Another factor here is in a meeting-heavy agile environment, many engineers can't even give a good forward estimate of the number of "in the zone" hours they will have in the coming week.
As a developer my highest level of productivity was on a 2 person team with a bi-weekly meeting with our manager. We would have impromptu meetings when needed, but for the most part I was free to work 6-15 hours in a row whenever I got in the zone, and if I slacked off other times noone noticed.
Once we got more people and switched to scrum my productivity plummeted. My anxiety went through the roof. Most days the standup left me feeling like I wanted to go back to bed. Most of the time when I was in the zone and feeling engaged I had to waste it on meetings that had no tangible benefits.
Busy work is draining, management knows this, they don't care.
This is a big reason I'm still 100% satisfied being a solopreneur and working with specific clients I've chosen with lots of autonomy. Soooo much more productive and effective in terms of Getting Things Done™
As a developer my highest level of productivity was on a 2 person team with a bi-weekly meeting with our manager. We would have impromptu meetings when needed, but for the most part I was free to work 6-15 hours in a row whenever I got in the zone, and if I slacked off other times noone noticed.
Once we got more people and switched to scrum my productivity plummeted. My anxiety went through the roof. Most days the standup left me feeling like I wanted to go back to bed. Most of the time when I was in the zone and feeling engaged I had to waste it on meetings that had no tangible benefits.
Busy work is draining, management knows this, they don't care.