This is a common theme around here lately: having time to ourselves to work/think without incoming needs or expectations from others.
A bunch of people have solutions, from work spaces with isolation rooms, like the nap rooms at the huffington post, to going on a cruise to do your best development.
It all seems to me to point to one major thing, we are overburdening ourselves. Most of this overburdening is by choice because we all need to be productive, otherwise we will not feel like we are changing the world. Founders are reporting being depressed and having anxiety issues. As a result we are all grasping for whatever we can to unburden ourselves while at the same time maintaining productivity. To me these things are impossible to an extent. Yes there are little hacks here and there and efficiencies can be gained but on the whole you either need to be able to deal with a shitload of stress, or figure out how to remove things from your plate.
I am guessing that there will be a mass tipping point for the entrepreneur/startup community where a significant number of people are having panic attacks and massive anxiety disorders because we just really all can't be Bill Gates/Steve Jobs/Elon Musk no matter how many hours we put in on the cruise ship at 4 AM.
Either that or everyone will start signing up for intensive training for how to deal with high stress environments.
Is it a common theme HERE lately because this drive for productivity is more of a start-up / small shop phenomenon?
If you've ever worked in some larger "dinosaur" (Fortune 1500) companies it can be maddening that it can take two weeks what would take two days in a start up/small shop.
I think the need to produce in start-ups drives this HERE. The dinosaurs are established [and are making money]. They also are not competing for VC funding and don't have to prove their abilities.
Most people that have worked for Fortune 1500 companies seemed to have come to terms with "how it is" and do not stress if they aren't moving/producing as fast as they know they could individually.
To me it seems, and I suffer from this too, many in this community here aren't rarely satisfied with the status quo and are driven (at an unhealthy pace at times) to improve it.
"Most of this overburdening is by choice because we all need to be productive, otherwise we will not feel like we are changing the world. Founders are reporting being depressed and having anxiety issues."
Grumpy gramps here.
Would like to point out that back in the day this was known as "keeping up with the Jones".
And had nothing to do with changing the world.
Just keeping up with the Joneses.
The big difference is way back you weren't really aware of the things that other people were doing other than your neighbors, some relatives, or people who hit it big enough to make it into the press. When I was growing up you heard about 1 billionaire, Howard Hughes. That was pretty much it. [1] Every now and then the local big city paper would run a story on a businessman that had done particular well.
[1] Forgetting inflation and magic numbers ("1 billion") the press really didn't report on business people. And corporate execs made way less than they do today (even accounting for inflation).
"Would like to point out that back in the day this was known as "keeping up with the Jones"...And had nothing to do with changing the world."
To me "Keeping up with the Joneses" always had a clear material connotation eg: more money, bigger house, better car etc... I drew the distinction about changing the world because I think that is the difference between generations.
I completely agree that this generation does the same peer comparisons, it's just that our metric is influence and "disrupting" the status quo rather than accumulation of wealth (though its often tough to divorce those things).
"I completely agree that this generation does the same peer comparisons, it's just that our metric is influence and "disrupting" the status quo rather than accumulation of wealth (though its often tough to divorce those things)."
Sure but is that the case because you all actually organically think that way or because the peer group exhibits those tendencies and make you think that way? Further perhaps you (I mean the group not the individual where ymmv) grew up with more so they aren't as hungry or needing material goods?
When we were growing up with got like 2 toys per year. Birthday and holiday. Or close to it. And we were middle class not poor. And there weren't many toys to begin with. Parents in general were more strict and didn't spoil kids. And you didn't go out to eat practically ever (weren't that many restaurants like today) and tv was black and white and not much entertainment. So there weren't as many distractions. So money was a way to have more fun. Oh and another thing was you needed money because you were raised where your parents controlled everything and weren't your friend or someone you would hang with.
Want to make it clear that of course there were individual exceptions to anything that I've said above. But things were different and that difference meant you ended up having different needs and values.
When I was a kid my dad payed for 1/2 of the money to buy me a tty that I could use to dial up to the time share. The fact that he even agreed to do that was a big deal. I had to work and make 1/2 the money but felt lucky that he was willing to help me out. By comparison I just bought my daughter a macbook air and didn't even think twice about it. Even got her the extra memory and larger flash drive.
A bunch of people have solutions, from work spaces with isolation rooms, like the nap rooms at the huffington post, to going on a cruise to do your best development.
It all seems to me to point to one major thing, we are overburdening ourselves. Most of this overburdening is by choice because we all need to be productive, otherwise we will not feel like we are changing the world. Founders are reporting being depressed and having anxiety issues. As a result we are all grasping for whatever we can to unburden ourselves while at the same time maintaining productivity. To me these things are impossible to an extent. Yes there are little hacks here and there and efficiencies can be gained but on the whole you either need to be able to deal with a shitload of stress, or figure out how to remove things from your plate.
I am guessing that there will be a mass tipping point for the entrepreneur/startup community where a significant number of people are having panic attacks and massive anxiety disorders because we just really all can't be Bill Gates/Steve Jobs/Elon Musk no matter how many hours we put in on the cruise ship at 4 AM.
Either that or everyone will start signing up for intensive training for how to deal with high stress environments.