Comment by scns

2 days ago

Listening to music should work, no pun intended. Watching YouTube though?

Yeah I guess it’s probably not realistic for most factory jobs. I am just thinking that “get paid $20 an hour to do a simple task and watch YouTube/listen to music” is actually kind of appealing to many people.

  • This is a lot of security guard and front desk jobs. if a boss doesn't like smartphones on the job, I know people who read books or knit between tasks.

  • When I was 18 I got paid below minimum wage to sit in my car delivering pizzas while listening to the radio. Far better than the higher paid shop job I tried at university.

    Today with not just unlimited music (with no adverts), but the vast amounts of audio books you can listen to, it's even more appealing for people with limited financial obligations.

Having worked at a very simple factory job that involved hot-pressing plastic-aluminium film into shapes, yeah, that would end badly. It's unskilled job, that doesn't mean it's mindless.

If you look away from your job you might lose a finger,.. or *gasp* even worse, stop production!

> Watching YouTube though?

Yeah, I can't make that work. Only my most routine work can be done with the TV on (and providing it's my 5th rewatch).

  • It's a matter of habit and personal traits.

    I grew up doing homework with the TV on and still sometimes work with a tiny video overlay showing some anime or tv show.

    You basically pay attention to a small part of it, and switch focus as needed (pause your task or pause the video). You'll still miss a lot of the video but you just don't care.

    I know this is unthinkable to some people but I've met more than one person who does it, so it's not ultra-rare. Possibly related to ADD/ADHD? I don't know.