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People are not machines. This is the argument presented when the 40 hour workweek was proposed. Instead, productivity went up! Because people had fewer injuries

by gdubs 5y ago

People are not machines. This is the argument presented when the 40 hour workweek was proposed. Instead, productivity went up! Because people had fewer injuries and illness. (1: Robert Gordon’s “The Rise and Fall of American Growth” is pretty much required reading for anyone who wants to know more about productivity.)

VoodooJuJu 5y ago
>productivity went up Whose? Mine? Yours? Everyone's? Not all jobs are equal, not all people. It takes me one day (about eight hours, plus or minus one - I'm no machine after all) to build a widget. Some weeks I'll take a few days off. The weeks I work two days, I only produce two widgets. The weeks I work three days, I only produce three widgets. I'm not more productive those two-day weeks. Point is, it's important to think of jobs in terms of what was done rather than how many hours were spent doing it. In this way, why 35? Why not 30? Why not 25? If you can do your job in just 5, then do that. Do your job however long you need to do it. I need a day to make a widget, and I like to make five widgets per week, so I work five. Again, this is why the conversation only ever surrounds people who sell their time rather than something more real; people who don't own what they do, but whose time is owned by their employer. The cabinetmaker laughs when this conversation pops up.
- deleted 5y ago
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- milesvp 5y ago
  I used to frame pictures in a former life. It’s a very delicate and meticulous craft. While it’s not the same as a cabinet maker, I can tell you some insights related to something with tangible, finished objects. There are days when you do negative work in framing. The most obvious is when you damage artwork. The less obvious is when you mismeasure something. That one act can destroy not just work time, but also calendar time since you may need to wait a week to get replacment materials. Same problem if you mar the product something very easy to do with delicate finishes. And then there’s injuries, cutting oneself can not only end the day, but may also end up with lifelong reduction in capabilities. Oh, and blood can ruin material. So, it’s very important to have a good frame of mind when doing certain kinds of physical tasks. There were some days I worked, where the first sign I was mentally impaired I backed off and stopped making things. Those days you do the low risk things like cleaning and taking stock. But at some point you’ve done all the things of value and working more hours when you can’t do the thing that pays the bills doesn’t make sense. I can tell you from personal experience that you can easily hit a wall long before 40 hours and the odds of negative work go up quickly when tired or overworked. Now, if your cabinetmaker is essentially a factory worker, then some of my advice is not as applicable, you can build processes and tooling to minimize mistakes and also to help preserve mental energy, which makes it much easier to work longer hours. But never underestimate the cost of stupid, and stupid goes up quickly as hours worked increases.

by gdubs 5y ago

VoodooJuJu 5y ago

>productivity went up Whose? Mine? Yours? Everyone's? Not all jobs are equal, not all people. It takes me one day (about eight hours, plus or minus one - I'm no machine after all) to build a widget. Some weeks I'll take a few days off. The weeks I work two days, I only produce two widgets. The weeks I work three days, I only produce three widgets. I'm not more productive those two-day weeks. Point is, it's important to think of jobs in terms of what was done rather than how many hours were spent doing it. In this way, why 35? Why not 30? Why not 25? If you can do your job in just 5, then do that. Do your job however long you need to do it. I need a day to make a widget, and I like to make five widgets per week, so I work five. Again, this is why the conversation only ever surrounds people who sell their time rather than something more real; people who don't own what they do, but whose time is owned by their employer. The cabinetmaker laughs when this conversation pops up.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
milesvp 5y ago
I used to frame pictures in a former life. It’s a very delicate and meticulous craft. While it’s not the same as a cabinet maker, I can tell you some insights related to something with tangible, finished objects. There are days when you do negative work in framing. The most obvious is when you damage artwork. The less obvious is when you mismeasure something. That one act can destroy not just work time, but also calendar time since you may need to wait a week to get replacment materials. Same problem if you mar the product something very easy to do with delicate finishes. And then there’s injuries, cutting oneself can not only end the day, but may also end up with lifelong reduction in capabilities. Oh, and blood can ruin material. So, it’s very important to have a good frame of mind when doing certain kinds of physical tasks. There were some days I worked, where the first sign I was mentally impaired I backed off and stopped making things. Those days you do the low risk things like cleaning and taking stock. But at some point you’ve done all the things of value and working more hours when you can’t do the thing that pays the bills doesn’t make sense. I can tell you from personal experience that you can easily hit a wall long before 40 hours and the odds of negative work go up quickly when tired or overworked. Now, if your cabinetmaker is essentially a factory worker, then some of my advice is not as applicable, you can build processes and tooling to minimize mistakes and also to help preserve mental energy, which makes it much easier to work longer hours. But never underestimate the cost of stupid, and stupid goes up quickly as hours worked increases.