Why there is an Eight hours effective time policy in companies? Like I cannot code more 4 hours max in a single sitting. What kind of efficiency they want from us.

You are allowed to take breaks, you know. I usually only do one heavy problem a day and fill the rest of the day with minor stuff. Although that does depend on the deadline though

It’s called kindergarten 3.0 ( 1. is school 2. Is university ).
They need to keep you long enough to tire you but not long enough to get you angry 🙂. So you get money for work and don’t have power to do something stupid or wise to get rid of job.

Your work schedule being 8 hours doesn't mean you have to be coding for 8 hours straight. Surely you have other things you can do in those 8 hours that are related to your work.

And you're not supposed to. Every 2 hours you should take a 15 minutes break, during which you should step away from your computer. These are the healthcare requirements for our jobs. And employer *MUST* allow us such breaks.

Don't work eight hours. Work 4 hours and do your own stuff in the rest

Are you really asking for the origin of the eight hour workday? Um, alright. Until the late nineteenth century the workday on average was much longer, until people banded together to form unions, and for whatever reason, eight hours was where the negotiation ended.

@bahua If you think about it, it's a third of the day for work, another third for spare time and another third for sleep. It's not a bad distribution.

That's why this platform and reddit exist.

I sit on StackOverflow half of my time, using questions and answers as general learning resources or answering questions as simple coding exercises.

You are a faucet to them. You show up, they turn the faucet on. Quitting time, they turn the faucet off. You can bet corporations are crapping their Depends because they have to give you 15 minutes break for every four hours worked and a half hour lunch break. They hate you for having human needs. And let's not get into health benefits and VACATION! Why do you need a vacation from this paradise [excuse me whilst I dislodge my tongue from my cheek with a chisel. OK OK OK, I like things a wee bit kinky...].

Actually, I've settled for 7 hours of work per day, that's enough.

@vane
your comment made me think about lot of stuff

@amirbig Thanks, that’s how this world works. If you’re born poor there is 99.9% chance you will die poor doing “your job”. You got that job only cause of pure luck or good day of some hr person who even doesn’t know you but for example had a good sex last night.
You could apply to this job cause some smart ass got lucky and sold something to thousands of people and he need help to sell even more of this shit right now. Why they bought it ? Who the fuck knows.

Good luck have fun.

Here's why we have flexible hours. Feeling productive? Work. Feeling you can no longer think? Take a break or go home

@ethernetzero I'd argue it's a terrible distribution. It's one third of the day for work itself. Plus your lunch break, any other breaks and commuting. Some people need more than eight hours of sleep (I need nine).

I sure wish I had one third of the day as spare time. And I wish I wasn't exhausted from the time away from home.

@VaderNT Those are your personal circumstances. Settling on ⅓ of the day on average for everyone looks like a reasonable starting point. If your needs are different, by all means, research and do whatever you need to have the best schedule for yourself.

@vane
Woow...
i should read more books.

It's eight hours because everybody wants a fairer world, but when its time to question the higher power, everybody just puts their tail between their butt and leaves the room, or mock the ones who try to change stuff. I had HR people clearly over-worked laugh at me because I said I wanted a 6/hour work day (i put hot reload and typescript in everything, to justify leaving earlier). The ones who oppress more are not on the top, they are our peers when they cockblock any change, and self censor themselves.

@ethernetzero
> Those are your personal circumstances.
No. Lunch breaks and commuting are common. That's the point. "8 hours work = ⅓ of the day" is too narrowly considered. But yes, personal circumstances get added on top of that.

> Settling on ⅓ of the day on average for everyone looks like a reasonable starting point.
My personal circumstances aside, I don't accept your claim that taking (at least) ⅓ of people's days "looks like a reasonable starting point". Do you have any arguments beyond looking like that to you?

@VaderNT Nope, it just looks to me like a good compromise and right now I can't think of a good reason why a different distribution would be significantly more acceptable for all sides involved.

But if you or someone else has reasonable arguments against it I'm all open to read them.

8 hours work
8 hours personal time
8 hours sleep

Seems logical to me

The bell system in public schools was to get the population ready for work in the factories.

The 8 hour work day was started by Henry Ford in an effort to keep his employees from working themselves to death. The number was completely arbitrary.

There is no statistical basis for the 8 hour work day. There is significant statistical support for the inefficiency and insanity of an 8 hour work day.

Bottom line: Output and worth as a human being isn't measured in your ability to keep your ass in a chair despite what these baby boomers may think. If your output isn't measured in terms of just that, what you're putting out, it's time to look for greener fields.

@brannfare HOW are you getting 8h sleep ?!!!!!

@TheCommoner282 I think WHO does.. Doesn't it?

One big problem that I think afflicts a lot of people is that they choose jobs or homes that require long, often stressful commutes. In my experience, that can exhaust me more than the actual work, and get in the way of enjoying what personal time I have, and endanger my livelihood by reducing my productivity.

It's because of this that I won't even consider jobs that require a long driving commute.