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Thank you for explaining this, it is very useful! However I object to your framing of 'this is everyone, oh except for those few routine workers, who aren't us of course' (perhaps this wasn't intended to reach 'those' people but I came across it and now I'm annoyed).

There are many more examples of people who do work full time hours such as waiters, call centre assistants, factory packers, drivers, hairdressers, cleaners, chefs and so on, who often get very few and short breaks (eg my friend gets 20 minutes per 8 hour shift at a shop). In my experience doing service jobs one common phrase is 'if there's time to lean, there's time to clean' (although there are natural breaks in some of these jobs).

I agree with your other points though, it isn't taxing mentally - apart from the often boring soul-sucking nature of some 'routine'/low-paid jobs...I have met many who hated their jobs in the service industry and I would hate to do full time in it. Minimum wage, too! Or 10p extra an hour for team leaders (at Wetherspoons that is). It would be great if everyone had the capability/talent/drive/intelligence/fortune to end up in a job where you only have to work up to four hours a day for a much improved paycheck. Except, no, we still need people in all those other jobs. Let's just be glad we aren't like those suckers!

Sorry if this is a low-awareness comment I just felt compelled to release my frustrations. I was already upset about inequalities in the workforce and generally and this has exacerbated it, even though I appreciate that just a few hours of more mentally intensive work can be taxing enough to correctly constitute a full working day. Maybe I won't agree with this later

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I'm just a humble production line worker, thanks for making this comment. Every minute of my working day is accounted for, its not possible for me to "take a minute" or the whole thing grinds to a halt, very physical but actually allows me to listen to audiobooks all day. I see it as my body employed but not my mind, an Andy Dufresne if you will.

Have a good day people.

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Don't worry Rachel, you weren't mean and expressed yourself well! Knowing David my guess is that he will appreciate your candid feedback.

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As someone who worked 12-hour shifts and occasionally never found time for a break at all because I was constantly keeping up with rolls, I would say that almost everyone can work steadily all day if you give them a machine to keep up with. Having switched to software development, I try to work 60 hours a week even though it's not required, just because I know I can do it and it's not really fair for my job to be so much easier *and* allow me to work less than what I could easily give.

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I understand the concept. My mileage varies. Variety and a sense of accomplishment help me move past the limits you described. I work as a security architect and I always seem to have multiple issues in the cook pot. I am able to schedule 2-3 one hour “hard thinky” sessions during a work day (on different topics) and a couple more research sessions in a day. I schedule blocks of time in advance and let meetings fill in the gaps. I find that busy work like finishing a slide deck or spreadsheet gives me a sense of accomplishment that helps me add additional “hard thinky” sessions. Accomplishment endorphins and variety are a big part of how I break past the limits you described.

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Hey...low provider....40h ??? I use amphetamines and do 30h per day....fukcing every day.

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