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Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

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Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#31

Post by akiselev »

You're probably in a state with "at will" employment so there's nothing stopping your employer from firing you for any reason short of discrimination or retaliation. If they haven't fired you or even so much as given you a warning, then you are clearly satisfying your end of the agreement, by definition. (You don't even have the insight to make this determination, so you have to go by their actions)

That five hours a day of paid time off is the profit you earn for doing a good job. It is up to you to efficiently reallocate those resources as demanded by CAPITALISM because the company is unable to.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#32

Post by enlyth »

bun_at_work wrote: post #25
enlyth wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying this is what you're suggesting, but I also feel like medicating people with amphetamines so they can be 120% productive 40+ hours of week is also not the solution to everything We're humans and especially those of us with curious brains, we get bored easily doing the same unstimulating tasks over and over again Maybe it's fine if he does what he needs to do in 3 hours and slacks off for the rest of the…

I agree that you shouldn't work yourself to the bone for someone else's profit, but ADHD can be insidiously crippling, at least for me. Seeing a doctor and getting medication (I don't take amphetamines) has been super helpful for everything from feeling better about my work and being more productive, to handling day-to-day life. The biggest improvement is just in conversation/meetings/engaging with people, where I do…

Yes I agree if it's impacting life so much then it's best to follow the doctor's recommendations, that's why I wanted to be a bit careful with my comment to not sound dismissive to those who genuinely need help

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#33

Post by 71a54xd »

I was and sort of still continue to be a mental wreck because of isolation / life stuff that changed because of covid. We were all locked in a room for basically a year, let's all just think about that for a second.

Yes, I currently for the lack of a better definition coast at my job. I work maybe 20hrs a week and get paid the full degree, increased hours a bit to still get a raise after my last review.

This is okay to heal and get back to normal, but will undoubtably stagnate your motivation, mental health and career advancement long-term.

I'm probably going to leave this current job (since perception of my velocity is now set in stone) take a 2-3 weeks off and then start interviewing for a job with better pay.

The way I see it, I'm just gaming the system to maximize my efficiency with a large bias for recovering my mental health. This is why companies are scared of work from home long term ;)

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#34

Post by QuercusMax »

salixrosa wrote: post #16

This sounds like it might be good thing for the company. Having employees who have extra capacity is incredibly important for an organization that wants to get things done; if you're constantly hard at work on something important, when something else comes up (someone has a question, there's a bug or an outage, whatever), you either have to delay the thing you're already working on, or delay the thing that came up. T…

I'm definitely not in the same boat as the OP (trying to get away with doing the minimum), but because I hate to be the long pole on a project, I always try to get my pieces done well in advance of when they're required. As I work primarily on infra, I can usually manage to pull this off.

What this means is that often when crunch time hits, I've got excess capacity I can use to help "row the boat" (or maybe bail out water from leaks?). Excess capacity is extremely valuable as lots of folks are really bad at time estimation, so having some more senior "floaters" around can really help get projects completed.

Excess capacity is also useful for longer-term efforts. You need at least a few folks who can get out of the low-level crunch mindset and figure out what needs to be done for sustainability of efforts, or else you just end up in mega-crunch forever.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#35

Post by galdosdi »

If people around you are happy and things get done when they need to and others don't get blocked, it sounds like you are doing a great job and are merely baffled at how effecient you've gotten!

If you have any interest, consider trying management? A lazy manager is a good manager, in the same long-term sense as a lazy developer is a good developer. Knowing what the real priorities are despite the bluster is a key manager skill. Nothing more wasteful than putting in tons of hours on a project that sounds important but ultimately isn't to the stakeholders that run the company, and the best managers have an incredible ability to read between the lines and predict what will end up mattering, and prioritize their own teams work accordingly.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#36

Post by 71a54xd »

psion wrote: post #4

While I don't seem to have all the information here, what I do have is enough to make a really good suggestion. I have some of the same issues with goofing off and such like that. So with this, a couple of questions. 1. Do you find yourself avoiding work you don't want to do outside of the job? 2. Was this a problem in school? 3. Have you talked to a doctor about this? Number three is the most important. I have ADHD,…

ADHD and WFH have basically been a death sentence for me in regards to my output and velocity. Some days are good, some days are horrible. As someone who received their ADHD diagnosis at 22 (well after I fumbled through a CS degree wondering if I was a moron, while also working part time at startups) it changed my life. Ignorant people will say "nobody needs stimmies" but 5mg Adderall has legitimately changed my life and given me another 3/4 of mental capacity back.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#37

Post by icedchai »

Very common. I know several people in this same boat. They're all smart and can get things done when they're motivated. Unfortunately, most of this work is not too interesting so 70%+ of the time they're bored, half checked-out, doing the minimum, browsing HN, reddit, or checking their stock portfolios.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#38

Post by meheleventyone »

meheleventyone wrote: post #19

Doing it the other way around in a really small team and a lot of pressure still makes you feel guilty, you do too much work (even working an 8 hour day), burn out and end up very stressed. So careful what you wish for!

And maybe just to assuage some of the guilt, most guidelines for working at a desk say you should take a break from your screen/sitting for 5-10 minutes every hour. Over an 8 hour day that's 40-80 minutes a day just by itself.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#39

Post by QuercusMax »

DantesKite wrote: post #13

Working for several hours a day is unfeasible for most people, unless you're working on something you actively love. From my perspective, as long as you're not holding anyone back, I think you're doing a decent job of modulating your energy for moments when you need it, as opposed to marathon running all day long.

As someone with RSI, this is absolutely a good way to look at it. I've been working on rehabbing my hands and shoulders so I can work at longer / more intensive stretches, but I can only keep it up for a few weeks before I need some lighter duty work. I've had to give up video games and recreational keyboarding, but it means I can continue to work and put in the hours when needed.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#40

Post by wantsanagent »

Congrats! You have found a comfortable job. Also my condolences, you've found a comfortable job.

Jobs like these are a warm and cozy trap. If you're spending time reading blogs you may not be spending your time in a way you can look back on with pride. Time is your ultimate limited resource and the one thing you will regret not spending more wisely.

Depending on your risk tolerance I recommend:

1. Quit, start a company of your own.

2. Quit, get one or more remote jobs.

3. Work on open source during work time.

4. Volunteer for something that benefits you and uses your time better (e.g. running training sessions on tech you know / want to know)

5. Reduce your life costs, accumulate money, retire early (FIRE)

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