
Overworked? Good habits, not holidays, are the answer - bootload
http://theconversation.com/overworked-good-habits-not-holidays-are-the-answer-17744
======
simplemath
Overworked?

Everyone is overworked. We live in a post scarcity industrial world, or very
very close to it, and bad actors have gobbled up the spoils of the huge gains
in productivity in the last 50 years.

How much of the entire economy is predicated on grey money? How much of _your_
time is indirectly consumed by this leviathan?

The more I think about it, the more i want to opt out of the entire fucking
thing.

~~~
golergka
I really hope you're talking about taxes. That's where half of my salary is
going to, not to some mythical "evil rich", but to pay for beurocracy and
welfare programs.

~~~
Retric
My taxes are inflated so rich can pay a lower percentage than I do or even
just skim off the government. Beyond that, my Rent and healthcare costs are
ridiculously inflated, but you can find a lot of padding in other areas.

FYI even just at the federal level things are effed up. 33.9% of taxes
collected are payroll taxes, but social security caps at ~120k. Hint it's just
a tax, you can receive benifits without ever working and millions on
disability are simply pulled off welfare rolls.

~~~
refurb
Top 1% of income earners pay 50% of all federal income taxes collected.

What would you consider a "fair" share of the top 1%'s wealth?

~~~
Tsagadai
Volume and proportion are not the same thing. 50% of net is very easy when you
have >10% of all wealth. No super rich individuals are taxed at 50% either of
their net income either (if they are they are doing their taxes themselves and
their lawyer is a fool), it is more common for ultra high wealth individuals
to pay less than 10% of their net earnings.

~~~
refurb
I see your point, but don't forget that almost 50% of Americans don't pay any
federal tax at all.[1] In fact some of them get EITC, so they are getting
_free_ money from the government on top of keeping all of their salary.

So my question still stands, what would be a fair breakdown of tax burden? Top
1% pay 100% of all income taxes? 90%?

I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm asking an honest question.

Unless we know what "fair" looks like, we don't know what needs to change.

[1][http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/07/in-2015-45-percent-of-
amer...](http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/07/in-2015-45-percent-of-americans-
will-pay-no-federal-income-taxes/)

~~~
CJefferson
Asking the question what should the 'top 1%' pay is (in my opinion) the wrong
question.

A better start (for me) is to ask what % of tax the people with the (for
example) top 50% of income, or top 50% of wealth, should pay.

If the top 1% has (for example) 90% of the income, then only paying 50% of the
tax might be considered unfair.

~~~
refurb
_If the top 1% has (for example) 90% of the income, then only paying 50% of
the tax might be considered unfair._

The only number I could find is that the top 1% earns 22% of all AGI (adjusted
gross income). This is income after all deductions, etc; the amount of income
the tax rate is applied to.[1]

I'd be interested to see how much of all income is earned by the top 1%.

[1][http://taxfoundation.org/article/summary-latest-federal-
inco...](http://taxfoundation.org/article/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-
data-0)

~~~
Retric
AGI is a lie.

EX: Calculate bill gates lifetime wealth and lifetime AGI. Hint, that 30
billion he donated never counted as AGI.

~~~
refurb
AGI is not a lie, it's Adjusted Gross Income, that is the income you actually
pay tax on.

It's not like it's some super secret formula that no one knows how to
calculate.

~~~
Retric
Income is income, Adjustment is where the lie comes from.

Sure, you can pretend it's meaningful number, but ex: charitable donations are
not deductible from payroll taxes so they are clearly not going to reduce
income. Or for a more obvious example, donate 1 million in appreciated and you
get to deduct the full 1 million from income. (see if you can spot the problem
with that.)

PS: Hypothetically, if they said AGI was income - 95% of income over 10
million per year would you still use it? After all that's just an adjustment.

~~~
refurb
I have no idea why you are calling it a lie. The AGI is clearly "adjusted" and
the formula is public.

This might be more interesting...

In 2011, households in the top, middle, and bottom quintiles received 52, 14,
and 5 percent of the nation's before-tax income, respectively; the shares of
federal taxes paid by those households were 69, 9, and 1 percent.[1]

So the top quintile earns 52% of the before-tax income and payers 69% of all
taxes. The bottom quintile earns 5% of all before-tax income and pays 1% of
the taxes.

[1][https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440)

~~~
Retric
Again with the biased (and federal only) numbers.

