4 ms·

Cultural norms at work... Productivity low but putting in lots of hours.

bragr 3y ago
I was coming here to say something similar. I couldn't wrap my head around the performative work nap that is prevalent in East Asia at first. "Just go home earlier, get a good night's sleep, you won't need to nap at work", but then it's not really about sleep.
- fxtentacle 3y ago
  That nap is not performative if you're snoring ;) In my opinion, that cultural napping aspect comes from the fact that it used to be too hot to concentrate around that time of the day. And the tradition has not adapted to aircons yet.
  - bragr 3y ago
    What makes it performative is that this type of nap is taken in a conspicuous spot, so you will be seen to be napping at work as apposed to finding some out of the way place. This is what struck me initially, not that people were napping at work, but where they were doing it.
    - unmole 3y ago
      I used to work for Huawei where taking a nap at your desk was the norm. If I'm taking ~15 minutes to recharge, why the hell would I waste any time searching for an out of the way place? And given that napping isn't frowned upon, there won't be any such places left because everyone would be doing it.
- unmole 3y ago
  This is a bizzare take. The work nap prevalent in East Asia is taken post lunch. People feel dozey after a meal and a short rest is physically and mentally refreshing. Calling it performative is ridiculous.
  - bragr 3y ago
    I never claimed that every nap taken in East Asia was performative, just that performative naps are prevalent there. For instance much ink has been spilled about "inemuri" in Japan and all the related social dynamics that drive it.
  - avgcorrection 3y ago
    Sounds like an insulin spike.
  - shrimp_emoji 3y ago
    Dang, I get sleepy if I eat lunch too! The way I went is to not eat lunch anymore though. :p
bilekas 3y ago
Yeah, after seeing it first hand it triggered me so much that real talent was being hurt out purely on time submitted. I'm not sure why or how this ever became a workplace norm but I think by every measure it's to the detriment of any kind of innovation or even real productivity. In Ireland we were always trying to make our job easier with tools, scripts etc , this was almost taboo when brought on site for a client company in Japan.

I was coming here to say something similar. I couldn't wrap my head around the performative work nap that is prevalent in East Asia at first. "Just go home earlier, get a good night's sleep, you won't need to nap at work", but then it's not really about sleep.

fxtentacle 3y ago
That nap is not performative if you're snoring ;) In my opinion, that cultural napping aspect comes from the fact that it used to be too hot to concentrate around that time of the day. And the tradition has not adapted to aircons yet.
- bragr 3y ago
  What makes it performative is that this type of nap is taken in a conspicuous spot, so you will be seen to be napping at work as apposed to finding some out of the way place. This is what struck me initially, not that people were napping at work, but where they were doing it.
  - unmole 3y ago
    I used to work for Huawei where taking a nap at your desk was the norm. If I'm taking ~15 minutes to recharge, why the hell would I waste any time searching for an out of the way place? And given that napping isn't frowned upon, there won't be any such places left because everyone would be doing it.
unmole 3y ago
This is a bizzare take. The work nap prevalent in East Asia is taken post lunch. People feel dozey after a meal and a short rest is physically and mentally refreshing. Calling it performative is ridiculous.
- bragr 3y ago
  I never claimed that every nap taken in East Asia was performative, just that performative naps are prevalent there. For instance much ink has been spilled about "inemuri" in Japan and all the related social dynamics that drive it.
- avgcorrection 3y ago
  Sounds like an insulin spike.
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  Dang, I get sleepy if I eat lunch too! The way I went is to not eat lunch anymore though. :p

bilekas 3y ago

Yeah, after seeing it first hand it triggered me so much that real talent was being hurt out purely on time submitted. I'm not sure why or how this ever became a workplace norm but I think by every measure it's to the detriment of any kind of innovation or even real productivity. In Ireland we were always trying to make our job easier with tools, scripts etc , this was almost taboo when brought on site for a client company in Japan.