A good boss doesn't give a shit about whether the workers do other things during work time, as long as the work is done satisfactorily.
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2024
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At my last office job, years ago when I was young and lived with my parents and had very few financial obligations, I would always ask to clock out and leave whenever I ran out of work to do for the day. It was always busy mornings and slow afternoons. My boss thought I was insane for not wanting to get paid to sit there and fuck around on Facebook (her exact words.) But to me it was worth losing $30-60 to gain back 3-6 hours of my personal life every week.
The boss and most co-workers were great, and the work wasn’t even bad when it was busy, but just physically being present there was soul-crushing.
Most bosses: hmm but if you worked instead of doing small important things for your family you could four double your productivity instead of only triple it!
Most bosses equate having fun with not working and so not having fun with being productive. However, most workers are in a twilight state of not having fun and not being productive.
twilight state of not having fun and not being productive.
Stop putting me on blast, man
The first hour in the office was spent staring at the screen wiggling the mouse from time to time when the screen saver came on because too tired from commuting every day. But, it was at the office so it was productive staring I guess.
Haha it's so ridiculous that these articles never take into consideration that people in the office don't have a lot of productive time.
I had the same, I would have a somewhat easy first hour, then spend 2 to 3 hours really focusing and then I'd basically be done for the day and would spend some time idling after lunch until I deemed it was an appropriate time to leave and "work some more from home".
My best year billability wise was the first year of the covid lockdowns, I managed to generate something like 25% more just because of being able to work from home and cutting back on the travel time to customers and being able to multi-task occasionally when I had a quiet day for a customer. I'm glad I live in the Netherlands, hybrid/remote working seems like it'll remain over here at least.
And they they go on about the free flow of ideas, innovations and cooperation. Please, we were all sitting there with headphones trying to isolate ourselves to get anything done because some manager would always be on a loud phone call and using a meeting space to work was forbidden.
Driving to customers or flying to the other side of the world for a meeting was such a big time sink.
It also reminds me of the story of Rotterdam harbour where they just couldn't find any people anymore. Turns out that the cost of commuting was so high, people made more money doing lower paid work closer to home.
Turns out that the cost of commuting was so high, people made more money doing lower paid work closer to home.
This is true for a lot of people everywhere. It's often ridiculous the amount of time and money lost from commutes that gets forgotten about.
For me commuting outside the city costs at least an hour of time every day, and $1+/hour in fuel weekly that I don't get paid. For me WFH is like a $1.50+/hr raise that is far more convenient and stress reducing than a better paying job.
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Gotta love how the articles frames it. While at work people "kill time" with tik tok but at home they "goof off" folding laundry
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And in the office there are people who literally hang out at the coffee machine for 30-60 minutes at a time, talking to everyone who comes by under the guise of "networking".
The media gotta stop reporting on the laundry like it's the equivalent of stealing from the company.
It’d be cool if the media did a piece about how companies are stealing the excess labor of their employees. It will never happen though because “the media” also steals the excess labor from it’s employees.
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I worked with people who could easily spend 30 minutes scrolling social media while pooping.
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We have people here working maximum 1 hour per day, in the home office they can at least not stop others from working.
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You think that's bad, wait until you hear about the shareholders and landlords.
They dont even have to pretend to work to get paid.
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Sounds like they take micro breaks, which is not only healthy, but can help with productivity.
Is anyone complaining about this?
Managera who have nothing better to do
When I used to work in office:
- Wake up at 7am, get ready to go and take a 1 hour commute in, usually there by 9:00
- Try to find parking, walk to office, morning break room coffee and chatter, usually settle in around 9:30
- Get interrupted multiple times by desk drive bys
- Take 2 hour lunch around noon with multiple coworkers because why not
- Get interrupted multiple times by desk drive bys
- Leave at 4 to try and avoid some traffic
Now that I work from home:
- Wake up and hop online to work, usually settle in by 7:30am
- No desk drive by interruptions
- Eat at my desk during meetings or while simultaneously working
- Sometimes start laundry or something during the day, but who cares?