 _Market income consists of labor income, business income, capital gains
(profits realized from the sale of assets), capital income excluding capita l
gains, income received in retirement for past services, and other sources of
income._

That 30 billion Gates donated would could for 0 on that scale making it BS.
Use of a company jet for 1 year, 0.

PS: Of course it's also pretending the top 0.01% is the same as the top 1%.

------
sremani
Some are missing the point, most of the work we as software developers does
not need long hours but deep focus. The best of the best are able to have 4
hours worth of deep focus, and we are lucky to get an hour or two of it. That
would be huge. So the good habits that help us with focus and emphasizes on
recovery like walking in the woods (our natural habitat), meditation etc. Its
not the time, the hardware of brain is pretty much fixed, its the software,
habits and mindset that make the difference.

~~~
arca_vorago
On the same point, this is one of my primary frustrations as a sysadmin,
because sometimes I need to be available lickety-split, but sometimes I need
to be in deep focus mode, but my office environment isn't very conducive to
deep focus mode... so sometimes I have to disappear myself to a hidden place
just to get some thinking in.

Or, what happens more often, is that my productivity suffers and I end up
staying late till everyone has gone away so I can actually not be interrupted.

Also, I really don't like shared open office spaces, and as a vet with ptsd, I
really don't like having my back turned to the door, but management wants to
be able to see everyones screen as they walk by.

While we are talking about overworked, the other issue that bugs me is
disparity in expected work vs pay. To me, employment is a contract of goods
and services. You pay me money to get a job done at a certain level. If you
want me to be superman, you better pay me more like it! Instead, I continually
hear the guys who have worked at a place more than 15 years say "You have to
put in the work and effort and then hope they give you that raise, perk,
etc...".

I don't think the baby-boomer generation realizes that there is no such thing
as company loyalty in the big scheme of things anymore, especially in an at-
will state. I'm tired of employees bending over backwards because they bring
no power to the negotiating table on just about anything. I have a personal
life and identity that is completely separate from work and I intend to keep
it that way. If you pay me enough I would reconsider my work life balance, but
I'm not going to do it for free and hope for it, it needs to be a deal struck
in agreement between both parties and in contract form.

If there is one thing I could encourage we teach IT workers, it's the power of
learning how contract law works, and all the stuff that comes with that. (eg:
no you don't have to sign that, yes you can amend it, no that TOS is bad and
unenforceable, that falls under the UCC, etc)

~~~
learningMachine
Any good suggests on where to learn how contract law works?

~~~
arca_vorago
I would say start with some business law lecture series. I love the move from
some of the best universities to put that sort of think online for free.

------
droithomme
So "instead of" taking an annual vacation, one should limit their work hours
to 48 hrs a week, organize their time better, and take up a hobby like
knitting.

I've got a better idea. Keep the vacation and cut work hours down to 40.

~~~
gerbilly
>I've got a better idea. Keep the vacation and cut work hours down to 40.

Pff, more like we should go to 35hrs with mandatory _paid_ overtime and also
_increase_ vacation to 6 weeks.

And also demand reparations for all the stolen time. (Real pay hasn't
increased since 1970.)

After that we can talk about taking it further.

~~~
kagamine
Welcome to Norway except for the bit about reparations, and it's 37.5 hours.

~~~
metachris
Here in Austria its 38.5hrs, 5 weeks vacation, and in June and December
employees receive a doubled monthly salary ("vacation money" and "christmas
money").

~~~
varjag
If it's anything like Norwegian "christmas money", it's just a tax accounting
rule where you pay for it the other 11 months in year.

~~~
kagamine
Still a huge relief come December, as is holiday money in the summer. It
probably works as a huge benefit to the economy too, although I have no
evidence to back that assumption.

------
cballard
> So if we need to work long hours, what can we do to recover?

 _Not_ work long hours? This is what unions are for (now, if we could just
have one without dues/political contributions).

~~~
Apocryphon
I've long been a proponent for hackers to "disrupt" labor by reinventing
unions. (And call them guilds, because hey it's a name that works on multiple
levels).

On the subject of dues being required to pay for full-time guild leaders as
brought up in the sibling comments, that makes sense. But could it be
supplemented by crowdfunding and alternate pay models, instead of mandating a
set price? Tiered membership? Freemium guilds? Free 2 Protest?

On a less semi-satirical level about startups, hackers already voluntarily
contribute willingly to non-profit endeavors, namely open source projects, and
sometimes causes such as Wikipedia/Wikimedia, the Internet Archive, even tech-
related lobbying like the EFF, etc. Surely some could put that same spirit of
voluntarism towards supporting their labor class.

