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How I got to 200 productive hours a month

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Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#201

Post by FigmentEngine »

ulkesh wrote: post #118

> Caution: The mentioned amount of hours is not advisable for people working on someone else's business for illusory stock options, with no payment for overtime. There's also no point in going beyond this number because working over 50 hours a week actually decreases productivity. Life should come first in the "work-life balance." Great disclaimer in the article. The only problem is that many employers will be quite…

the big problem is the lax use of the word 'productive'

creativity requires headspace. this article has some ideas that help. but fundamentally productive .neq. hours. Yes to achieve things you need to work hard, but its got to be smart.

headspaces, streams, blocks, downtime, outcomes. time-away-from-keyboard, physical movement, purpose. these turn your 20 hours into 2000 hours of impact.

measure outcome metrics not input metrics like hours

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#202

Post by falcolas »

tome wrote: post #46
kobeya wrote: post #8

> Two years ago I could spend a week not working because I was avoiding some task. This is a great article and there’s plenty to talk about in organizational systems, even if this seems to be subtly pitching his own products in places. But if anyone reading this identifies with this sort of chronic procrastination, consider seeking psychiatric help. This is a giant red flag for adult ADHD, which is a serious and ofte…

To add a counterpoint to all the apologetics, ADHD as a cause rather than as a symptom is a point of view dominant in the US and not shared by most of the rest of the world. If you're inclined to take drugs to try to fix it then so be it, but you might want to try behaviour change first. [FWIW this reply and "advice" is not directed at the parent, kobeya, but is a general point of information.]

Some quick video material about the belief that ADHD doesn't exist, and is not a treatable condition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5tLi1bYilA - informative and entertaining.

But don't just take their word for it, have a look at the reference material in the video description.

Another interesting, and emotional, view of the effect of not being on meds from the same artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD9qK8-sMGQ

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#203

Post by II2II »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #128
ulkesh wrote: post #118

> Caution: The mentioned amount of hours is not advisable for people working on someone else's business for illusory stock options, with no payment for overtime. There's also no point in going beyond this number because working over 50 hours a week actually decreases productivity. Life should come first in the "work-life balance." Great disclaimer in the article. The only problem is that many employers will be quite…

A well run company will always have more work for each employee than is possible for them to complete. This is because the employee is then forced to prioritise their work themselves and only focus on the pieces of work that align with their incentives. Which should align with the company incentivies. If this was not the case, then the organization would need to employ additional staff to plan work, in order to maxim…

> A well run company will always have more work for each employee than is possible for them to complete.

That depends.

It may do wonders for efficiency, yet there are a number of ways it can breakdown: failing to complete regulatory or contractual requirements is a big one, since they rarely allow for flexibility. Clients may not receive the service they expect, so the organisation's reputation will be damaged. In cases like that, prioritisation only really works to diminish the possibility that too much time is spent on small tasks or that efficiency is reduced by doing things out of order.

It also turn small problems into a crisis. With staff already working at capacity, there are very few options for handling the problem.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#204

Post by falcolas »

loco5niner wrote: post #132
exergy wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Not shared by the rest of the world" And that is their loss. ADHD is very much a cause whose impact goes far beyond just procrastrination. It causes people to be terrible spouses who are never there when they are needed. It causes lost friendships through blinkered social conduct. It causes persistent self hatred and anxiety and depression. "you might want to try behaviour change first" This is such a, forgive the…

> ADHD is very much a cause whose impact goes far beyond just procrastrination. It causes people to Just because ADHD causes other problems doesn't mean that ADHD itself comes out of nowhere. The previous post has a valid point that ADHD itself is a symptom of something else and that drugs aren't necessarily the best way to reduce/eliminate ADHD at the source.

The currently understood source of ADHD is a mis-wiring of the brain. Currently we don't know of a better way than meds to alleviate such a condition. CBT helps to a degree, CBT + meds works much better for more severe cases.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#205

Post by falcolas »

loco5niner wrote: post #146
tome wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As disinclined as I am to enter a discussion about this I'd like to suggest interpreting my hasty terminology "behaviour change" as encompassing a wide variety of behaviours, and not just of the affected individual. "Environment" might have been a better word. For example, under "behaviour" or "environment" as opposed to "medication", I include the poor conditions in public schools, the poor quality of food, the addi…

Thank you for saying the things I wanted to say. Environment is certainly the better word. Really, how much can an 8-year-old change? Not much. *edit - of course, there is a level of individual responsibility as well.

