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Comment by dismal2 | Hacker News Reader

I'm reading this at work to not work.

Same here, I work quicker than most. I can get a day done in 3 hours and my employer wont incentivize me to work consistently at this pace (more capacity = more work). So I just limit capacity.

That's really not something to brag about. I've worked at two software companies in the Bay Area with people like you. At both companies, I put in well beyond a solid eight hours each day picking up the work that people like you are not doing. There are honest, hard working people you are screwing over.

I wouldn't be so sure, depending on his role in the operational scope he could be underutilized. I frequently find myself with too little to do because I can work quicker so I'm typically waiting for the people that need 8 hours+ a day to complete their responsibilities before I can make progress.

In my case, it's the people that think they're impressive working 8 hour+ days that need to learn to be more efficient that are causing issues.

Exactly. Some people work better when they're 'up against it' under a crushing deadline, or just don't take as long as the average person.

Personally, I am able to achieve a lot more when I am under the gun, and often find myself procrastinating until the last minute and then pull a rabbit out of a hat. This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it misunderstood. Some people work like marathon runners, some people work like cheetahs. The cheetah cannot be expected to be at full capacity 100% of the time.

If two people both produce the same output, but one of them needs 40 hours and the other can do the same work in 2, who is the 'inefficient' person here? Let's evaluate the product, not the workflow.

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