Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

lesswrong.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–57 of 57 posts

Re: Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

#51

Post by intelVISA »

washywashy wrote: post #45

I might find this ultra-productivity useful if it was at a business or side-project I owned or ran, where I have a large stake in the outcomes and there’s not enough people to do everything. But, if working for a medium to large-sized company, the ROI on this type of productivity just isn’t there. I’m not saying don’t be professional and work hard and do your job, but in my experience if you race ahead because of som…

Yes, input has to be tied to outcome else you might as well just bikeshed and relax in meetings. This is likely why there are so many developer-adjacent roles in medium-large companies: nobody actually wants to do (hard) work and I really can't blame them.

Re: Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

#52

Post by tpmoney »

timwaagh wrote: post #30

If you're enjoying it well enough this is typically not a concern. I do take breaks when the program is building though. Or when I'm not feeling it. Please don't try to replace your feelings by ridiculously rigid schemes.

That seems pretty well covered by the article though. They explicitly say work for as long or as short a time as you are feeling good about. The only thing that's particularly rigid is that you have a fixed and rigid end time for the break based on how long you worked. It feels less like replacing feelings with ridiculously rigid schemes and more like a plan to actually listen to your feelings, but also have personal accountability to return to the task. It's real easy if you're the sort of person that struggles with procrastinating on tasks to "feel" like you're ready to get back to work.

Re: Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

#53

Post by iainctduncan »

This article completely misses the point of these techniques. It reads like something someone just made up because it "feels good".

Background: I'm a musican and programmer, now doing a Phd between both fields. I've been reading about practicing and learning techniques and talking to experts about this for about 30 years.

The whole point is that you take a break BEFORE you feel like you need to. This is basically universal across disciplines. That's the secret. If you wait until you "feel like it" you are likely already past the optimal fatigue point. You can get way more training/learning/work done if you keep yourself away from that point, and for most people doing serious training, 25-30 minutes on followed by 5 to 10 off is good. This is used in sports and music extensively. I could see other fields using something longer, but the principle still holds. If you stop way before fatigue and rest, you can get about 2 to 3 times more in in a day than if you train to fatigue.

In addition to making sure you aren't fatigued, it also keeps you in the right head space, which is calm and focused, NOT obsessive and agitated. If you can't make yourself take a break every half hour, then that likely means you've crossed into obsessive-compulsive land and are no longer focusing optimally.

Doing this does not feel natural. It takes practice. But once you get used to it, you can definitely do more. And it needs to be a BREAK. One of my university music teachers swore by literally lying done on the practice room floor for five minutes every half hour, and that guy was a beast on the bass, one of the best in a city of two million.

Proposing something else because it feels nice... is almost exactly wrong. I mean, do what you like, but comparing it to a timed training regime is way off base.

Re: Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

#54

Post by em-bee »

quectophoton wrote: post #41
executive wrote: post #16

tldr: work 18 hours, sleep 6 hours

There seems to be confusion in replies, but this math seems correct to me (assuming I understood the article correctly): 18 + (18/3) = 24

you are right, i was indeed confused. i just thought about this now and came back here to correct my mistake, only to find that you have already done it. so there is nothing left for me to do than putting that brown paper bag back on and seeing myself out...

Re: Third Time: a better way to work (2022)

#55

Post by em-bee »

tpmoney wrote: post #50
em-bee wrote: post #34

i like the idea of breaktime accumulating based on the time worked. it makes sense. it also means that after an 8 hour work day i deserve to sit down in the evening and relax for an hour or two without feeling guilty. however i disagree that an interruption at the door, or going out for errands counts as break time. it depends on what exactly happens, but dealing with an interruption, or driving a car, paying attenti…

>however i disagree that an interruption at the door, or going out for errands counts as break time. I think there's two ways to look at this: 1) The breaks are relative to the work. If you're doing a given "job" for all the tasks that entails, anything you're doing that isn't the "job" should be included in the break calculations. Certainly this is how any employer would treat the situation. It doesn't matter that t…

i think overall we agree.

let me address your points:

1) we are not discussing legal or contract breaks, but breaks that help productivity. in germany a legal break is 15 minutes per 3 hours, and a single break must be at least 15 minutes to count as a break. so clearly, what counts as paid work has no bearing on breaks needed for productivity.

breaks for chores and errands can't be avoided, whether they are stressful or not. however, when a family weekend trip is so exhausting that i can't focus on work on monday then this is something i need to take into consideration when planning my free time.

and if i need 15 minutes of break for every 45 minutes of work while in the office then i have to be careful and may need to find a work related task that i can use to get that break effect, and hope that i don't have a micromanaging boss that doesn't allow that skunkworks project you mentioned.

2) of course. i fully agree with you here. it is all about the mental state. which means for each activity i have to consider how it will affect me. an activity that helps get a break for you could be adding more stress for me. it always depends. on some days grocery shopping actually does help me unwind and relax. on others it doesn't. that skunkworks project is also a good example. absolutely.

Post reply on HN