So would it be better for the company for me to take on 1-2 more tickets per sprint and then leave 1+ year sooner from the company because I'm burned out?

Retention isnt talked about often but if companies spent half as much time retaining employees as they do hiring new employees then they would be far better off. A new hire needs 3-6 months before they are going to be as functional as someone who has been with a company for several years.

Which leads right back to the "screw around until the clock strikes five" road, which leads to stress, boredom and resentment. Humans are not machines. 100% efficiency is a pointy-haired manager's pipe dream.

I've left these "time to lean, time to clean" jobs in the dustbin of my teens where they belong. It's a seller's market for us geeks right now; we should take advantage of it while it lasts and find good conditions for ourselves to work in.

Sure, I have time enough to pick up another ticket at 3:30pm. I also have time to fuck it up because I've already racked my brain fixing two other tickets, attending a morning standup, and sitting through a company-wide DEI webinar when I should have been having lunch.

So, what would you prefer? That I clock out early because I've put in a solid day's work despite not getting to have lunch, or that I do a half-assed job just to look busy that I'll just have to revert and fix the next morning?

One gets so utterly weary of all this Taylorist bullshit that managers get in the process of earning their MBAs.