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Farmers always worked from home

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Re: Farmers always worked from home

#21

Post by Retric »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #13
nonameiguess wrote: post #4

> In the 1800s, 90 percent of the US population lived on a farm, rocking their WFH setups. How did they all survive without mental breakdowns and Harvard Business Review articles praising strict Work-Life Balance? They didn't? Child mortality was 500 times as high as today in 1800 in the United States, and in the first half of the century, most of the people working on farms were slaves that I'm pretty sure had plent…

>They didn't? Child mortality was 500 times as high as today in 1800 in the United States, and in the first half of the century, most of the people working on farms were slaves that I'm pretty sure had plenty of mental breakdowns even if nobody was treating and diagnosing them. IMO farming has an absolutely terrible work life balance (as does owning most low margin businesses) relative to most office jobs but... To s…

Preindustrial farming involved a lot of downtime outside of the tropics. Essentially a few weeks a year involved 14+ hour days, but there simply wasn’t that much to do the rest of the year. It’s a common misconception that summer breaks where for farmers, but historically rurual areas actually had school in summer and winter with breaks in the spring and fall simply because that’s when there was a lot of work to get done.

For many in the US this meant a second occupation outside of farming, from preaching to making beer etc.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#22

Post by r3trohack3r »

supermatt wrote: post #17

As a farmer, always working from home, I realise I am exceptionally privileged not to be trapped in a tiny apartment during multi-month covid lockdowns. It must be hard to keep any balance when you are eating, sleeping, working and resting in the same box

This. As a remote software engineer, I empathize with folks who haven’t optimized for their home to be their day-to-day. I couldn’t imagine spendings lockdown in an SF Apartment.

I spent lockdown in a 3k sq. foot home. I have a floating desk and a panasonic toughbook (CF-31), spend my days floating in my pool writing code. A similar QoL as before lockdown. Not everyone’s lockdown experience was the same.

Lockdown QoL was a mix of privilege and pre-lockdown decisions. Lots of folks couldn’t afford better conditions. Lots of folks optimized for living life outside their home.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#23

Post by enumjorge »

supermatt wrote: post #17

As a farmer, always working from home, I realise I am exceptionally privileged not to be trapped in a tiny apartment during multi-month covid lockdowns. It must be hard to keep any balance when you are eating, sleeping, working and resting in the same box

You’re the 3rd person to mention being a farmer. Do we have a bunch of farmers on HN? That’s really interesting. What brings you here?

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#24

Post by alistairSH »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #6

I think the problem is, the work (on computers) is never done. It takes months for me to say, "well, I got that wheat harvested" (in computer terms). There's always some more bullshit, so you can't just step away; more is always waiting, and you're always blocking someone somehow. The way we make money digitally does not map to a practical, dynamic life. We need to re-structure what "work" is, what it is we are tryin…

The same if true on a farm. There's always something to do. It appears to me that it's even more true on a farm - the list of things to do is never-ending and many are tightly constrained by season and weather. At least with software dev, we can get up and walk away without a crop rotting or livestock starving or being eaten by wolves.

Plow a field. Harvest something. Sheer the lambs. Fix the irrigation. Repair a tractor. Update the books. Apply for government grants. Fix a fence.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#25

Post by chrisseaton »

nonameiguess wrote: post #4

> In the 1800s, 90 percent of the US population lived on a farm, rocking their WFH setups. How did they all survive without mental breakdowns and Harvard Business Review articles praising strict Work-Life Balance? They didn't? Child mortality was 500 times as high as today in 1800 in the United States, and in the first half of the century, most of the people working on farms were slaves that I'm pretty sure had plent…

Farming and aligned professions such as vets have an absolutely appalling suicide rate even today.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#26

Post by randomdata »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #13
nonameiguess wrote: post #4

> In the 1800s, 90 percent of the US population lived on a farm, rocking their WFH setups. How did they all survive without mental breakdowns and Harvard Business Review articles praising strict Work-Life Balance? They didn't? Child mortality was 500 times as high as today in 1800 in the United States, and in the first half of the century, most of the people working on farms were slaves that I'm pretty sure had plent…

>They didn't? Child mortality was 500 times as high as today in 1800 in the United States, and in the first half of the century, most of the people working on farms were slaves that I'm pretty sure had plenty of mental breakdowns even if nobody was treating and diagnosing them. IMO farming has an absolutely terrible work life balance (as does owning most low margin businesses) relative to most office jobs but... To s…

> IMO farming has an absolutely terrible work life balance

Depends on your capital investment. Like anything, if you start with a lot of money it's a pretty sweet gig. If you're having to work an off-farm job to pay the mortgage then that balance can tip pretty quickly.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#28

Post by hycaria »

devwastaken wrote: post #19
TaupeRanger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A farmer on Hacker News? Please tell me more.

Also come from farmers. Horses. Hay costs are through the roof because drought and heat, vets are expensive, far and few between. Less demand than ever, and everything is expensive. Glad I'm not in it as much anymore. Would like to be out of it entirely but #family and "Local only" software work half the country away don't mix. The others that operate the farm nowadays are absolutely swamped. Not enough money to do i…

Where and what kind of horses ? In europe there's a sport horse shortage I swear. Prices are through the roof !

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#29

Post by tims33 »

I'm not sure of the point of this comparison. My grandparents had a dairy farm that they lived on their entire lives. It is a 6-7 day/week job and the days are long. If you want to take a day off you have to pay someone to come do the work.

It also has nothing to do with WFH. My grandpa might start the day in the barn, drive a tractor to a field a few miles away to cut hay for a few hours, come back for lunch, fix a fence, feed some calves, run the silo, then milk the cows for a second time. It's not like he was ever sitting on his ass staring at a screen. There is a hard fulfillment that comes with that life. And it's definitely not WFH.

Re: Farmers always worked from home

#30

Post by hundchenkatze »

lapetitejort wrote: post #16
TaupeRanger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A farmer on Hacker News? Please tell me more.

Well, I start my day by checking crypto prices. I eat my coffee and toast as I unwrap the new shipment of 3090's...

I think mining crypto currencies makes you a miner, not a farmer.
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