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Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

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Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#41

Post by adamhp »

forinti wrote: post #38
hdjjhhvvhga wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is terrible, unfair, and morally wrong, but we can understand what it comes from: this is a difference between the so-called "developed" and "developing" countries. Because why do we work? To have money so that we can live comfortably. Work is not meant to fill in 40 or more hours of our life, it's just a means to and end. If we can have enough money by working less, many people chose this way. In the meantime,…

China is a modern country. I don't think Jack Ma's 996 makes any sense. If you apply it to manual labour, you will get sick people. If you apply it to intellectual work, people will just pretend to work. I think he is just plain greedy.

> If you apply it to manual labour, you will get sick people. If you apply it to intellectual work, people will just pretend to work.

I've always been for the reduction of work hours, but this is a really good concise point that I'll put in my pocket. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#42

Post by junon »

forinti wrote: post #38
hdjjhhvvhga wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is terrible, unfair, and morally wrong, but we can understand what it comes from: this is a difference between the so-called "developed" and "developing" countries. Because why do we work? To have money so that we can live comfortably. Work is not meant to fill in 40 or more hours of our life, it's just a means to and end. If we can have enough money by working less, many people chose this way. In the meantime,…

China is a modern country. I don't think Jack Ma's 996 makes any sense. If you apply it to manual labour, you will get sick people. If you apply it to intellectual work, people will just pretend to work. I think he is just plain greedy.

Japan is similar. You're expected to be at the office for long periods of time, but people often aren't working while they're there.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#44

Post by quickthrower2 »

ThalesX wrote: post #26
jhoechtl wrote: post #8

It really depends. If you live in a condo and you free time is sports, meetings friends, etc. a six hours work day is more important. If you build your house on your own, cultivate green land etc. the four day workweek is more important as these kinds of work require a lot of preparation time. Opt in models?

> Opt in models? Inflamatory post but this would actually mean managers would have to manage. You can't go to a seminar and cocktail party and come back with the insights to properly manage a team where people opt in to the model that works best for them.

Managers would need to trust the team members

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#45

Post by corderop »

I think it's better, at least for me, to have 4-day workweeks. I feel that much more of my productive energy is wasted during work hours. Even with 6 hours in the morning, I won't be able to focus with the same intensity for a full day for me after work.

I think this is because I mostly use my leisure time for studying or coding. I reckon that a parent would prefer 6-hour workdays to spend more time with their kids.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#46

Post by lvl102 »

orangepurple wrote: post #7

Meanwhile in China... Excerpts below taken from the website https://996.icu/#/en_US What is "996"? 996 working, ICU waiting. A "996" work schedule refers to an unofficial work schedule (9a.m. ~ 9p.m., 6 days a week) that has been gaining in popularity. Serving a company that encourages the "996" work schedule usually means working for at least 60 hours a week. In early September 2016, it was said that 58.com (58同城, a…

Let’s be honest, if you ever worked in East Asian countries with these work ethic culture, you’d know they just sit around the office doing absolutely nothing. It’s bullshit.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#48

Post by unglaublich »

Closi wrote: post #30
Apreche wrote: post #24

Why not both? 4 days, 6 hours each. Hey employers reading this. Having a hard time finding software engineers? Offer me this and I will come running. I’ll be banging on your door with my resume. Think about it.

Are you willing to get paid 24/37 = 64% of a fulltime positions salary? If so, I think plenty of smaller employers would be happy to do this.

That's the irony. Output doesn't scale linearly with time for human workers.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#49

Post by qwerty456127 »

I disagree. I have 6-7 hour workdays. That's nice but no nearly as nice as another free day. I still feel like I have no time for my own life/projects. I still feel exhausted after working even 6-7-hours (because I'm not a morning person naturally yet have to go work in the morning) and the evening time (nor even an evening nap) never actually feels nice if I worked that day. I go out on Saturday, sleep until evening (the only way I can actually get pleasurable and physically regenerative sleep) on Sunday, get up and immediately start feeling bad about the fact I had no productive time for my side projects/home as another workweek starts in just some hours.

I'd rather work full 8 hours a day but have 4-day workweek. Ideally I'd prefer Wednesdays to be non-working days - this way I wouldn't have to spend more than 2 days in a row working in the office. For me this would feel even better than just 3-day weekends with 4-day contiguous workweeks. 5-vs-2 feels like you live in the office and go to visit home. 4-vs-3 feels the same although notably better. 2-1-2-2 (office-home-office-home) would actually feel you live at home and go to the office to get the job done. I even feel almost sure this would boost my actual office-time productivity.

Re: Ask HN: 6-hour workdays more important than 4-day workweeks IMO

#50

Post by sokoloff »

29athrowaway wrote: post #29
orangepurple wrote: post #7

Meanwhile in China... Excerpts below taken from the website https://996.icu/#/en_US What is "996"? 996 working, ICU waiting. A "996" work schedule refers to an unofficial work schedule (9a.m. ~ 9p.m., 6 days a week) that has been gaining in popularity. Serving a company that encourages the "996" work schedule usually means working for at least 60 hours a week. In early September 2016, it was said that 58.com (58同城, a…

Jack Ma said 996 was a blessing. Then he said other things that pissed off the wrong people and has not been seen since then.

He has been very rarely, but not never, seen since then.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3177452/jack-ma-m...

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