People are taking the one extreme example I gave of a day of not working as my typical day. That isn't the case. I do put in work. Maybe not as much as my coworkers, but I ship features, I close tickets, I do everything that everyone else does. I never try to pass anyone's work off as my own. The only dishonest part is that I'm not truthful about how much time it takes me to do the work that I do.
I don't take fish off other people's boats. I tell people I was fishing for 8 hours when I was really fishing for 2 and maybe blame the weather for why I didn't catch more.
I would be lying if I said there was zero "I'll be found out" stress and that was part of the motivation for this post. Hearing that other people do this too would reduce that stress. Although this has never been a particularly big stressor for me. That is especially true over the last couple years in which the world has presented us with so many bigger concerns. I also know that most companies aren't going to fire someone for poor performance with zero warning and I have never received any type of warning about performance in my career. I don't consider the possibility of being fired as an immediate concern.
I mentioned in another comment how working remotely has been a big productivity boost for those non-working work hours. Similar to tayo42 in another reply, it provides me the opportunity to do a lot of things that I previously did outside of work hours. One example is that I used to wake up an hour earlier to get exercise in before work. Now I sleep in and get that exercise in during the work day.
It is interesting the number of people who see this as a problem that needs to be fixed. Since this specific comment is near the top, I might as well address that here.
Why should I work more? How will that improve my life? My self-worth is derived from what I do outside of work to the extent that I don't prioritize professional validation. The primary reason I work is for money. I make enough money that I can live a comfortable life, I have few material wants, and I can be generous with my money. I am on pace to likely be able to retire in my mid-50s. I recognize that I likely could be making more money if I worked harder, but it wouldn't be proportional because compensation is not tied closely to production for individual contributors. A 50% increase in effort won't yield a 50% salary increase. Most of the added value from my increased effort would be captured by people above me in the org chart and our company's stockholders.
As it currently stands, I don't find it that difficult to find a new job. I do spend some time keeping up with the industry, I am on HN after all, which tells you I care more about software development as a skill than some of my coworkers. It isn't that I dislike the profession, I simply don't see the reward in working harder primarily for the financial benefit of other people.
>However! I will say that this way of working and living comes with some significant hazard to your mental health. Doing something you don't like, care about, or believe in for decades long periods of time can really mess with your sense of self worth and happiness in life. You only have one life, do something with it that is satisfying. Get out of the rat race.
This is where my comment about remote work comes into play. When I worked in an office, I spent most of the day just entertaining myself on the internet. That isn't great for long-term mental health. Now that I am working from home I can put in the same level of work while spending the rest of my work day in more satisfying ways as long as I keep an eye on my Slack and email for urgent issues. I can't imagine ever returning to an office in which there is more pressure to spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of my computer.
I have thought about switching careers a few times over the years. However anything I would want to switch to would require a big pay cut. My relatively high salary as a software developer is what enables the rest of my life. Maintaining that lifestyle is my priority as that is where I find my happiness.
I don't take fish off other people's boats. I tell people I was fishing for 8 hours when I was really fishing for 2 and maybe blame the weather for why I didn't catch more.