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Comment by glesica | Hacker News Reader

  > "...work is valuable in itself."

This is it. We have been fed a lie that "work" has intrinsic value and that people who don't want to work constantly are somehow inferior or immoral. Worse, "work" has come to be associated more with occupying a particular area in space during particular times than with actually accomplishing anything.

I work relatively little (I'm 31 and I've literally never worked 40 hours a week) and I've actually had people ask me, incredulously, what exactly I DO all the time if I'm not working. As though there aren't a million wonderful things to do at any given time and I'm wasting my life by NOT "working" more. Very sad.

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Out of curiosity, how are you able to work as little as you do?

To be fair, I worked nearly full-time for several years (37.5 hours per week, government job which also had a ton of paid time off) and then I've been back in school for the last couple years, which pays me a stipend. I also work part-time as a software developer. But, basically, I just don't have a ton of expenses (I don't own a car, I have lived in cheaper areas, I have no children). I will likely end up with a full-time job in the near-ish future. If I had it my way, I would always work part-time, but it is quite difficult to find good part-time work, and that is sad.

What is full time in the US? I've worked 35 and 37.5 hour jobs and considered both full time. Neither are unusual in the UK.

Of course being in IT the actual hours worked are usually more than that.

Full-time is generally 40 hours per week in the US, although there are always exceptions. The vast majority of "office" jobs, however, insist on 40 hours per week.

I asked for a part-time position (3 days a week).

It helped that I could truthfully claim that I pursue a college degree on the side (distance learning, so it's possible to schedule work and study), but it went through with surprisingly little effort.

Meanwhile my coworkers are wondering that this is even possible (and sound mildly envious, in a good way).

Pointing to a hobby is always a great way to silence these ("what are you doing?") questions.

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