- Usually work later than 5
Every time I get asked about going back into an office my response is "Why would you want me to be far less productive?"
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Jokes on you, I shop and shower while at the office as well.
Exactly this. The office doesn't magically make people work undistracted all day for that sweet sweet 110% productivity.
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If anything, one should absolutely take care of mundane tasks with downtime between productive tasks. If their workflow allows for short breaks, it doesn't make a difference to the employer if nothing is done or an unrelated task is done.
They pay people to complete tasks for their corporation. They don't own the worker's bodies or minds due to the virtue of providing a paycheck.
This concept of whole ownership of people really is baked into US social consciousness.
I can even imagine that some household chores can be done while "actively" working, like when you're in a call and just listening to the other parties.
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Fuck this corporate propaganda.
Work from home and be happy.
This article can be applied the same way to Office workers. No they’re not working 100% of the time. What’s a problem is if they’re exceedingly unavailable or underperforming at their job and affecting others.
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Businesses during covid: we are seeing an all time high in productivity from our workers due to them working from home, this is amazing!
Businesses after covid: these people working from home are nothing but lazy leeches who probably arent even doing their job and are robbing us of our money, despite all our previous statements to the contrary and verifiable statistics counter to this narrative we're now pushing!
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There is a concept that companies and managers need to wrap their stupid brains around. And that is that they are paying for your work not your time. So long as you complete the jobs and tasks they ask of you and need from you it shouldn't matter what the hell you're doing otherwise.
But they're dumb Boomer infected brains have been programmed to expect people to sit in cubicles and offices like drones and stare at computer screens all day long. All so rich CEOs can walk through the building and feel more impressive.
P.S. obviously this is referring to salaried jobs not hourly jobs.
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Do office workers actually work? No, but they make coffee, collaborate, and network.
Collaboration is actually useful. The phrase you're looking for is synergizing the cross-functional modalities.
Alright stop, collaborate and listen
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My coworkers recounting the oh so cute exploits of their oh so cute grandchildren in excruciating detail is very productive, I'm sure. Definitely makes the extra long commute worthwhile for me.
I love the day ending and my chores already being done. I log out and it's like I'm completely done and can go fuck off somewhere.
In a lot of meetings I’m expected to be in I mostly just listen and jump in to answer specific questions. When working from home I like to be active with chores during the meetings, I’ll just take them on my phone. Sometimes I do motorcycle maintenance! It helps me concentrate much better than watching talking heads.
Me as a programmer
- Exhausted working on something realizing I'm no longer being productive and stuck on a problem.
- Decide to take a break and go empty the dishwasher
- Comes back more refreshed and almost immediately solve the problem.
Edit: Side note - companies I worked at that had dishwashers also expected employees to take turns emptying it / loading dishes others didn't put in it.
I'll absolutely turn off the camera and do laundry or make lunch during a Teams meeting. I'm still on the audio and participate. I'm just able to be productive at work AND at home simultaneously.
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Production went up 15% in my department by going from 2 days in office to fully remote. Some employees still have to go to the office for disciplinary reasons, but that's a manager's job to make it happen, if managers are too dumb to realize some employees aren't working then it's a management issue, not a remote work issue.
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I can admit I delay work more from home than I did when I was at the office. I do about the same amount overall I just don't get around to it as quickly.
But the company I'm with would also have to pay me 20-30% more to go into the office as I have better offers for that already and I'd still probably just hop to another company that lets me work from home for a similar salary.
I do about the same amount overall I just don’t get around to it as quickly.
That's the important part. Who gives a fuck when and how you finish your work, as long as you do. We can only be productive for so many hours a day anyway.
You pay me a salary to solve problems, not to warm a chair. Make me hourly if you want that. My rate is quite steep, I assure you.
If they're mad about people shopping while working from home I have bad news.
People shop from their phones while working at the job site too. I see several of my coworkers doing this frequently. Shit, I've done it.
Sure, we can't shower on site unless you're a firefighter or something, or have a gym at workplace, but still.
Employers need to reign in their power hungry bullshit. You don't own your employees, and if the work is getting done on time, you have nothing to complain about.
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