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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

#121

Post by mrpotato »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #68
ErrantX wrote: post #55

So I am seeing more and more of ideas like this; but I feel the need to challenge them a bit. Not the ideal; work less, have more fulfilling lives - I am all in. But all of these initiatives are focused on the wealthier office workers and sometimes factory/shift workers who are non-customer facing. But it totally ignores the service industry which is a huge part of our society (and arguably even more so if we end up…

No matter how much currency you give the poor in society, there won't be an incentive to reward people which provide zero value. Prices will just go up. How much free time you have could very well be a function of how valuable / hard to automate your work is.

> there won't be an incentive to reward people which provide zero value.

I am assuming you mean "who don't work" when you say provide zero value. The poor encompass more than just people living in a cardboard box in some alley. There are poor people living paycheck to paycheck who are barely able to afford food AND a roof over their head. A poor person can be a single parent with two kids who works two minimum wage jobs just to be able to provide for their family.

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

#122

Post by cabirum »

n-hour workdays must include commute time, encouraging for remote work where possible.

Even 3 hour days should be enough - to interact with your peers. Other than that, performance is a measure of work planned vs work done. Time to sit on your ass should not even be a thing.

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

#123

Post by Aeolun »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #92
kahon65 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Change job dude, you are going to have a burn out

My job is easy, crisis-proof and generally fun, not to mention 6-7-hour workdays which many can only dream about (not a common thing to find at my location). I just hate getting up in mornings, having fixed time schedule and spending many days in a row working this way. But that's the standard almost everybody has to deal with. So I don't feel like changing the job. Perhaps I'm going to return to flexible-schedule gi…

Move to the Netherlands. Our workweeks are 28hr on average (that includes part time work, but I think that’s still like 50% of all people).

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

#125

Post by hgs3 »

Maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t think a four day work week is radical enough. A web developer today is easily 5x more productive than a web developer 30 years ago: we have off the shelf databases, frameworks, and a huge ecosystem of open source libraries. If I can produce the same output as a web developer 30 years ago, but at 1/5th the time, then why am I not working 1 day a week for the same pay? What’s the point of modern technology if it can’t free us up to enjoy life? Same goes for workers in every industry that have benefited from technology.

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

#127

Post by lolinder »

irrational wrote: post #97

This is the great thing about remote working. When I worked in the office I felt like I needed to be seen working, even if I really wasn’t because, let’s face it, programming often requires time not working to allow your subconscious to figure out the solution to the problem you are working on. So I would have my butt in the seat, but wasn’t actually doing anything. Now with remote work I can go for a walk, do the di…

Yes! And it's more than just the need to appear to be working—in the office I don't get much choice what I do with the breaks that I do take.

At work, many of my "breaks" are involuntary distractions that yank me out of flow, and during the others I can't do anything productive for my home life, so I end up reading HN or something similar.

At home, I can go out and play with my kids, take care of something that's been bugging me around the house, start dinner, or walk the dog. Those breaks not only give me the subconscious processing time I need, they also check things off my to-do list that have been distracting my subconscious, allowing me more focus for my work. I end each day having done more at work and more at home, so when Saturday rolls around I don't feel like I'm playing catch-up.

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

#128

Post by ThalesX »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #44
ThalesX wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

One can give all the trust in the world, but a good manager must also align incentives towards business goals and create a structure for tracking progress.

Adding on top of that care and integration for the personal preferences of the team members… that would truly be a sight to behold.

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

#130

Post by jacobr1 »

high_byte wrote: post #105
irrational wrote: post #97

This is the great thing about remote working. When I worked in the office I felt like I needed to be seen working, even if I really wasn’t because, let’s face it, programming often requires time not working to allow your subconscious to figure out the solution to the problem you are working on. So I would have my butt in the seat, but wasn’t actually doing anything. Now with remote work I can go for a walk, do the di…

yes. people don't realize this, but IT'S OKAY to take a break... in my last office, besides dragging feet to get coffee it seemed people wouldn't even go stretch for 10 seconds. they even bought a brand new PS5 and NEVER even played for months and months (and it probably still accumulates dust over there...) it seemed inhumane - and crazy nobody told them it wasn't okay or anything... I like getting some sun, let the…

This is one of the reasons diversity (in this case neural diversity) is important in the office. I've worked in a number of startup where theoretically take breaks, playing video game, going for a walk, whatever was supported, but in practice nobody did it. But all it takes (when the management is supportive) is 1 or 2 outgoing people that make a point to prod their colleagues to do something. Working with a few people that say, "hey, who wants to go play drisbee in 15 minutes" or "pinball tournament after lunch" makes the work environment much more enjoyable. On the other side, the company driven "mandatory fun" is a drag. It needs to be opt-in, often spontaneous, and supported by culture.
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