Beware of those who say they have something in common with you, because they may be toadying up. However, boy do I agree with this statement:
How long I need to achieve that output is up to me. If I get it done in 5 hours a week, I gain some free time, to read, to pursue professional education or whatever
I had less of an issue with this in my work life. Whatever job I had, there always seemed to be more work waiting, so timing wasn't an issue. It was non-ending work. However, in school (elementary through high school) teachers seemed obsessed with controlling my time. They insisted I needed to do a certain amount of homework in order to succeed. This simply was not the case. It was the case with some students maybe, but I didn't need all that reinforcement and I resented having my 'free' time co-opted by a system. So I didn't do homework unless I needed it. This got me into a lot of trouble, but I lived through it.
Regimentation...when is that ever good?
I experienced the same at school. Way too much regimentation.