As someone diagnosed with ADHD in their mid 30's, I've had plenty of environment changes over the years (including with a Psychiatrist who understood my then-reluctant view on meds); honestly none helped me nearly as much as meds.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#206

Post by ryanschneider »

flyinglizard wrote: post #158
ulkesh wrote: post #118

> Caution: The mentioned amount of hours is not advisable for people working on someone else's business for illusory stock options, with no payment for overtime. There's also no point in going beyond this number because working over 50 hours a week actually decreases productivity. Life should come first in the "work-life balance." Great disclaimer in the article. The only problem is that many employers will be quite…

I'm thankful for working at a position where I enjoy putting in hours above and beyond what's required by contract. I'd advise anyone to prioritize having a work they thoroughly enjoy well ahead of a work that requires less hours. When you enjoy something, it makes sense to want to be doing that something for a prolonged duration.

> I'd advise anyone to prioritize having a work they thoroughly enjoy well ahead of a work that requires less hours.

Thanks, that's really insightful. I've been trying to minimize my work hours lately, but am starting to realize it might be that I'm not enjoying the job as much as I should be.

Seems like the ideal job would be one that you _could_ get done in minimal hours but _don't want to_. If you find yourself in that situation, you have a lot of control of your work/life balance.

At that point whether you are doing it for yourself or an employer doesn't matter as much, though it's pretty hard to find companies that measure employees on output rather than input. Or rather, ones that understand that more input _from a given developer_ won't necessarily deliver more, or at least higher quality, output.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#207

Post by bjourne »

pasta wrote: post #25
kobeya wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have ADHD it’s not so simple. When I’m off my pills — which is to say every day of my life before I was diagnosed — I don’t really make conscious decisions about such things. I open my computer to work and find myself on Twitter or Facebook or HN or whatever 20min later without thinking about it. I mean that literally with no hyperbole. ADHD manifests from an under developed or under stimulated prefrontal cort…

I absolutely don't want to be rude, but the 'inventor' of ADHD (Eisenberg), when he died, said that ADHD is a pharmaceutical dease and the cause is social. Wrong food, bad sleeping habits, wrong teaching methods all influence the way we get stimulated. Studies agree with this. I am not saying you don't have a problem, because I also feel like someone who has ADHD and feel a lot like the author of the article. But I a…

> I absolutely don't want to be rude, but the 'inventor' of ADHD (Eisenberg), when he died, said that ADHD is a pharmaceutical dease and the cause is social. Wrong food, bad sleeping habits, wrong teaching methods all influence the way we get stimulated. Studies agree with this.

Do you know anyone with ADHD? When you talk with them and something happens, like a phone rings, their minds completely zoom out and they instead become focused on something else. It is not possible to continue the original conversation because they have forgot everything about it. It can be incredibly frustrating because it is like talking to a human gold fish. Although they can't do anything about it because it is just the way they are.

My point is that it is incredibly obviously a clinical condition and not something "behavior change" can fix.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#208

Post by whiddershins »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #128
ulkesh wrote: post #118

> Caution: The mentioned amount of hours is not advisable for people working on someone else's business for illusory stock options, with no payment for overtime. There's also no point in going beyond this number because working over 50 hours a week actually decreases productivity. Life should come first in the "work-life balance." Great disclaimer in the article. The only problem is that many employers will be quite…

A well run company will always have more work for each employee than is possible for them to complete. This is because the employee is then forced to prioritise their work themselves and only focus on the pieces of work that align with their incentives. Which should align with the company incentivies. If this was not the case, then the organization would need to employ additional staff to plan work, in order to maxim…

This comment is an oversimplification.

There are many situations where the marginal cost per employee is negligible, but the cost to missing deadlines or failing to complete every item is significant.

Re: How I got to 200 productive hours a month

#209

Post by mbrock »

samzhao wrote: post #186
mbrock wrote: post #26

TL;DR: Basically getting up early and doing 4 hours of deep work has changed my life from really stressful and bad to really productive and nice. One thing really fundamentally helped me, as someone who works from home on a large project in an asynchronous 100% remote organization. I work on a fairly involved project that demands a lot of hard work. At the same time there are other things I want to get done: some adm…

How did you get your employer to agree to 4-hour work days? The first half and one of your comment replies spoke to me deeply - especifically the part about having the feeling of never having done enough, haunts me everyday, but also pushes me. So thanks so much for writing this! Just wish you could speak more about how you were able to negotiate your current work schedule.

I don't have an employer that cares about my schedule. It's literally never come up. My daily productivity has increased noticably since this regimen, and if my employer didn't understand that as a benefit, they'd be silly.

By the way I'm active for more than 4 hours a day, and after the morning sprint I'll spend some time chatting about business, reading and learning, triaging issues, etc. It's just that I don't spend more than 4 hours intensively coding or debugging.

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