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Comment by jlebrech | Hacker News Reader

It's already a 5 hour work day, it's just inside of an 8 hour attendance day.

I work with a number of people in my office who do completely different things than I do. If we didn't make time to just talk about whatever between the times we work, we would probably never need to speak to one another.

That being said, there is a benefit to having 'non-productive' communication with colleagues during working hours, because it builds trust and rapport. These become infinitely value at seemingly unexpected times, and it's difficult to calculate an ROI on asking your colleague how their weekend was.

I think there were some paragraphs about 'non-productive' communication with colleagues, like coffee or after hours drinks, in Marx.

On average my actual work load is between 3-4 hours including daily reports, correspondence, and meetings. The rest of the day is spent trying to look busy.

I wouldn't mind a 5-6 hour work day. That's plenty of time to get everything done and not feel like I have time bearing down on me.

More like a let's touch that code for an hour or so day. ;)

After that lets have a meeting!

Just finished a 2 month project without having a single meeting with business and I must say, things are much better. Business never told me directly what to do and I never told them directly how long something would take me. Best approach ever.

This works wonderfully if everybody involved acts rationally and professionally. Otherwise, it can quickly become a nightmare.

Od the coding time. I spend 95% time looking at code and 5% coding.

haha, good point. Though I prefer being productive on and off work time :)

Work from home. You can actually get the best of both worlds.

I seem to have this thing for honesty. If I intend to "work from home" but really do everything but, then I'd rather just work out some deal. Plus I like coming to the office, it's social.

The idea is that you still do the 5 to 6 hours of actual work and replace the 2 to 4 hours of shallow socializing with gym time or hobbies or deep socializing with friends/family/kids.

At the very least you replace the 1 to 2 hours of commuting with the above.

Honestly, living across the street from the office, I'm pretty fine going into work every day. The 5minute commute is bearable.

My only problem is not being allowed to work from home when I have tight deadlines. I'm much more productive at home.

I find I work more when I work from home. Partly I think because making my effort level visible is more important when people don't see me in a chair all day.

But yes, it's still nice to not have to keep up appearances when you for whatever reason can't concentrate.

And yet, the current MBA groupthink trend is that remote workers are scum and must be dealt with accordingly. Insane.

Which makes zero sense to me because study after study after study has come out and said remote work makes for happier and more productive employees and saves the company money.

Doesn't have to be full time, either.

Work from home 2 days a week has really changed my life for the better.

Obviously trying to hide the fact that MBAs are scum, and should be dealt with accordingly.

That does not necessarily work for everyone. For some work is an important part of social life, and some are not able to maintain a working discipline at home (frankly, me).

Yes. I work for a 100% remote company, and it is awesome. I don't think it's for everyone, but for me, it hits the sweet spot. I get to walk with my wife or play with my dog or putter around the garden during breaks or when I need to step away to clear my head. It's great.

I use local meetups on the rare occasion when I crave in-person tech socialization.

The one thing I do miss and haven't solved 100% is the ability to whiteboard with fellow engineers. We just Skype and share our screens. It's good, but not as good as whiteboarding.

The guys next to my office are developing a digital whiteboard. You should try it out https://www.deekit.com/

We got to the point where everybody knows that software developers cannot possibly work productively for 8 hours a day.

Yet, the privilege of spending 2 non-productive hours somewhere else is costing the employee 20% of the salary.

It's almost like a tax on not partaking in optics.

ahah yes, true, and this makes people like he and i mad, i guess some kind of hyperactivity.

It is not hyperactivity, more like a waste of my time.

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