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There's a limit to the amount of serious, concentrated thinking that you can do in day, so it should be fairly obvious that pressurizing coders in to working lo

by robin2 13y ago

There's a limit to the amount of serious, concentrated thinking that you can do in day, so it should be fairly obvious that pressurizing coders in to working long hours is counter-productive. With other jobs it might be less of an issue. Although I've never done 14 hour days, I did once have a warehouse job assembling cardboard boxes for 12 hours a day, and I don't think the hours harmed my productivity. (My recollection is that I worked as hard as I could, just to make the day pass more quickly.)

walshemj 13y ago
Depends where you on piece work or not :-)
codeonfire 13y ago
In my opinion, this idea about no one can work more than 8 hours a day productively was created to discredit anyone who tries to get ahead through extra effort. It's similar to the idea that says we only need 30 minutes of exercise a day. In reality, pro athletes train for 4-6 hours a day. Yes, a person is a fool if they do more than 8 hours in a workplace environment, but many people work longer days if it furthers their own personal goals. Pressuring coders who don't have an interest in working longer is pointless.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- derefr 13y ago
  > It's similar to the idea that says we only need 30 minutes of exercise a day. In reality, pro athletes train for 4-6 hours a day. This isn't a contradiction; professional athletes do far more exercise than they need. That's why their fitness constantly increases (far past what are the normal requirements for being considered "healthy") rather than just plateauing at "healthy."
- philwelch 13y ago
  Even professional athletes shouldn't overtrain or else they will sustain injuries or simply be too fatigued to perform. During the season, professional soccer players might play a match once or twice a week, run 10-14 km per match, and need intensive recovery work to be ready for the next match. 2-4 hours of training is usually typical.

by robin2 13y ago

walshemj 13y ago

Depends where you on piece work or not :-)

codeonfire 13y ago

In my opinion, this idea about no one can work more than 8 hours a day productively was created to discredit anyone who tries to get ahead through extra effort. It's similar to the idea that says we only need 30 minutes of exercise a day. In reality, pro athletes train for 4-6 hours a day. Yes, a person is a fool if they do more than 8 hours in a workplace environment, but many people work longer days if it furthers their own personal goals. Pressuring coders who don't have an interest in working longer is pointless.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
derefr 13y ago
> It's similar to the idea that says we only need 30 minutes of exercise a day. In reality, pro athletes train for 4-6 hours a day. This isn't a contradiction; professional athletes do far more exercise than they need. That's why their fitness constantly increases (far past what are the normal requirements for being considered "healthy") rather than just plateauing at "healthy."
philwelch 13y ago
Even professional athletes shouldn't overtrain or else they will sustain injuries or simply be too fatigued to perform. During the season, professional soccer players might play a match once or twice a week, run 10-14 km per match, and need intensive recovery work to be ready for the next match. 2-4 hours of training is usually typical.