation does not equal time spent at the jobsite.

There are several companies that have a 4-day work week, Treehouse for example. Other companies like 37signals also propagate a healthy work/life balance.

It's tough because, at least early stage, you're always on the brink of dying as a company, so you're hoping that by putting in crazy hours you might have more shots at survival you otherwise would have.

If you have the skills to charge 125-150/hour or more you could live very comfortably on 80 hours of work a month (10-12k gross). As long as you can keep your clients happy in that amount of time. There is other overhead to this kind of business of course. I'm bootstrapping my startup this way and I have a family as well.

I guess you could always go work for a big software company as an eng. manager or whatever. There are orgs out there where 5PM is quitting time believe it or not. Frankly, as CTO, you should set a better example at your startup. 60-70 hours a week is not sustainable and does not a better company make.

Do you know where I could find out more about the kind of work you mention in your first paragraph? Is this just general consulting or are you thinking of something in particular? Any chance you might have a blog where you talk about the experience? Also, any books / reading you might recommend to understand the field better?

Regarding your second assertion, that's true, there's no denying that. Our employees actually work normal hours, but as founders we feel guilty not working insane schedules and it's an attitude I've so far been unable to defeat at the company.

My attorney is $250/hour, I think? patio11 talked about billing out at five figures per week: https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/consultin...

My starting figure for freelancing was around $1000/day, as a designer. I've developer friends whose base rate is $300 and $500/hour. (I've also friends whose base rate is less.) You could probably go work as a CTO-in-residence with an incubator, overseeing technology for a stable of startups, just being a guiding hand. Or do freelance systems architecture design, partner up with a project manager, oversee complicated system integration contracts for companies without a lot of in-house skill and overworked IT departments.

But I think the real issue isn't changing jobs, it's changing you. Are you really going to go work somewhere else and magically not feel like you have to work an 80 hour week? Normally that's something we put on ourselves, and as a founder, it's not like there's anyone who will fire you if you don't overwork. (Practically, this probably means you don't know how to delegate; that's a skill you'd have to develop, too.)

If you're going to overdo it, in the end, no matter what, then you have to take the initiative to change that. You have to make it okay, starting with you, to not do that, and you can do that just as well in your current job as in a new job. There's a great lede in an old BW story about Best Buy's move to flexible work hours (since rescinded):

One afternoon last year, Chap Achen, who oversees online orders at Best Buy Co. (BBY), shut down his computer, stood up from his desk, and announced that he was leaving for the day. It was around 2 p.m., and most of Achen's staff were slumped over their keyboards, deep in a post-lunch, LCD-lit trance. "See you tomorrow," said Achen. "I'm going to a matinee."

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-10/smashing-the-... (they killed the program six years later)

When I work as an in-house designer, I set parameters from day 1, not by asking permission, but through my behavior. I don't show up before 10am. I decline any meeting scheduled for the same day. I leave meetings where we're not getting anything done or there's no agenda. I leave the building for lunch and I take at least an hour. I am comfortable leaving after my last meeting if no-one's expecting anything from me, even if that's at 3 in the afternoon. I show up after lunch or leave early on days when I'm hosting meetups. I book multi-hour blocks in Outlook, and often also in meeting rooms, so I can focus, which means if you want my time, book me in Outlook, because I have work to do.

When I am working, I am working, and I make sure I am able to be productive, and the rest of the time, I may not even be in the office.

And for over six years, I get my work done, and no-one has ever cared that I took a three-hour lunch to see Iron Man again.

That's very interesting, thank you for clarifying. Those are pretty great rates, even despite taxes and all. Something to look into for sure.

Even more, I like your attitude, I think that's key.

I have done Network Engineering work through a small consulting firm billing out at the rates I mentioned (oh and I burnt out there big time btw) and on my own as an iOS developer as well. It's not for everyone and you have to understand that the work is not as much about the tech as it is customer service and keeping your clients happy. Go find someone who wants something built and has money to pay you to do it. Explain to them the time commitment you are able to provide them.

As for the the unsustainable culture you are building together with your founders :) One of the more successful people I know built a company working for days a week. I know full well the temptation to work insane hours all the time but the problem with that is when you really need to put in a large number of hours as happens from time to time there is nothing left in the tank.

I was wondering if someone can do Network engineering as a part-time gig? Obviously for small or medium sized businesses. I guess that depends if these businesses have enterprise grade equipment or not.

Plenty of firms large enough to require a solid network with maybe a few locations yet small enough where it does not make sense to hire someone full time. Small trading shops, hedge funds, financial advisors, VCs all come to mind.

There are lot of companies that hire project/engineering managers where the work will mostly revolve around dealing with people - clients and your team. They will still be 8h work days, but far less intense.

Some will suggest software consulting, but there is a lot of things to manage there unless you're familiar with how the consulting world operates already and you've done it in the past. You will have to spend a lot of time setting up schedules, deadlines, prospecting for new customers etc.