I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive • Hacker News Board

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#131

Post by ilaksh » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 12:43 AM UTC

I have worked from home as a software engineer for almost all contracts for the last 7+ years and would like to mention how it is for me.

The key point from this article to me is "just telling someone I was going to do something made me get it done".

So what keeps me on track is that I discuss with the client every week or few days what it tasks I should to try to complete. This is based on his priorities for requirements and the technical issues that I know about. Usually there are one or two primary tasks and one or two secondary that I honestly say may not get completed.

Every 1-3 weeks usually one or more of these items is something concrete that is supposed to show up in a computer program or report that the client will actually see or touch.

So for there is usually already an accountability structure. It's just not someone looking over my shoulder constantly.

I have actually worked on Upwork or whatever they call it with the constant screenshot of what you are doing. To be honest, in a way that does make you productive. However it also makes life more stressful. And I feel like I would prioritize more poorly because I didn't want to look idle so rather than doing a hard task that might require more thinking or googling or something, I might be more inclined to tackle easier tasks that would make things seem more productive from the screenshots. Overall there was just a constant distraction of wondering what people would think if they reviewed the session. I would never willingly choose to work like that again.

When I don't actually have someone looking over my shoulder I honestly do spend somewhat more time on non-work items. However, it seems like my this is automatically limited by the needs of the task items which I will be reporting on to my client in a few days or a week. And even on days when I am getting distracted, I put my main energy into my tasks until they are completed.

The idea of absolutely constant supervision during work only really makes sense when there is no trust or real respect for the worker and no other way to have accountability. I am worried that this type of article or service may reinforce management's tendencies to not respect or trust workers and want constant proof of total productivity from the wage slaves.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#132

Post by perl4ever » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 1:21 AM UTC

noego wrote: post #129

perl4ever wrote: post #126

I used to think that the sense of "having to look over my shoulder" with all the productivity monitoring going on was what made me miserable at work. But I'm now in a different environment, and it has been revealed to me that the issue I had was not at all what I thought. The problem was that I was formerly employed to do technical stuff and all of the administrative work was just piled on as extra stuff, theoretical…

You've touched upon something that made me find work a lot more bearable as well. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what your designated "primary" task is, as long as you tell yourself that your primary task is to do whatever the business requires. I used to get extremely frustrated whenever I got bogged down by inefficiencies, grunt work, or bad technical/business decisions made by others. Until one day I came to the re…

Your comment reads as a rah-rah for adjusting your own mental state by force of will. I want to make it clear that is not what happened to me. I can't do that, don't believe I have ever done that, and I honestly believe it is a myth that anyone can, although I might for politeness not challenge someone who claims to.

I also have found that I have no increased tolerance for what feels like abuse when I am paid more.

The only way I have ever improved my situation is by seeking out an environment in which the people I directly dealt with were clear about what they want from me.

If you see your job as doing what the business requires or needs, that's easy to say, but nobody knows what it needs! Even the CEO probably doesn't have a clue. Any large business is IMO mostly a kind of self-organizing machine with random actions directed from the top. For years, my employer was doing acquisitions and trying to diversify. Then they reversed it all and broke up their parts under different names.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#133

Post by wisty » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 1:22 AM UTC

StaticRedux wrote: post #29

Now do that for a month. Or even a week. You may be more productive bc you don't want to be seen as slacking off with someone watching, but maintaining that kind of pace is untenable. Did you ever get stuck and check your email or Facebook just to give your brain a little break? Did you ever sit, unsure of your next move? Or did you do the first thing you thought of, even if it was wrong, so you didn't look like you…

I'd imagine that after a week you'll start checking email (because that's still work, right?) and after a month you'll be on Facebook because really, who cares about some stranger knowing you're procrastinating?

