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I've found the best strategy here is to do rate control on your work on the interface between you and your job. I essentially just try to constantly overperform

I've found the best strategy here is to do rate control on your work on the interface between you and your job. I essentially just try to constantly overperform slightly and any gap that widens between my capability and the demands of the job remains hidden unless it's strategically useful to me. I won't get paid twice as much if I can do my job in half the time, I just get another half of work. If I use the gap between their demands and my capability carefully I can spend only a portion of it to get raises/promotions and spend the rest on fucking off at lunch and just generally having a chill relaxed time.

tomc1985 5y ago
Yeah I've adopted that strategy for my current employer. It is exhausting in its own way and difficult to maneuver without being blatantly dishonest.
- wallacoloo 5y ago
  Seems to me that you & GP both have an unhealthy relationship with your employer. I guess that’s the norm for a lot of us here, I just hate that the generally accepted solution is to hack around it rather than fix (or attempt to fix) that unhealthy relationship.
  - tomc1985 5y ago
    What's to fix? It seems like the prevailing business culture is to optimize the shit out of everything, and for managers it means getting the most work that you can out of the employees that you have. No matter where I go I am expected to work my ass off. I would burn all of that down, if I could, because that principle needs to change. But then that's "leaving money on the table", and we just can't have that...
    - wallacoloo 5y ago
      > No matter where I go I am expected to work my ass off. > ... > But then that's "leaving money on the table", and we just can't have that... Sounds to me like you expect to not have to "work your ass off", but also maximize your pay. I just don't see why you would expect these things to be compatible. There are plenty of opportunities to work 30-hour weeks, if that's what you want. But you're not gonna be making FAANG-level comp -- for good reason: you're giving you employer less, so they give you less in return. If you and I worked at the same company, and you were putting out half the output as me, then I would expect to get twice the comp as you. You're trying to bypass this -- produce half the output as me but still get the same pay. I just don't see why you think that's justified. If you want to work 30 hours, then take one of the many jobs that accommodate that (hmu if you legitimately can't find one) and accept the pay cut. If you don't want to make that sacrifice, that's on you. That's my $.02, anyway.
      - chris37879 5y ago
        I think you're misunderstanding their tactic here. They aren't working less than their peers, they just also aren't working to their 100% capacity at all times because it burns you out. I've done it myself in the past, and it works, for a time, but it's really only delaying the inevitable. The solution for me was to find a different company that valued what I brought to them, instead of treating me like a functionary in their "process". But, that's a hard thing to do, so I can understand developing a coping mechanism.

tomc1985 5y ago

Yeah I've adopted that strategy for my current employer. It is exhausting in its own way and difficult to maneuver without being blatantly dishonest.

wallacoloo 5y ago
Seems to me that you & GP both have an unhealthy relationship with your employer. I guess that’s the norm for a lot of us here, I just hate that the generally accepted solution is to hack around it rather than fix (or attempt to fix) that unhealthy relationship.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  What's to fix? It seems like the prevailing business culture is to optimize the shit out of everything, and for managers it means getting the most work that you can out of the employees that you have. No matter where I go I am expected to work my ass off. I would burn all of that down, if I could, because that principle needs to change. But then that's "leaving money on the table", and we just can't have that...
  - wallacoloo 5y ago
    > No matter where I go I am expected to work my ass off. > ... > But then that's "leaving money on the table", and we just can't have that... Sounds to me like you expect to not have to "work your ass off", but also maximize your pay. I just don't see why you would expect these things to be compatible. There are plenty of opportunities to work 30-hour weeks, if that's what you want. But you're not gonna be making FAANG-level comp -- for good reason: you're giving you employer less, so they give you less in return. If you and I worked at the same company, and you were putting out half the output as me, then I would expect to get twice the comp as you. You're trying to bypass this -- produce half the output as me but still get the same pay. I just don't see why you think that's justified. If you want to work 30 hours, then take one of the many jobs that accommodate that (hmu if you legitimately can't find one) and accept the pay cut. If you don't want to make that sacrifice, that's on you. That's my $.02, anyway.
    - chris37879 5y ago
      I think you're misunderstanding their tactic here. They aren't working less than their peers, they just also aren't working to their 100% capacity at all times because it burns you out. I've done it myself in the past, and it works, for a time, but it's really only delaying the inevitable. The solution for me was to find a different company that valued what I brought to them, instead of treating me like a functionary in their "process". But, that's a hard thing to do, so I can understand developing a coping mechanism.