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The pandemic really exposed how much I had accepted being stuck in a slave mentality, taking only what was offered. Little things like a functional work enviro

The pandemic really exposed how much I had accepted being stuck in a slave mentality, taking only what was offered. Little things like a functional work environment with good screens and peripherals that isn't inundated with noise and fairly constant interruption. Big things like a long commute (and at roughly half an hour mine was better than most) and not having to work alongside, sitting under the gaze of, someone who just emotionally abused me. Those were simply solved and I could just fix other major problems myself. Examples include the obvious fixes of the above issues but also include my option to increase the amount of vacation I take, adopt a 4-day week, and other things that have greatly improved my productivity and far more greatly improved my quality of life. Fuck the endless "always more" and "but what have you done for me lately?" even when I'm outperforming everyone else and have become the "go to". Most impactfully, I have created an emotionally safe and deeply honest environment for myself and my cofounder where we can express our humanity and support each other in our struggles and joys. It is "unprofessional" and completely glorious and loving. Or work had become something that is part of our thriving rather than something that erodes our well-being.

jdnddnbe 1y ago
Have those measures like taking more vacations and adopting a 4-day week really increased your productivity? How have you measured that? Of cause one can deliver more per hour when working 8h/d instead of 12h/d. But the output of a 12h day will still be massively more than from a 8h day.
- erikerikson 1y ago
  There's been a fair bit of research on that topic. Largely the studies I have read have found that especially in creative intellectual labor (perhaps some programming could be excluded), overwork leads to negative productivity, compoundingly so in the long term.
  - dang 1y ago
    > You need to do some research. Please edit out swipes, as the site guidelines ask: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Your comment would be fine without that first bit)
    - erikerikson 1y ago
      Unfortunately, the edit window has passed. I didn't mean it as a swipe but I can see it being read that way too easily, sorry dang and everyone else. You would be welcome to remove or edit that sentence. [edit: perhaps "There's been a fair bit of research on that topic. Largely the studies I have read have found that especially...]
      - dang 1y ago
        That's a great change which totally solves the problem. I've merged it in your comment above. Thanks! Edit: I of course believe you that you didn't mean it as a swipe. The trouble is that these things can all too easily land that way anyhow, since intent isn't directly readable. Past posts about this in case of interest: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=burden%20disambiguate%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- r14c 1y ago
  Not really, at best its linear if your job is like an assembly line. Office work rarely benefits from longer hours. 8h days already have diminishing returns after 4-6h on average. Many pilot programs have found that 4 day weeks are at least equally productive compared to 5 day weeks.
- pdntspa 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - dang 1y ago
    Please don't cross into personal attack. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- t-writescode 1y ago
  Anecdotally, yes. 100% yes. When I push past my mental capacity, stress, drain circling, anger, all that starts to seep in and it destroys my ability to think through hard problems, complexities, details and so on. I’ll end up banging my head against the wall for hours, stressed and exhausted from some misguided sense that my worth is in my output and all of it will plummet for several days afterward. I’ve studied myself. When I work extra hard when I can’t think anymore, even if it’s just to “get over this one hump”, my productivity is near zero and my agitation is up for 1-3 days of work after, *even with a weekend break*. But with stable, consistent work that works out to 4-8 real work hours a day, usually around 6 or 7 but sometimes only 3, rarely 9-10, I have made huge amounts of progress on projects and done things more complex and complicated than I have ever done before. And it’s almost felt easy.
- carlosjobim 1y ago
  Your comment is reasonable and hackers shouldn't down vote it or try to bully you like they did. I would say that there is a productivity advantage of having extra time and extra energy. That's when you have the peace needed to make more profound improvements of the work being done. And these improvements have exponential effects.
  - IAmBroom 1y ago
    Exactly how are they being bullied? The premise is being countered with study results and counter-examples. Disagreeing is not bullying. And if downvoting incorrect statements is wrong, what's the point of the vote at all?
    - carlosjobim 1y ago
      See the comment that reads: "You sound like a wonderful person to work for. Sign me up! /s"
      - const_cast 1y ago
        I wouldn't even considering that bullying, it's just an observation. When people with this guy's mentality get into power, they are awful to work for. Do you want to work 12/h a day for the same pay? No, right? Okay, then everyone is on the same page. I don't think we need to advocate against ourselves in search of some principle or some type of moral high ground. It's not a virtue to be self-destructive.

jdnddnbe 1y ago

Have those measures like taking more vacations and adopting a 4-day week really increased your productivity? How have you measured that? Of cause one can deliver more per hour when working 8h/d instead of 12h/d. But the output of a 12h day will still be massively more than from a 8h day.

erikerikson 1y ago
There's been a fair bit of research on that topic. Largely the studies I have read have found that especially in creative intellectual labor (perhaps some programming could be excluded), overwork leads to negative productivity, compoundingly so in the long term.
- dang 1y ago
  > You need to do some research. Please edit out swipes, as the site guidelines ask: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Your comment would be fine without that first bit)
  - erikerikson 1y ago
    Unfortunately, the edit window has passed. I didn't mean it as a swipe but I can see it being read that way too easily, sorry dang and everyone else. You would be welcome to remove or edit that sentence. [edit: perhaps "There's been a fair bit of research on that topic. Largely the studies I have read have found that especially...]
    - dang 1y ago
      That's a great change which totally solves the problem. I've merged it in your comment above. Thanks! Edit: I of course believe you that you didn't mean it as a swipe. The trouble is that these things can all too easily land that way anyhow, since intent isn't directly readable. Past posts about this in case of interest: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=burden%20disambiguate%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
r14c 1y ago
Not really, at best its linear if your job is like an assembly line. Office work rarely benefits from longer hours. 8h days already have diminishing returns after 4-6h on average. Many pilot programs have found that 4 day weeks are at least equally productive compared to 5 day weeks.
pdntspa 1y ago
[flagged]
- dang 1y ago
  Please don't cross into personal attack. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
t-writescode 1y ago
Anecdotally, yes. 100% yes. When I push past my mental capacity, stress, drain circling, anger, all that starts to seep in and it destroys my ability to think through hard problems, complexities, details and so on. I’ll end up banging my head against the wall for hours, stressed and exhausted from some misguided sense that my worth is in my output and all of it will plummet for several days afterward. I’ve studied myself. When I work extra hard when I can’t think anymore, even if it’s just to “get over this one hump”, my productivity is near zero and my agitation is up for 1-3 days of work after, *even with a weekend break*. But with stable, consistent work that works out to 4-8 real work hours a day, usually around 6 or 7 but sometimes only 3, rarely 9-10, I have made huge amounts of progress on projects and done things more complex and complicated than I have ever done before. And it’s almost felt easy.
carlosjobim 1y ago
Your comment is reasonable and hackers shouldn't down vote it or try to bully you like they did. I would say that there is a productivity advantage of having extra time and extra energy. That's when you have the peace needed to make more profound improvements of the work being done. And these improvements have exponential effects.
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  Exactly how are they being bullied? The premise is being countered with study results and counter-examples. Disagreeing is not bullying. And if downvoting incorrect statements is wrong, what's the point of the vote at all?
  - carlosjobim 1y ago
    See the comment that reads: "You sound like a wonderful person to work for. Sign me up! /s"
    - const_cast 1y ago
      I wouldn't even considering that bullying, it's just an observation. When people with this guy's mentality get into power, they are awful to work for. Do you want to work 12/h a day for the same pay? No, right? Okay, then everyone is on the same page. I don't think we need to advocate against ourselves in search of some principle or some type of moral high ground. It's not a virtue to be self-destructive.