After my child was born, the way I work changed.
When you work from home, your day inevitably becomes fragmented. I focus while my child is napping, stop when they wake up, and resume when they fall asleep again. There are many days when working 8 hours straight is simply not physically possible.
Living this way, I started to wonder.
Five days a week, 8 hours a day. This is considered the "normal way of working." But why 8 hours? Why 5 days a week? When asked if there's a clear reason, I can't really answer.
For example, if there were a work style where you worked 7 days a week but only 5-6 hours a day, would that be "unhealthy"?
5 days × 8 hours = 40 hours. 7 days × 5.5 hours ≈ 38 hours. The total working hours are almost the same. In fact, the latter is slightly less.
How I Work Now
I now work remotely. The framework of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week is the same, but it feels quite different from when I commuted to an office.
I don't set an alarm in the morning. I sleep enough and start work when I wake up naturally.
If I get tired in the afternoon, I lie down for a bit. Even 15 minutes of sleep makes my head clear and the afternoon efficiency completely different. When I'm stuck, I sometimes take a shower or a bath. Strangely, solutions often come to me then.
This was unthinkable when I commuted to the office. But if this produces results, there shouldn't be any problem.
Can Recovery Only Come from "Extended Days Off"?
Resting on weekends to reset the fatigue from weekdays—I think many people do this. I used to as well.
But lately I've been thinking that real recovery might come from "daily margins" instead.
When I commuted to work, I worked 8 hours a day, and including commute time, I was tied up for 10-12 hours. What I could do on weekday evenings was limited, and even trying to recover on weekends, I never fully bounced back. Monday morning, starting tired again. I kept repeating that cycle.
Since switching to remote work, the commute time disappeared and my daily margins increased. Rest when tired. Sleep when sleepy. Just that changed how tired I got during weekdays.
If work ends in 5-6 hours every day, the afternoon 4-5 hours are free. You could exercise. Read a book. Play with your kids. Every day is like a half-holiday.
There's the idea that "you need one day a week completely away from work." But if you have enough free time and sleep every day, maybe you can recover without extended days off. Honestly, I still don't have a clear answer on this.
Not "Separating" Work and Life
There's this phrase "work-life balance." The idea of balancing work and life.
But lately I've been thinking that maybe the premise of "separating" work and life doesn't suit me at all.
Taking care of my child while working in between. Taking naps or baths in between work. Work and life are mixed together.
This isn't "unbalanced"—it's simply not separated.
Wake up at 6 AM, eat breakfast, work until noon. Done. Free from the afternoon. Such a work style isn't impossible.
They say the 2-4 hours after waking up is when your brain's concentration is at its peak. Finish work during that golden time, then rest. It makes sense.
The writer Hemingway reportedly wrote from 6 AM to noon and called it a day. Many people who do creative work adopt similar styles.
Separating work and life and securing time for each—that's one approach. But for some people, blending them together is more natural. Lately, I think I might be the latter.
An Engineer's Work Is Different from Factory Labor
I've worked as an IT engineer. From that experience, I think the current "be in the office for 8 hours" work style doesn't match the nature of engineering work.
In factory labor, running machines for 8 hours produces 8 hours of output. Without people, production stops. Time and output are proportional.
But engineering work isn't like that.
Even if you sit at a desk for 8 hours, if you can't concentrate, your output is close to zero. Conversely, 2 hours in the zone can produce a week's worth of progress. Time and output are not proportional.
When stuck on a bug, taking a walk or nap often leads to insights. Solutions sometimes come to mind while zoning out in the bath.
Neuroscience can explain this. When you consciously stop thinking, the brain's "default mode network" kicks in and organizes information in the background. Even during rest, your brain keeps working.
In other words, "resting" is part of the work.
If you write code when your mind isn't working, you'll find it full of bugs when you review it later. Sleeping for 30 minutes and writing for 1 hour with a clear head improves both quality and speed.
But in traditional work styles, napping would be seen as "slacking off." I sometimes think this evaluation standard itself is wrong.
This Applies to Other Jobs Too
I think this isn't limited to engineers.
Designers, writers, composers, video creators. For jobs where inspiration and concentration determine output, working in a fatigued state won't produce good results.
Researchers, data scientists, analysts. Jobs that involve thinking about complex problems are meaningless unless done with a clear head.
Marketers, consultants, producers. Jobs where ideas and judgment are the core value—even if you're there for long hours, it's wasted if your mind isn't working.
Conversely, customer service, healthcare, manufacturing lines, logistics—jobs where "being there" itself creates value have to be time-based. That's necessary in its own way.
However, for "jobs that can be evaluated by output," flexible work styles might be more suitable. At least, it seems unnecessary to uniformly require everyone to be present for 8 hours.
Why Doesn't It Change?
Why does a work style born in the Industrial Revolution era continue today?
I think there are several reasons.
Accurately evaluating "output" is difficult. Job content differs by person, and some work takes time before results are visible. In comparison, "did they arrive at 9?" is something anyone can judge. Managing by time is simpler and easier to understand.
There are also institutional issues. Labor laws, overtime pay, social insurance—they're all based on "working hours." Trying to shift to output-based systems creates complex issues with legal and institutional alignment.
However, managing by time has its good sides too.
In an environment where "work whenever as long as you produce results," some people end up overworking. They can't see the end and keep working endlessly. Time boundaries help prevent overwork.
Having uniform rules provides peace of mind for some. If it's decided "work from this time to that time," you don't have to think about other times. For some, high flexibility might actually cause anxiety.
So I can't say the current way of working is "wrong." It suits some people, not others. It just might not suit me—that's all.
Companies That Work Differently Do Exist
Some companies practice these work styles.
GitLab has over 2,000 employees in more than 60 countries but has no office. Everyone works remotely. Working hours aren't fixed—individuals decide when they work. Evaluation is based on "output," not "hours worked."
They emphasize asynchronous communication, with a culture where not responding immediately is fine. They reduce meetings and prioritize documentation. So even with time differences, people can work at their own pace.
37signals (Basecamp) has also embraced remote work since its founding. They wrote a book called "Remote" that spread the philosophy of remote work. During summer, they work 4-day weeks.
Interestingly, these companies focus more on "how to prevent overwork" than "how to prevent slacking." With high freedom, some people end up overworking because they can't see the end. So they intentionally set limits.
That such companies exist means alternative work styles are viable. They don't suit everyone, but they exist as options.
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Keep Asking the Questions
Writing this, I haven't arrived at answers.
I don't think 8-hour workdays are all bad. Some people work comfortably that way. Some find it easier to switch gears by resting on weekends. Some want to clearly separate work and life.
I don't have major complaints about how I work now. Compared to my corporate employee days, things have gotten much better. But I also think there might be an even more optimal way to work.
Why 8 hours? Why 5 days a week? Should work and life be separated, or is it okay to blend them?
By continuing to ask these questions, maybe the work style that suits me will gradually become clearer.
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