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Assuming you are salaried, you are paid to solve problems, not run out the clock. Personally, I often have what I suppose you could think of as a "priority que

Assuming you are salaried, you are paid to solve problems, not run out the clock. Personally, I often have what I suppose you could think of as a "priority queue" of things going on in my head. Some of those may not be work related. If I have something "high priority" that I cannot get my mind off of, it is to everyone's benefit that I take care of that item so I can get on to work-related tasks. I think being distracted at work is not a "stick it to the man" activity for most people. It is just incredibly difficult to be actively providing value for a full work day. Humans need breaks. Same reason why there is the joke about construction crews always just sitting around. I've heard before as a criticism of Agile that "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon". I would take it even further: Being a professional isn't a marathon. It's a migration. You are going to be at this a very long time, and you need to go at a pace that you can sustain for years on end.

momokoko 7y ago
> It is just incredibly difficult to be actively providing value for a full work day. Then go home? Otherwise you are just lying to your employer and perpetuating a false pretense that their employees are being productive for a full day. If I'm not being productive and I can't finish any more work, I just go home. I don't sit there and lie about what I'm doing and pretend to be doing something I'm not. I should clarify that my issue is about faking it. Needing a boss button to hide what you were actually doing. Also, we all know that software developers are not really salaried employees. It was a loophole created after IBM lost a lawsuit. After some lobbying we were made explicitly exempt. So we really are just paid to "run out the clock". We are not managers or administrative people. We just do labor like any other tradesperson.
- war1025 7y ago
  You have an interesting view of the world. We must work under very different circumstances.
  - momokoko 7y ago
    I'm curious, what do you feel is the difference? Are you saying that you frequently lie to people you work with and that you feel that is acceptable? Or are you talking about having extra free time where you don't actually have any additional work?
    - war1025 7y ago
      >Then go home? Otherwise you are just lying to your employer and perpetuating a false pretense that their employees are being productive for a full day. I am remote half the time. I'm not lying to anyone about anything. The measure of what I accomplish is our ticketing / planning system and the pull requests I put up to complete the various work tickets. There is no reason to go home when I have a ten minute task I need to take care of. Same as a construction worker doesn't go home just because he needs to sit and rest for five minutes. An example of when I would close a browser tab or switch away to another screen is when I'm having a personal conversation or looking into something banking related. I would do the same if someone came into the room even in a non-work setting. > Also, we all know that software developers are not really salaried employees. It was a loophole created after IBM lost a lawsuit. After some lobbying we were made explicitly exempt. So we really are just paid to "run out the clock". We are not managers or administrative people. We just do labor like any other tradesperson. Maybe there is a fancy technical definition of salaried that I am not grasping, but I get paid $X / year, with a predictable paycheck each week. I am not paid at an hourly rate. To me that is salaried. > Are you saying that you frequently lie to people you work with and that you feel that is acceptable? I never said I was lying to anyone. I don't think anyone in this entire thread suggested lying to your employer. > Or are you talking about having extra free time where you don't actually have any additional work? There is always more to do. That is the nature of life. But the truth is that we are people and not machines. You can't turn on a person and expect them to keep going at a steady rate day in day out forever. That is an assembly line mentality and I won't work under such conditions, nor do I think any self-respecting software developer should.
      - momokoko 7y ago
        The tool this thread is about is designed with the expressed goal of changing your screen when your boss walks in.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

momokoko 7y ago

> It is just incredibly difficult to be actively providing value for a full work day. Then go home? Otherwise you are just lying to your employer and perpetuating a false pretense that their employees are being productive for a full day. If I'm not being productive and I can't finish any more work, I just go home. I don't sit there and lie about what I'm doing and pretend to be doing something I'm not. I should clarify that my issue is about faking it. Needing a boss button to hide what you were actually doing. Also, we all know that software developers are not really salaried employees. It was a loophole created after IBM lost a lawsuit. After some lobbying we were made explicitly exempt. So we really are just paid to "run out the clock". We are not managers or administrative people. We just do labor like any other tradesperson.

war1025 7y ago
You have an interesting view of the world. We must work under very different circumstances.
- momokoko 7y ago
  I'm curious, what do you feel is the difference? Are you saying that you frequently lie to people you work with and that you feel that is acceptable? Or are you talking about having extra free time where you don't actually have any additional work?
  - war1025 7y ago
    >Then go home? Otherwise you are just lying to your employer and perpetuating a false pretense that their employees are being productive for a full day. I am remote half the time. I'm not lying to anyone about anything. The measure of what I accomplish is our ticketing / planning system and the pull requests I put up to complete the various work tickets. There is no reason to go home when I have a ten minute task I need to take care of. Same as a construction worker doesn't go home just because he needs to sit and rest for five minutes. An example of when I would close a browser tab or switch away to another screen is when I'm having a personal conversation or looking into something banking related. I would do the same if someone came into the room even in a non-work setting. > Also, we all know that software developers are not really salaried employees. It was a loophole created after IBM lost a lawsuit. After some lobbying we were made explicitly exempt. So we really are just paid to "run out the clock". We are not managers or administrative people. We just do labor like any other tradesperson. Maybe there is a fancy technical definition of salaried that I am not grasping, but I get paid $X / year, with a predictable paycheck each week. I am not paid at an hourly rate. To me that is salaried. > Are you saying that you frequently lie to people you work with and that you feel that is acceptable? I never said I was lying to anyone. I don't think anyone in this entire thread suggested lying to your employer. > Or are you talking about having extra free time where you don't actually have any additional work? There is always more to do. That is the nature of life. But the truth is that we are people and not machines. You can't turn on a person and expect them to keep going at a steady rate day in day out forever. That is an assembly line mentality and I won't work under such conditions, nor do I think any self-respecting software developer should.
    - momokoko 7y ago
      The tool this thread is about is designed with the expressed goal of changing your screen when your boss walks in.
deleted 7y ago
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