I know this is a very orthogonal comment, but: Have you ever considered writing in a serious context? Like (tech) books or something? Your prose is really great imho.
Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
451–460 of 830 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#452Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a big supporter of a WFH choice (and have myself for ~10 years): > Mass WFH started in 2020 - I don't think you can link a Q2 2022 productivity decrease to WFH, considering the previous quarter will have had even more WFH. In fact, it's easier to link it to the return to the office. I would honestly be impressed if a initial WFH productivity decline wasn't found. A lot of people were not prepared for WFH. They did…
You'd think that productivity declined in 2020, but based upon those charts it only did a little bit in Q1 and then bounced back hard in Q2 and Q3. I think people overcompensated, but the fact that it has stayed high for the rest of the lockdown tells me that it's not in fact the productivity killer that it's claimed to be.
It's funny, for me my biggest thing is that in WFO if i was overwhelmed on a problem or off feeling (tired/sick/etc) i would often just try and get through the day, horribly unproductive.
At home i can usually address the issue more quickly (quick nap, a walk, an extended break, etc - often fully detatching from work) and end up back to actually working far more quickly. For me these blockers would often just stall the whole day in office.
Tbh i wish office work was more similar in that regard. They expect everyone to work like robots, but in doing so they ignore the human element of overcoming all our quirks. We have no roads to get back to productivity in most offices, and in doing so my belief is that it ends up a net negative. People learn how to appear to work, while not working.
Though i mostly say this in the context of creative work (development).
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#453I feel exactly the same. The work I do seem to matter less to me when my whole interaction of my team is online.I used to extract so much personal satisfaction from work and now it's just a little bit. I am locked in this situation, though, because there is no way I am finding in Brazil a WFO job that pays as good as a remote job from a US company.
Its good to not derive all your satisfaction from work and to seek it out from things that are more pertinent to your life, versus your bosses. It will probably make retirement feel more fulfilling instead of empty.
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#454With all due respect, this is mostly my problem with the "work-from-office" (WFO for ease) crowd. Generally, the stance of the WFH crowd is that each individual should get a choice of what makes that individual happy. Very few, if any, of the WFH crowd want mandatated WFH, it would make no sense. But then the WFO crowd often says no, I don't care what makes you happy, because you being in makes me happy. That doesn't…
> If what makes you happy is a condition in which someone else is unhappy, that person is unlikely to react well. I really hate zoom meetings. Unfortunately if everyone just does whatever they want, then even the in-person meetings get dragged onto zoom because there’s at least a few people who are remote and need to dial in. Early on as we returned to office we even wound up taking a lot of meetings in the office ov…
>I really hate zoom meetings. Unfortunately if everyone just does whatever they want, then even the in-person meetings get dragged onto zoom because there’s at least a few people who are remote and need to dial in.
Something often missing from these discussions is that at many large companies, A lot of people are scattered around the country/world so, even if they are in an office, a lot of meetings are going to be by Zoom anyway. And frankly, if some people are going to be remote, it's good policy that people generally dial in individually if it's an interactive meeting.
So this isn't necessarily a WFH/WFO thing. Decades before there was a Zoom, at least half the meetings I was in had lots of people on a conference call.
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#455Earlier quoted context omitted.
Work is a third of our life, and it seems reasonable that many people would want social interaction during that time. Further, at least in the workplace I had before Covid, people could work from home as needed, or even part time, depending on their management. Granted this was for IT, not for the whole company though. You think WFH is every individuals choice in this new world. It isn’t. The last place I worked had…
> The last place I worked had 25,000 people on its main campus. Three gyms, three coffee shops, four cafeterias and more square footage than the pentagon. I interviewed at a place like this, with all the in-site amenities. They were particularly proud of offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day to the staff. As I finished my last round of interviews, it became obvious that they offered this because they expect…
That’s not what my job was like in IT. It was a really great place to work.
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#456I think your perspective might change once you have kids (forgive me for assuming you don't yet). That additional hour or two a day that you can spend with your family might end up being worth more to you than the prospects of social life and building a carreer with other like-minded people. I really agree with the sibling comment about people having different perspectives and priorities. Perhaps you could find what…
It's a valid assumption and you are absolutely right :D
I have a stable circle of friends I see very regularly and several hobbies I follow after work. And here is the thing: I want to have discussion with co-workers and this "involvement" in the tech community, but honestly I want to do it during the third of my day that is already dedicated for work. I love my job, but gosh darn it if 8 hours a day is not enough. I want to spend the rest doing completely different things. That's why the "just go to meetups" argument doesn't cut it for me.
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#457Most of my distaste for WFO comes from two places: - the USA's failure to provide even a single city that's pleasant to live in and travel around without a car - tech company insistence on open office layouts that are not conducive to deep work The first one sounds like a commute problem... but it manifests in more ways than you think. When you have to travel around in a car, everything is expensive. Parking is a pai…
You've described Brooklyn and NYC at large... if you're anti-car then consider the city. Boston is a good second choice. I've lived in both.
NYC comes with the normal downsides of the biggest city in the US: expenses, limited space, crowding, and noise. But this is true of all large cities in the world: Paris, London, Tokyo, etc.
But it comes with the immense upsides of a functioning metropolitan transit system, which covers the majority of the living spaces, at an affordable price, and doesn't require Uber or car to go the "last mile".
Additionally there are countless flex offices, coworking spaces, etc. Everyone I've met in tech in the city has some sort of WFH/WFO at this point in the pandemic.
City life isn't for everyone but if you're looking for a good transit system in the US there are two or three (Chicago too)
Best of luck with your journey
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#458Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The last place I worked had 25,000 people on its main campus. Three gyms, three coffee shops, four cafeterias and more square footage than the pentagon. I interviewed at a place like this, with all the in-site amenities. They were particularly proud of offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day to the staff. As I finished my last round of interviews, it became obvious that they offered this because they expect…
work trying to compensate life is insane. I don't want to spend all my time there and have dinner with you guys, no offense. In the end, they will fire you if their numbers don't align in your favor, but hey, they fed you.
Work is literally 1/3 of your life. Trying to pretend otherwise is insane.
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#459At least for me, my primary hangup for going back to the office is that COVID -isn't over-! Since I can do my job just as well from home as from the office, I'd far prefer to stay in an environment where I have control over my level of risk. (I realize not everybody has this at home, but I live alone) For this reason, when I hear corporate taking advantage of the between-wave lull to trumpet going back to the office,…
At this point COVID is about as over as it will ever be. So do you plan to continue living as you are for the rest of your life?
do plan to continue living without chronic fatigue?
Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?
#460Most of my distaste for WFO comes from two places: - the USA's failure to provide even a single city that's pleasant to live in and travel around without a car - tech company insistence on open office layouts that are not conducive to deep work The first one sounds like a commute problem... but it manifests in more ways than you think. When you have to travel around in a car, everything is expensive. Parking is a pai…
> - the USA's failure to provide even a single city that's pleasant to live in and travel around without a car
New York, for good reason, is considered one of the most desirable cities there is. I've spent lots of time in cities all over the world, when you have the means and the network, I found none of them held a candle to NYC.