~~~
cballard
Maybe unions (which are large monolithic organizations covering many
employers) are not what I'm looking for.

It just seems that more startup engineering teams should engage in collective
action, because in many cases, if the entire team left, the company would be
crippled.

~~~
bgilroy26
The continued success of professional sports players unions supports this
idea.

------
sandworm101
>>> So instead of having large breaks every few months or once a year, it’s
better to incorporate simple recovery practices into your everyday routine.

Is this some Orwellian nightmare? Rather than have the workers do less work
through holidays, let's have deal with the stress during their off hours.
Don't take a 2-week holiday, just exercise more every day. Sitting at a desk
all day isn't making you fat, it's that you're spending the hour between work
and sleep with your kids rather than at the gym.

Some things matter more than productivity. Give your people the time off they
need. Or how about just allowing employees to exercise and de-stress on
company time.

~~~
readymade
Agreed, I'm kind of shocked people aren't seeing this for what it is.

Like the much ballyhooed open office plan, or the typical "we don't track
vacation time" policy in modern startups, the real bottom line, so to speak,
is always the bottom line.

It may very well be that employees who don't take vacations are more
productive, overall than those who do. But by placing the burden of self-
repair entirely on the employee, on their personal time and dime, the employer
effectively washes its hands of the matter. If we take this article to its
logical conclusion, burnout is your own fault, even in the face of
pathological organizational structures, workloads, etc. That's an outward
radiation of risk and responsibility par for the course in the new economy.

------
foxbarrington
If anyone's interested in the tl;dr bullet points:

    
    
      * At home have a sense of separation (psychological detachment) from work:
        * avoid work emails at home
        * incorporate a ritual like changing out of work clothes
        * get fully immersed (no negative work thoughts) in a sport, exercise, volunteering, musical instrument, or other creative pursuit
      * At work reduce nagging thoughts of "unfinished business"
        * plan and organize your work day / develop a clear picture of what you can realistically get done during the day
        * do not start a new task right before leaving
        * take rest breaks, and seek out natural environments if possible,
        * do not do errands on a break

------
diogenescynic
As someone who routinely has more work than they can finish in an 8-hour work
day, the headline and article strike me as tone-deaf and victim blaming. It's
simply not possible to solve the overwork problem entirely by 'good habits'
alone. When you do a good job digging ditches, often your reward is a bigger
shovel. When you do well, somehow more work finds it's way to your desk. I
don't think you can always be finding ways to optimize when your workload is
constantly expanding. Sometimes you have to get up early and stay up late to
finish a project.

~~~
neltnerb
First, it's clearly talking about steady state, not emergencies. And if you're
always in emergency mode these are even more important to know about in terms
of the psychology...

Maybe you can't stop reading email or have time to go biking after work, but
ten minute breaks to go outside scattered around the day? Creating a ritual to
help your brain to switch from hard core work mode to resting mode?

It can literally just be a cup of tea when you get home. It doesn't have to be
hours of time and energy, but the point that not doing so will cause you to
become sick is certainly accurate.

But I think the point of the article was how to cope with overwork and reduce
your stress, not to actually reduce your work load.

~~~
diogenescynic
>it's clearly talking about steady state, not emergencies

I'm also clearly talking about steady state, not emergencies--that's what I
meant by "routinely." Yes, taking breaks helps and so do rituals but it
doesn't make the work go away or let you get home any sooner. My point is that
some jobs always have a backlog or glut or work to catch up on. Usually this
is because the company purposely under-staffs the position/department.
However, I don't see these systemic issues as something the individual can
change. They can merely cope or find a new job--neither of which provide an
'answer' as they headline implies. Healthy work habits are great, but it's no
solution to simply being overworked.

