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People used to work longer than 40h/week before the industrial revolution[1]. But as a programmer, even 40h/week is unrealistic. I only get somewhere between
by juliend2 5y ago
People used to work longer than 40h/week before the industrial revolution[1].
But as a programmer, even 40h/week is unrealistic.
I only get somewhere between 2-5 hours of real work done per day (as a freelance dev). Depending of where I am in the week. Mondays are great because I'm well-rested, but by Friday, I'm less able to put long hours.
Anyone has an idea why it's expected that programmers work similar shifts as less creative/deep jobs?
[1] https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-40-hour-workweek/ https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-40-hour-workweek/
Edit: I avoid doing pretty much any kind of work on Sundays. And Saturdays are a mix of work and play.
- asdff 5y agoBefore the industrial revolution people would only work for like 6 hours a day or so. Romans would start at dawn and end around noon before the heat of the day. A lot of workers would be seasonal, and there also weren't many jobs that even took place at night or could reasonably be done under candlelight to begin with. Artificial light and a factory that can run 24 hours 365 days a year changed that. It wasn't until after the industrial revolution that we got labor laws that enshrined the 40 hour work week in many places, because it was at this point in human history that capital finally had the technology to make labor work for 24 hours of the day and instantly exploited this.
- juliend2 5y agoYou're right. It was by the industrial revolution that people started working longer hours, and because of that industrial revolution, we had to adjust to a more humane 40h / week. I can't edit my post now, but thanks for the correction.