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Comment by sandworm101 | Hacker News Reader

>> If I need a 15 minute break, I can start a load of laundry, or run the dishwasher, or do some other chore.

That is not universal. That is a subset of work-from-home. Many people working from home can no more step away for a break than they would if at the office. For instance, customer support/contact people cannot just step away from the phone. Others working at home have employer systems that monitor them live. Any unscheduled breaks get noticed and recorded.

Even amongst highly-paid "knowledge workers" there are issues. I do occasional home days but am not able to take breaks. At any time one of my five bosses might call. We don't have any monitoring software but they expect me at my desk ready to respond, not walking the dog or doing laundry.

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Or my talk therapist girlfriend, for whom working from home still means having phone or video appointments starting and ending every hour. Though at least she can take a short break if someone no-shows (most of that time is for doing notes).

I suspect most people working from home have some opportunity to take breaks here and there, though. I'm aware of certain professions with invasive monitoring (I've seen nurses that work for pharmaceutical companies report this), but it doesn't seem to be particularly widespread. I'm not familiar with anyone in my personal life who have an expectation of immediate response to superiors (though on the rare case the CEO contacts you, you should make sure to get on that pretty quickly ... but that's why I get email on my phone/watch).

>> expectation of immediate response to superiors

It depends on whether you are working primarily via email/text or live talk/chat/webcam. When my boss calls me on the phone during the day he expects me to answer.

Not being able to take even a 15 minute break and having to report to five different bosses sounds like an outlier occupation in terms of austerity. What if you need to go to the bathroom?

I like to take walks around the blocks during very long conference calls. And for that matter I will walk around my house and advance the laundry or make a cup of coffee or just pace and wave my arms for a shorter and more involving call.

Five bosses? I'm genuinely curious how this works

At least it’s fewer than eight.

My guess is that it doesn't work as well as four bosses.

I laughed and upvoted, but you never know. Maybe the utility curve turns a corner.

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