Matt RaibleMatt Raible is a Web Developer and Java Champion. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

The Angular Mini-Book The Angular Mini-Book is a guide to getting started with Angular. You'll learn how to develop a bare-bones application, test it, and deploy it. Then you'll move on to adding Bootstrap, Angular Material, continuous integration, and authentication.

Spring Boot is a popular framework for building REST APIs. You'll learn how to integrate Angular with Spring Boot and use security best practices like HTTPS and a content security policy.

For book updates, follow @angular_book on Twitter.

The JHipster Mini-Book The JHipster Mini-Book is a guide to getting started with hip technologies today: Angular, Bootstrap, and Spring Boot. All of these frameworks are wrapped up in an easy-to-use project called JHipster.

This book shows you how to build an app with JHipster, and guides you through the plethora of tools, techniques and options you can use. Furthermore, it explains the UI and API building blocks so you understand the underpinnings of your great application.

For book updates, follow @jhipster-book on Twitter.

10+ YEARS


Over 10 years ago, I wrote my first blog post. Since then, I've authored books, had kids, traveled the world, found Trish and blogged about it all.

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Friday July 02, 2004

Working too much - what about office hours?

I currently work too much. I can feel it in my shoulders and I know it because I hardly ever exercise. Even worse, I know it because Julie tells me so and Abbie doesn't get to see enough of her Daddy. In addition to working all week, I work early mornings on the weekends, but that tends to spill into late mornings. I also try to cram in a couple hours during Abbie's nap - which usually spills over past when she gets up. During the week, I'll start at 4 or 5, and I'll need to get something done, so I'll work until 7. After Abbie goes to bed, I often hop on the computer again and work until midnight or later. It's easy getting 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week for a client. It's hard doing AppFuse support and writing Spring Live on the side. I virtually ignore all the e-mail on the other open source projects I'm on - it's the only way to keep my sanity.

This madness is likely to continue. The only way to reasonably handle my e-mail (> 1000 day - after spam filters) is to check it every couple of hours. That can't continue, so I'm going to have to change my e-mail address. Sorry folks, it's the easiest solution. I'll decide my new one after the holiday weekend, but matt AT raibledesigns.com will start going to /dev/null.

Julie and I've been talking today and we're trying to come up with more solutions to me working so much - especially since a fair amount of it doesn't pay. We're thinking the best solution is Office Hours. When I work from home, I work too much. When I go into a client's office, I tend to end my day when I get home. So, from now on, I'm going to try and only work from 8 to 5 MDT (-7 GMT). Actually, Julie says she doesn't care if I work before 8, I just need to be done at 5 to play with Abbie and join Julie when she goes to bed.

To help accomplish this, I'm going to start closing the door to my office and using the backdoor to leave and come back during the day. Hopefully it'll be like an office away from home. I'll likely be working on Spring Live in the mornings from 4-8 and doing some AppFuse support as well. My best bet is probably e-mail/blogging from 4-5:30 and writing from 5:30-8 (at the local bagel shop). I'll let you know how it goes. I'd also like to hear other ideas from you "I work too much" guys/gals out there - I know there's lots of you.

Posted in General at Jul 02 2004, 03:57:09 PM MDT 8 Comments
Comments:

Matt, one of the guys here at MySQL gives a well-received presentation every year at our company meeting on how to deal with this when working at home. He actually has gone so far as to put up a 'closed' sign on his office door (to remind him that the office is closed, so he doesn't go back in outside of 'office hours'), and keeps a notebook/journal beside his computer and writes down what he accomplishes, because he can look back at 'closing time' and say 'Yup, I did get something done today, I don't need to work any longer'. I think the thing that most people don't realize at first is that working from home almost always makes you end up working _more_ hours than you worked in an office, even if you take the commute out of the picture.

Posted by Mark Matthews on July 02, 2004 at 04:46 PM MDT #

Work too much? I thought you would title it " I drink too much" after this week's binge! It is all about priorities to me, Matt. Obviously, your family comes first and foremost. In order to support and give them a nice roof to live under, etc. we work for a living. You have an obligation to your employer, and in your case it is both your contractor and your publisher. The rest may need to be put on a forced vacation for a little bit. Having things like "office hours" is nice and perky, but reality is that deadlines creep up and step over those lines from time to time. I recommend setting realistic goals for yourself on a week-by-week basis. This includes family time, down time, etc. Start to get into a groove and a balance, and the weeks become much more managable. Everyone is different, and needs to find their own sweet spot for maximizing their life value.

