A question to all the excellent commenters here.
I work at a place where the company culture considers developers the same way as Macy's employees.
10 minute breaks for every 4 hours you work.
Surf the net, chat on IM, everything counts as work....except stepping away from the computer. Be seen away from your desk more than necessary, you get warned of 'not being available during core hours of business'.
I am a contractor and I get paid very well to care too much about the company culture.
My productivity is not the best but according to them, I am a star performer. I, personally can't sit longer than an hour without needing a break. I worked for startups with ping pong tables and one large workstation vendor that recently ceased to exist. I miss the culture at those companies.
The company culture where I work has gotten to me, where I am considering leaving my contract to focus on my personal projects.
What would you do?
I am the same way. I need a stretch break every hour.
When working in an office, I will take my stretch break and no one has said anything to me yet. If I was in your situation though, I would leverage the fact that they consider you a "star performer." Talk to your manager that you believe the breaks are what make you productive and see if he will turn a blind eye to them.
If he doesn't agree, then maybe that tells you your productivity is not really valued there as much as it would be someplace else.
My productivity is not the best but according to them, I am a star performer. I, personally can't sit longer than an hour without needing a break. I worked for startups with ping pong tables and one large workstation vendor that recently ceased to exist. I miss the culture at those companies.
The company culture where I work has gotten to me, where I am considering leaving my contract to focus on my personal projects. What would you do?