4 ms·

Companies pay you for your output. The notion that they own your attention from 9-5 is ludicrous, right? Even in the office, we won't harass our employees if th

Companies pay you for your output. The notion that they own your attention from 9-5 is ludicrous, right? Even in the office, we won't harass our employees if they close their eyes and meditate or they practice pen-spinning or reciting digits of pi, provided they're getting their job done. And yet if they're at home, and they want to take breaks to improve their quality of living, this is suddenly a massive trust issue? In the past, commuting, we forced them to take two huge anti-breaks just so we can stare at them and so they can chit-chat with others? I just never agreed with the butts-in-the-cubicle-chair and the value of water-cooler gab.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> The notion that they own your attention from 9-5 is ludicrous, right? It's not necessarily about attention, but about availability. Companies shouldn't care if employees take short breaks away from the computer while working remote. However, unless the business truly has perfectly isolated, asynchronous units of work to give everyone, you do need some level of availability to co-work with people and discuss things together. Most remote companies end up with some core working hours where everyone is expected to be online and available for collaboration. Without this, it becomes a scheduling nightmare to try to get people online to answer questions or collaborate.