Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

Post by cashaside » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

theshrike79 wrote: post #852

batmaniam wrote: post #22

The same could be asked about upper management. They earn 10x our pay, so their output is 10x more value than our work, and they work 10x harder, right? In our normal 8 hour work day, they must work 80 hours. Except a full day is 24 hours. Why is the onus always on the bottom workers to be honest? Why are we trying to feel guilty about our working hours vs how much we're paid? Because it's clear salary is not tied to…

Most upper management aren't hired because they're good at something. They're hired for who they know. Knowing the personal number of CxO from a Fortune 500 company and being familiar enough to just call them is worth a TON of money for the whole company. Management experience is also a plus, but it's not necessary when you have the ability to short-track yourself (and your company) straight to the people who make th…

Post by bogeholm » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

derekp7 wrote: post #730

what_is_orcas wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did I work 20-30 minutes, or have I been working for a day or two? I would say a day or two, and the 20-30 minutes was the time needed to produce the deliverable of that work. I would say that I do this too. There's a lot of stuff I can more or less do on autopilot and stuff that requires actual attention and finesse , for lack of a better word. I feel like management thinks that I'm good at my job for all of the a…

The way I explained it to my boss, is to give him a list of numbers to add up in his head and come up with a total. He looked at the list for a couple minutes, then gave me the answer (I framed the whole thing as a riddle). I then looked at him and said it looked like he wasn't working on the problem for the last couple minutes. He replied that he was thinking during that time. My reply back is "That is what I have t…

Post by viceroyalbean » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

fernandotakai wrote: post #125

oceanghost wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the best ideas I've had in my career were in the shower before work. The problem is making that a regular occurrence.

ha! my wife once asked why i was speaking english while showering. i told her that 1. i can only think in english when thinking about work and 2. saying stuff out loud helps me organize my thoughts and this is specially easy while showering because i don't really have to concentrate.

Post by Karawebnetwork » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

dx034 wrote: post #849

Karawebnetwork wrote: post #41

I have never done what you describe, except perhaps in times of illness when it was understood that working less was a reasonable accommodation (in that particular case, I had leftover brain fog from general anesthesia). I've never heard of any colleagues doing it either. I would never snitch if it happened, but I would certainly consider that person untrustworthy or think that they have an undisclosed condition that…

Not sure about the arguments regarding ethics. When I'm an employee, my contract is with the employer. They pay me, they evaluate me and their success is what determines my progress (in a good company). Sure, coworkers can suffer if I refuse to do my work, but I'm not there to make them happy, I'm there to make the company money. So I don't think it's unethical to work less as long as your employer is still happy wit…

Post by hexxrer » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 2:49 PM UTC

godelski wrote: post #699

mring33621 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I almost got fired once for explaining this to my boss. He felt very strongly that each day of a 10 day project should mark 10% in progress. I told him that instead, you think about it, explore a few ideas, then suddenly you might be at 80%. But it's not linear.

That just doesn't make sense because Pareto is a well known phenomena. To the point where it has entered the common lexicon (80/20 rule) and is essential for planning how long a project should take.