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9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

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Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#11

Post by vvanders »

ubertaco wrote: post #6

This is predicated on the idea that you're only really productive in the afternoon, and that the morning is just wasted time. I'm most productive in the mornings, and my productivity only takes a dive in the afternoon because that's when all my meetings are. Turns out, anecdotes about an individual's workflow aren't broadly generalizable!

Yup 100% this.

I shifted my schedule to early morning(6-7am) just so I could get 3-4 hours of uninterrupted work in before the onslaught of meetings. Highly recommend it.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#12

Post by s73ver_ »

dboreham wrote: post #8

Nice idea but probably not written by someone who writes code or debugs for a living. Activities that imho benefit from long stretches of deep focus. Now perhaps you could work like that -- 16h sessions -- for three days then snowboard for the remainder of the week. That might work.

I don't see why. Part of the article is that you get down to what you need to do as soon as possible during the working hours. So you have your 1-6 (or whatever stretch of time you choose), you get down to it as soon as you can. No YouTube, no HN, nothing. Deep focus like that can really only be sustained for so long. I'd imagine that around dinnertime, I'd be ready to wrap up.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#13

Post by angarg12 »

I'm a Spaniard and I could never do that.

In order to be able to work like that you need a very specific set of circumstances, probably first of all being self-employed.

Since I work by contract for a company, and they force me to put 8 hours a day, I can't do that. However, it is true that I am the most productive in the afternoon. That is why I try to enter and leave work as early as possible, so that I can spend those sweet afternoon hours being productive.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#14

Post by davehtaylor »

ubertaco wrote: post #6

This is predicated on the idea that you're only really productive in the afternoon, and that the morning is just wasted time. I'm most productive in the mornings, and my productivity only takes a dive in the afternoon because that's when all my meetings are. Turns out, anecdotes about an individual's workflow aren't broadly generalizable!

I agree that the ideas aren't necessarily generalizable, but what if we shifted to an idea that people's individual schedules reflect when they specifically are most productive. Someone else who replied said they were most productive in the morning. Great! Let them have and earlier start time. For me, I'm completely useless in the morning. Sure, I can be in the office at 8:00am, but you're not getting any meaningful work out of me until late morning or noon-ish. So let me come in at noon and work until 6:00. And for someone else who is super productive in the evening hours, if they want to come in a 8:00pm and work until 2:00am, why not?

I get that there are issues of collaboration or interaction that may be necessary. But in general, it seems like, as long as your job doesn't depend on customer interaction or some other constraint, why not let people work a schedule that suits their lifestyle, and lets them work when they are most productive?

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#15

Post by everdev »

These ideas are interesting but it seems to suggest that if you work less you don't need as many breaks. Motivation for me comes in waves. When I'm inspired I can easily work 12-16 hours with just bathroom breaks. But, I can't induce those experiences, they just come.

My fear of a 5 hour day would be that I'd be running at 80% for 5 hours instead of 80% for 8 hours.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#16

Post by ubertaco »

s73ver_ wrote: post #10
ubertaco wrote: post #6

This is predicated on the idea that you're only really productive in the afternoon, and that the morning is just wasted time. I'm most productive in the mornings, and my productivity only takes a dive in the afternoon because that's when all my meetings are. Turns out, anecdotes about an individual's workflow aren't broadly generalizable!

I think the point is less about which actual hours, but more about focusing on those hours that you are productive, making those count as much as you can, and not forcing yourself to work more during those unproductive hours "just because".

I think you missed the part where those other, less-productive hours in my workday are spent in meetings with others. As in, that's part of my normal workday. And yeah, it may not be productive in the way I like, but it's necessary time to effectively collaborate.

This idealized notion of "when I feel like it" workdays is particularly unrealistic in a workplace where you collaborate across timezones. I work best in the morning Eastern time, and I have teammates on the US west coast. If there's any chance of working with them instead of around them, I can't just say "eh, I'm less productive after 11am Eastern, so I'm just gonna call it quits."

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#17

Post by djhworld »

ubertaco wrote: post #6

This is predicated on the idea that you're only really productive in the afternoon, and that the morning is just wasted time. I'm most productive in the mornings, and my productivity only takes a dive in the afternoon because that's when all my meetings are. Turns out, anecdotes about an individual's workflow aren't broadly generalizable!

I most productive in the morning too, I get into the office around 8:20am and leave at 4:20ish.

I can get the most work done between 8:20 - 13:00 or so, then lunch, then the productivity tails off after that

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#18

Post by hbosch »

ubertaco wrote: post #6

This is predicated on the idea that you're only really productive in the afternoon, and that the morning is just wasted time. I'm most productive in the mornings, and my productivity only takes a dive in the afternoon because that's when all my meetings are. Turns out, anecdotes about an individual's workflow aren't broadly generalizable!

I'm the opposite. I try and get every meeting possible in before lunch time, then I eat, and then I work until I have to go home. If I were a manager, I'd probably have less control over this... but if someone asks to meet with me after 2p, I always make an attempt to just have that same meeting the next day at 9a or 10a.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#19

Post by jimminy »

dboreham wrote: post #8

Nice idea but probably not written by someone who writes code or debugs for a living. Activities that imho benefit from long stretches of deep focus. Now perhaps you could work like that -- 16h sessions -- for three days then snowboard for the remainder of the week. That might work.

I used to do this, as a software engineer straddle 2 departmental areas, and I was explaining it to someone on Twitter last night,, in regards to my sleep schedule.

I used to go in right before lunch to avoid the impromptu meetings associated with people coming back into the office. Coming in 11am-1PM allowed me to block off my productive time and work until dinner sometime between 6-8pm; and then come back to problem solving after dinner. This gave me one 6-8 hour stretch of time with little distraction vs a 3 and 4 hour stretch with lots of distractions in the first period.

Re: 9-5 Is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead

#20

Post by JeanMarcS »

I work the over way (west side of the Atlantic, most clients in Europe). So I get up, work until lunchtime, and then my 5 hours working day is other if I want.

Of course it’s not everyday I don’t work in the afternoon, but it’s nice that you can spend the afternoon with the kids if you want.

Ok, sometimes duty calls in the middle of my night (last Tuesday I was woke up at 3am for an emergency on a client server) but in the 3 years I’ve been living this side of the ocean, it happened 7 or 8 tiles max.

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