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Comment by MattGaiser | Hacker News Reader

> Work blends into life and it is very hard to keep it from. This gets worse depending on the company/role but in general these things tend to go the employers way not yours.

Am I one of the few that sees this as an enormous benefit? Work becomes a series of tasks I need to achieve throughout the day, like all the other tasks like laundry and doctors appointments.

I get to restructure what I need to do in a way that suits me best. I can push code at 11PM and go for a nap at 4PM if I choose (assuming no meetings).

Then my life isn't segmented into exclusive blocks. It is just one seamless integrated life.

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When an emergency comes up, you are right by your desk and it’s hard to not sit down to address it right away, even if it’s 11 PM. When you have a deadline it’s so easy to log back in after dinner and burn your night away working. As the work life divide begins to erode, burn out is a real risk. I see my computer and if I’m stressed about work I get stressed at times I’d have normally left it behind and not thought about it. I feel guilty if I’m not working late on something I think I’m behind on.

Keep in mind I have kids, a social life, etc. I’ve built my time around work/life balance and keeping the two distinct. It’s healthy for me in ways that having the two conflated never was. May not be an issue for everyone.

>When an emergency comes up, you are right by your desk and it’s hard to not sit down to address it right away, even if it’s 11 PM.

That happens when I work at the office. At least at the roles I work, I'm expected to be on call all the time to support production environments. I'll get a text or something and usually have to address it.

I realized that may have been a poorly made point on my part. If you are on call you’re on call. But a lot of “emergencies” in non-operational contexts can wait till the next day in my experience, and often do due to societal norms - everyone is home doing other stuff in the evening, we’ll reconvene first thing in the AM when everyone is together and fresh.

I can definitely see it when someone works later than usual (me) and is in the middle of something and has a question for someone who usually works at normal time or earlier than everyone else.

When I'm in that situation, I don't expect a response immediately. I know I'm a night owl and other people aren't. I'm sure other people do. At the same token, when I work late and the early people schedule an 8am meeting, it's the same.

Having said all that, the only difference for me in this scenario is whether or not I commute to the office every day. Same, same.

Consider a new, better role if you’re not properly compensated for both when you’re on call and when a response is required. Remaining in such a role is a choice.

I'm well compensated, but it's just the nature of development in every place I've worked.

Ideally (and, outside of the US, by law) the employer should set up a rotation schedule for being on-call. 24/7 on-call is toxic as hell, it only works for young singles that don't have any other responsibility than making rent.

Everyone in the team sharing the 24/7 works well for small teams. Nothing sucks more than knowing you are on call an entire night and having to remember not to do anything that may cause you to forget you're on call, become unreachabld (leaving your phone on silent or in another room for hours etc)

If I typically work in an office and an emergency comes up I have to address it anyways... historically, if you were not provided a laptop, this involved driving into the office.

If you personally struggle with keeping your work and personal life separate that's a personal problem and shouldn't be used as a bullet point in your list against WFM.

> that's a personal problem

Well, that personal problem affected _all_ of my co-workers when we were sent home during 2020, so even if experienced remote workers get it figured out, I think it still needs to be addressed and listed especially for those of us who are new to this.

Also, the downside is not just because of my struggle, management attempts to hinder that separation: "Its 8pm, but since your there with your laptop, would you mind...". And things that didn't use to be emergencies are now, since the level of effort to address them is considered significantly less (by your manager anyway).

It sounds like you have a shitty manager. You should more clearly lay out your work / life balance to him/her.

This is good if you want work to be a part of your life, which almost nobody wants. It's terrible for a good work/life balance, pretty soon you're going to be stressed 24/7 because you "should be working right now".

If you work in a team that requires lots of collaboration, you might not get to restructure work.

Can people call you or message you to clarify what you just now pushed at 11pm? Do you respond immediately? Let's say you do immediately because you restructure your night time as your best work time, does that mean you're automatically exempt from 8am meetings in a few hours?

Come to think of it. Pushing code at 11pm is not that unusual even pre-covid, but the expectation for the associated communication might be totally different.

> Work becomes a series of tasks I need to achieve throughout the day, like all the other tasks like laundry and doctors appointments.

I don't know about you but I'm not smart enough to feel that my job is as easy as doing laundry or going to the doctor. I'd rather finish all my work in one focused block of time and not think about it the rest of the day. Due to the pandemic destroying most childcare options, this is an unattainable dream for many.

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