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#134

Post by mordymoop » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 1:44 AM UTC

StaticRedux wrote: post #29

Now do that for a month. Or even a week. You may be more productive bc you don't want to be seen as slacking off with someone watching, but maintaining that kind of pace is untenable. Did you ever get stuck and check your email or Facebook just to give your brain a little break? Did you ever sit, unsure of your next move? Or did you do the first thing you thought of, even if it was wrong, so you didn't look like you…

Maybe. On the other hand, the human animal has a powerful capacity to decide that whatever it’s doing is the good and right and normal thing to be doing. After a month you’re just as likely to be completely acclimated as you are to be suicidal.

There’s also the element that when a stranger (or a subordinate) is watching you don’t just act busy — you act like you enjoy your job, you show off a bit. This is the kind of performance that soaks into the skin and becomes real.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#135

Post by hopler » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 1:57 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #112

myth2018 wrote: post #79

Procrastination has destroyed my life. Three years ago I finally achieved my dream of working from home. I was writing my thesis and believed I could finish my masters in 8 months. I decided to fully focus on it and, afterwards, I would create my long dreamed own software company. It worked really well for some weeks. I was much more focused than I used to be working in regular offices, with bosses. But soon I starte…

> I have no wife anymore and I feel pretty bad and alone. If you lost a spouse just because you had a bit of a down period in your life where you procrastinated, the problem in that marriage most likely wasn't you...

You have no idea what happened in the marriage while poster stayed home doing nothing of substance for half a year

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#136

Post by glennpratt » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 2:24 AM UTC

mratzloff wrote: post #124

williamdclt wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one way to see it. Another way is "I've shown that I got some unleashed productivity potential. How can I make it sustainable rather than an exhausting sprint?". In other words "how to make it a habit", habits are easy to sustain I'm not arguing for having a stranger watching you all the times or that you should only think about productivity, just that it shows that there's a margin for improvement that can't…

It's not sustainable. Your brain needs downtime, just like you can't run everywhere you go.

This is not black and white, many of us procrastinate in ways that are not always a healthy break and finding ways to curb some of that is not bad.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#137

Post by _bxg1 » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 2:40 AM UTC

I wouldn't want to work remote full-time, but that's because of the isolation, not a lack of productivity. When I do work from home now I'm far more productive than in the office. I can sit back and think about problems from a higher-level perspective without that constant itch to feel like I'm looking busy. Of course, the reason I don't get distracted is that I'm fortunate enough to enjoy my job, and I realize that doesn't apply to everybody.

Still, when I was freelancing I dealt with a significant amount of loneliness, such that I now actually enjoy the buzz of a workplace, so I could see using a service like this if I worked from home constantly.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#138

Post by technofiend » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 2:42 AM UTC

csytan wrote: post #99

myth2018 wrote: post #79

Procrastination has destroyed my life. Three years ago I finally achieved my dream of working from home. I was writing my thesis and believed I could finish my masters in 8 months. I decided to fully focus on it and, afterwards, I would create my long dreamed own software company. It worked really well for some weeks. I was much more focused than I used to be working in regular offices, with bosses. But soon I starte…

I think this is a common problem. It's easy to start a project to satisfy a creative itch, however, once committed full-time, passion may not be enough to keep you going. Then it becomes difficult to maintain productivity and focus. Many folks don't realize that growing a business is a continuous cycle of iteration, and that they themselves must be included in this process. For me, motivation has shifted from satisfy…

Tl;dr: When a hobby becomes a job it is no longer fun.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#139

Post by hopler » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:09 AM UTC

arminiusreturns wrote: post #117

whymauri wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your company not have productivity rooms/spaces? I've found that to be the happy middle between completely open and closed-office for me. Though I do agree I was significantly more productive at companies where I had my own office/shared with only one other person.

Not at the moment, only because we are growing so fast though.

Maybe they aren't digging their grave then?

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#140

Post by hopler » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:14 AM UTC

novarek wrote: post #130

I see it as a version of telling people something you're trying to do so you feel more pressure to do it, a classic trick to force yourself to start habits. This sounds a bit extreme though, and I'm not sure if it actually reinforces the bad habit of needing someone watching you in order to do any work.

It's also said that telling people what you are doing is bad because it satisfies your psychological desire to deliver even though you haven't actually delivered.