a lot of the time it's merely the inertia of 'workplace culture'. japan and korea are the paragons at this distinctly 1980s-style type of corporate belongerism. they work the longest hours in the OECD and do not see any marked increase productivity as a result; often times, it actually does harm to productivity (to say nothing of worker happiness and mental health, natch).
i work 3.5 hours a day, 5 days a week but occasionally 6 if i feel like it, and make as much as i did when on a full-time salary. no bosses, no office politics, no 50 emails a day, no pointless meetings, no nattering on instant messaging, and no hours-long phonecalls with needy/remonstrative authors. feel like i've stepped into something of a socialist paradise, here.
could pretty easily make 2x as much as i did with a salary if i wanted to work full-time equivalent, but i'd rather go gawp at things on a beach and miscegenate with the locals. living abroad helps with this too, considering i'm invoicing about 5x the average national wage per hour.
you should look into it dilbert. another life is possible!
Last edited by uziq (2021-12-02 20:21:47)