Posted by A friend on July 02, 2004 at 04:51 PM MDT #

I don't know how much of your free time is spent doing AppFuse support. If you do spend a fair amount, then it is not a scalable model. You need to recruit help from the community. For now, be selective on the type of questions you answer at the Discussion Forum. Also, is the annual subscription model for selling a book a proven one? I hope you don't end up spending a lot of time to write a nice book but have to give it away as free download at TSS.

Posted by Eric Ma on July 02, 2004 at 07:55 PM MDT #

Mate,

I can't speak for all but I believe your work on appfuse is a great help to many java web developers.

Perhaps the establishment of a web based forum to answer questions about the use of Appfuse may help to build a community of "helpers" to assist you with the work load. This would also enable you to scrap the email address for Appfuse related support issues all together.

I have recently subscribed to the forum of an opensource package that offers two options, a forum where users can discuss issues and developers help where time permits and a paid forum which offers better response times and support from the lead developers. The paid option costs $20 US a year subscription fee, This may enable you in the future to justify one payed day a week of support for Appfuse.

I would also recommend you spend some time watching your daughter grow it only happens once :)

Anyway keep up the good work and good luck!

Posted by Mark Wolfe on July 04, 2004 at 07:05 AM MDT #

After watching your blog for a while now and subscribing to the AppFuse lists, I frankly was wondering how you were doing as much as you are. A few random thoughts that come to mind: - Excersize, as I think you already from you biking blog entries, has always helped me physically and mentally deal with large work loads. - Think twice about setting something up like the "paid option" mentioned above. You may feel even more obligated once people are paying and they might be a little more demanding in their requests for your time. - If the rehab of that sweet van has to go by the wayside, please contact me and give me a shot at buying it from you. I promise any onboard applications will be based on AppFuse.

Posted by Garrett Hart on July 04, 2004 at 08:08 AM MDT #

I'd recommend going with the "A friend" option - I'm not on the AppFuse lists, but I'd suggest trying to offload some of the workload there if you can. Concentrate on the family, then whatever pays the bills, then the open-source! (Easier to say than do though - Good luck!)

Posted by Gwyn Evans on July 04, 2004 at 02:25 PM MDT #

Matt,

I want to start by saying that you are not alone. Most of the time, this one statement helps more than any advice a person can provide. Nonetheless, I will also dispense some advice as well as share with you some personal experiences.

I have thought about this problem <strong>A LOT</strong> over the last few years. Sarah has encouraged me to think about it ;) In fact, right now I am going through the process of trying to organize my interests so that I can have a more reasonable schedule. Night after night I stay up past the time when Sarah goes to bed so that I can burn the midnight oil and hack away at whatever my heart desires. Unfortunately, this time alone causes Sarah and I to grow apart.

The problem with most of the advice on this matter is a lack of understanding as to why we work the way we do. Writing open source code (and generally being creative) is effectively my fuel. Without it, I would be empty inside. That is not to say that other things don't make me who I am, but I also won't be my whole self, just like you won't be complete without Julie or Abbie.

You know how to have fun, you know how to be responsible and you certainly know how to program. Therefore, you also know what the right path is for yourself, and no one else can tell you what that is. Listen to yourself, because listening to the community isn't going to make you happy. We want your time when you are ready to give it to us. Remember, this is free software, which means that you are free to do as you like. Often times I feel like I have this unwritten responsiblity to prove my programs day in and day out, but part of the reason I give away the source is so that I don't have to play this pressure role.

We are here to help you as much as you are here to help us. Personally, I am drawing a line in the sand, defining which projects I am going to support and which ones I am not going to support. While I am going to focus on a subset of projects, I am certainly not going to give up the craft that I love the most.

Good luck!

Posted by Dan Allen on July 05, 2004 at 12:47 AM MDT #

Whats wrong with you man. Spend more time with your wife and kids before the leave you.

Posted by Mike on July 06, 2004 at 01:01 PM MDT #

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