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Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

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Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#11

Post by makosdv »

cballard wrote: post #2

> So if we need to work long hours, what can we do to recover? Not work long hours? This is what unions are for (now, if we could just have one without dues/political contributions).

We don't need unions for that (and I certainly don't want unions either).

I work as an R&D manager/software architect and I simply don't work more than 40hrs per week. It just takes some self discipline and efficiency. My CEO doesn't argue with me about it because I do my job and I do it well.

However, if your employer expects you to work more hours than you get paid for, find a different employer who actually respects your time.

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#12

Post by FreedomToCreate »

These points are spot on, but I also believe these are common sense things everyone knows. The issue is that its extremely difficult to detach from the digital world and many jobs require you be available at any time. A a previous job (they named themselves after a fruit) I couldn't even think about turning my phone off. I was pretty much on call 24/7. Companies are global, and there are always problems to deal with and any time of the day.

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#13

Post by static_noise »

simplemath wrote: post #8

Overworked? Everyone is overworked. We live in a post scarcity industrial world, or very very close to it, and bad actors have gobbled up the spoils of the huge gains in productivity in the last 50 years. How much of the entire economy is predicated on grey money? How much of your time is indirectly consumed by this leviathan? The more I think about it, the more i want to opt out of the entire fucking thing.

The cancer has befallen the whole planet. Everything will be made to money. The whole world is becoming one big machine.

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#14

Post by l33tbro »

FreedomToCreate wrote: post #12

These points are spot on, but I also believe these are common sense things everyone knows. The issue is that its extremely difficult to detach from the digital world and many jobs require you be available at any time. A a previous job (they named themselves after a fruit) I couldn't even think about turning my phone off. I was pretty much on call 24/7. Companies are global, and there are always problems to deal with…

Yikes, kudos for enduring that. I've actually started to turn my phone off at night, and it's actually crazy the feeling of relief I get from that small action. It's like there's some invisible unbilical cord between myself and that device.

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#15

Post by [deleted] »

FreedomToCreate wrote: post #12

These points are spot on, but I also believe these are common sense things everyone knows. The issue is that its extremely difficult to detach from the digital world and many jobs require you be available at any time. A a previous job (they named themselves after a fruit) I couldn't even think about turning my phone off. I was pretty much on call 24/7. Companies are global, and there are always problems to deal with…

[deleted]

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#17

Post by wrong_variable »

static_noise wrote: post #13
simplemath wrote: post #8

Overworked? Everyone is overworked. We live in a post scarcity industrial world, or very very close to it, and bad actors have gobbled up the spoils of the huge gains in productivity in the last 50 years. How much of the entire economy is predicated on grey money? How much of your time is indirectly consumed by this leviathan? The more I think about it, the more i want to opt out of the entire fucking thing.

The cancer has befallen the whole planet. Everything will be made to money. The whole world is becoming one big machine.

Damn, glass half empty much ?

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#18

Post by cballard »

falcolas wrote: post #6
cballard wrote: post #2

> So if we need to work long hours, what can we do to recover? Not work long hours? This is what unions are for (now, if we could just have one without dues/political contributions).

Dues are how you pay the folks who are spending their time working for your rights. Lawyers, administrative assistants, marketing... these are not cheap. Abuses aside, you don't get the positive - that is someone fighting for your rights - for free, and without playing in the field of politics.

Why do you need all of that, though? Couldn't a private chat room for the engineering team to plan collective action be enough?

> Hey all, management's been asking us for too much unpaid overtime. Strike?

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#19

Post by cballard »

Apocryphon wrote: post #9
cballard wrote: post #2

> So if we need to work long hours, what can we do to recover? Not work long hours? This is what unions are for (now, if we could just have one without dues/political contributions).

I've long been a proponent for hackers to "disrupt" labor by reinventing unions. (And call them guilds, because hey it's a name that works on multiple levels). On the subject of dues being required to pay for full-time guild leaders as brought up in the sibling comments, that makes sense. But could it be supplemented by crowdfunding and alternate pay models, instead of mandating a set price? Tiered membership? Freemi…

Maybe unions (which are large monolithic organizations covering many employers) are not what I'm looking for.

It just seems that more startup engineering teams should engage in collective action, because in many cases, if the entire team left, the company would be crippled.

Re: Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer

#20

Post by cballard »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #3
cballard wrote: post #2

> So if we need to work long hours, what can we do to recover? Not work long hours? This is what unions are for (now, if we could just have one without dues/political contributions).

Dues are fine, someone needs to pay for the people who manage the union (Bernie Sanders contributions could be considered dues for those who believe in his causes, me included). I agree that political contributions should be prohibited though (as well as corporate political contributions).

Why does the union need management? Can't we do it in a chat room/mailing list - for which there are numerous free options?
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