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Comment by whateveracct | Hacker News Reader

> It is my experience this lifestyle changes and grinds your character and not in a good way.

1. It's not like I do a bad job. In the hours I do allocate to work, I do an excellent job. I am able to do this because I have been in this role for years and that experience justifies the salary if I just show up. It helps to be excellent - especially when the job is so effortless.

2. It's not a lifestyle. What I'm describing isn't a large part of my life or mindset. So it cannot degrade my character. Because my character is being enhanced by several other things going on in my life that I prioritize over work.

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It’s your life so take my bullshit morality with a pinch of salt, but you make it seem like at least three of your workdays are dedicated to this job. That seems significant enough.

I’m sure you do an excellent job and your boss is probably over the moon with you, but this is not about what “society” notices about you. This is about what you know. If I entered into contract and obliged myself to work a set number of hours (and not “productivity”) then I have honour-bound myself to that and all the mental gymnastics in the world cannot change that. I would know I could be more productive and that is actually contractually agreed upon, that’s the rub. If I thought otherwise I need to change the contract to “value of X” iso “X hours”. (And maybe you have such an agreement?)

That’s just for me though, I don’t judge you and I’m sorry if I seem that way. Just wanted to offer a counter to the “sucker” narrative.

idk about all that morality stuff. At the end of the day, my job has become a minimal part of my life. When you can sleepwalk and do a Good Job [1] and get paid a quarter million, why blink?

[1] I just probably saved my company my salary and change in the last month, for instance.

I understand and I applaud you. It’s a good life you got going there (it seems). I’m just personally grabbed by the question “what is virtue” in a way that’s hard to shake. I can come off annoying and I try hard not to.

Have a great weekend.

> I'm just personally grabbed by the question “what is virtue” in a way that’s hard to shake.

Personally, I'm with the GP here... I don't think you'll find it at the bottom of a (contemporary software engineering) employment contract.

I think you misundestand the purpose of your contract. Your contract is for you to produce value, not just to have your butt on a seat for 8 hours. The problem is that you cannot measure impact in a concrete enough way for a contract. So time is used as a proxy. If you cant deliver your impact in that time, you will get fired regardless. Just fullfilling the contract is NOT enough for the employer, so why take it literally yourself?

I'm afraid that "honor" thing happens one level beneath conscious understanding, so I can't talk myself out of it. I've tried, for years.

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