------
FreedomToCreate
These points are spot on, but I also believe these are common sense things
everyone knows. The issue is that its extremely difficult to detach from the
digital world and many jobs require you be available at any time. A a previous
job (they named themselves after a fruit) I couldn't even think about turning
my phone off. I was pretty much on call 24/7\. Companies are global, and there
are always problems to deal with and any time of the day.

~~~
stuff4ben
Yep, my company has the same tendencies. Some folks I work with have their
phones configured for company email which I refuse to do. When I'm home, I'm
home and it's the only time I have with my family. When they're all asleep and
the wife is watching her netflix, I'll usually jump on the VPN but turn off
email and IM so I can get real work done. Most of my days are sadly filled
with meetings and email, the 30-60 minutes of extra work I occasionally do at
home does wonders for my productivity.

~~~
thorin
While I understand your pov,why don't you flag to your boss if your feel you
are spending too long on meetings and emails and find time during your actual
working day to do that work. I'm a family man too and I've made a decision
that any evening work except emergencies will be stuff I enjoy such as
researching a new technology experimenting in code watching tech videos or
reading tutorials not corporate "work"

------
hackercomplex
I have an idea. What if some startups began incorporating hiking and/or
climbing (easy/moderate skill level) into their process ? You can find
trailheads that have wifi at various waypoints. The team could plan challenges
and expeditions that span multiple days, but instead of hiking all day like
the pros they set a less grueling pace and hack more. The company could
purchase gear, and could rent private wifi-shelters along the way that are
stocked with modern amenities, tiki torches, rest rooms, ready-to-go-bonfire
pit, gormet catered cuisine, and more. This way there really is a comfy
environment to spend time resting and working (perhaps for more than one day)
at each major waypoint. There could be pre-planned short nature hikes around
the waypoint, and the team could engage a nature conservationist or an expert
on the local geography.

I imagine that this kind of expedition planning could even be provisioned
somehow as a service, so there might be a startup idea in there somewhere :)

I'm imagining a good way to ease into it might be first climbing the flatirons
in Boulder or Stone Mountain in Atlanta.

------
q-base
From reading the comments a lot of people take a really negative spin on this
for some reason. I only see it as trying to explain that if you rely on
vacations alone then you could still be overworked and stressed. They only dim
the symptom but does not cure the disease. If you are overworked and stressed
a vacation might help in the short run but if you go back into the same
routines, then of course you'll end back where you were before taking the
vacation.

What they do advise instead is working on the disease itself and try to manage
your day-to-day better instead of ONLY relying on annual holidays. They aren't
saying you shouldn't take holidays only that they won't cure all your stress
permanently.

I think this is good advice. Not groundbreaking or new knowledge, but still -
good advice!

------
drjesusphd
I always thought there was something wrong with me because I don't feel
"recharged" after a vacation. Of course, sometimes a break is desperately
needed, but there always seems to be a period of readjustment where work was
harder than before I left.

------
PeterTMayer
You might get better organized daily and find a good hobby but vacations are
important, especially if you spend it with some traveling. A good hobby I
recommend everyone that will help you totally tune out from your work is jiu
jitsu.

~~~
preordained
>A good hobby I recommend everyone that will help you totally tune out from
your work is jiu jitsu

Yes! If people only knew the type of escape that was possible, both mental and
physical. American blackbelt Chris Haueter once recalled how he would eagerly
drive hours to the gym in his shitty car, from his shitty job and shitty
relationship, because he knew it would all roll off him when he hit the mat.

~~~
PeterTMayer
Learning to escape is part of the mental chess, what jiu jitsu is. Many people
bring a bunch of sacrifices for the love the gentle art. :)

------
elcct
Regardless of how much time you you spend at work I think having a couple of
weeks in a year for yourself to explore the world or be it just mindlessly
staring at the sea waves is a reality check and time when you can evaluate
whatever you are doing. It is also a good benchmark - if your current job
doesn't allow you to do that then - is this a good job? Or you can't really
afford to go at the other side of the world, then - am I being paid right? Go
figure...

~~~
maxxxxx
Vacations also can bring interest in your work back. I used to do freelancing
and take off at least 8 weeks a year. When I worked I was really interested in
my work and put a lot of effort in. Now I work in a corporation with only 3
weeks vacation and it's just one big long never-ending drag of the same thing
again and again. The quality and creativity has gone down a lot. I just don't
care that much anymore.

------
timwaagh
forgive me for saying this but the title sounds like an employer (or someone
paid by industry) feeling bad about that employees are complaining they get no
holidays. corporate ethics is the answer. not a blog article.

