Then work part-time. Every second you're at work is a second you're a corporate machine. No wonder so many people don't get anything done, if they don't actually work the time they're paid to.
Exactly. I consider coffee breaks and the like to be a healthy part of work life balance. They stimulate new ideas and learning in a way that video conferencing does not. Software is not like back breaking warehouse labour (which I used to do). An unhealthy mind produces nothing but shit output.
I chose my field specifically because it matters to me what I work on and doing it while being surrounded by great people matters even more. Not as a means to an end. That would've just left me bitter fourty years from now.
I didn't even know software had big money until I joined the industry, which probably explains my whole philosophy WRT in-person work.