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Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#11

Post by decasteve »

zobzu wrote: post #5

4 is pretty much the sweet spot for me too. can do more but the 4 are the most productive hours. an extra 2h are half productive (which i do anyway due to work req), an extra 4h even less so

3-4 solid hours of productivity is my sweet spot as well. Though it took me a while to figure it out.

There are times when I have pushed 6-8 productive hours per day for 2-3 weeks but what usually follows is 2-3 weeks of "unproductivity". Over the long run this is unsustainable and has caused me to switch jobs in the past.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#12

Post by diminoten »

ff_ wrote: post #4

> "if you work with computers it's nearly impossible to have your brain wired in productive tasks for more than, on average, 4 hours a day" :-) Definitely truth. IMHO the real problem of our productivity is The Internet.

I just find these kinds of statements to be more self-justification than anything else.

"No one should ever work more than 40 hours a week!"

"Productivity beyond 4 hours a day is impossible!"

Why must I shackle myself to these seemingly arbitrary limitations that other people have? If I'm having fun coding something for 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I feel I can sustain this output, why do I have to limit myself?

Maybe I (or someone who's able to do this) can just work harder than you (or someone who can't do this). What's the big deal?

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#13

Post by chaired »

I find this depends entirely on what I'm doing. When I was working on a game full time on my own time, 12 hours a day consistently was easy, and things like eating, and my girlfriend at the time, were a nuisance.

At most of my day jobs, most of the time, I probably averaged less than an hour a day of productive time, with most days being zero.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#14

Post by ff_ »

hebleb wrote: post #7
ff_ wrote: post #4

> "if you work with computers it's nearly impossible to have your brain wired in productive tasks for more than, on average, 4 hours a day" :-) Definitely truth. IMHO the real problem of our productivity is The Internet.

I don't know...it's also the solution to productivity. I would waste so much time trying figuring things out without the help of Google, Stack Overflow, API documentation, etc..

Yeah, without them I'd surely be in trouble; but the temptation of opening HN/Reddit every N minutes (and consequently spend two hours looking all those infinitely interesting entries) it's just too strong.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#15

Post by chaired »

sktank wrote: post #3
EC1 wrote: post #2

About 12. I've optimized my life to a point where I have no outside disturbances beyond my work. I have 3 days left of my day job, then I'm taking my own business full time. I've been working 7am - 3pm at my day job, 4pm - 11pm at my side projects. Dropping the day job.

Optimized your work life maybe, your life though... I'm not so sure.

Hey, it's all relative. I have no personal life or relationships to speak of, and no projects. Sounds to me like he's doing ok.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#17

Post by EC1 »

chaired wrote: post #15
sktank wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Optimized your work life maybe, your life though... I'm not so sure.

Hey, it's all relative. I have no personal life or relationships to speak of, and no projects. Sounds to me like he's doing ok.

I have a few friends and we go out for beers once in awhile to talk, that's the extent of my "social life". Everything else is work.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#19

Post by bparsons »

That is why you should always try to work on flat rate. The most productive people are not working 10 hours a day. They spend their 4 productive hours doing the really difficult stuff, and spend the rest of their work day reading or doing mindless project management type tasks.

A lot of people don't understand the distinction of being productive and appearing busy.

Re: Poll: how many productive hours do you have in a day?

#20

Post by Swizec »

diminoten wrote: post #12
ff_ wrote: post #4

> "if you work with computers it's nearly impossible to have your brain wired in productive tasks for more than, on average, 4 hours a day" :-) Definitely truth. IMHO the real problem of our productivity is The Internet.

I just find these kinds of statements to be more self-justification than anything else. "No one should ever work more than 40 hours a week!" "Productivity beyond 4 hours a day is impossible!" Why must I shackle myself to these seemingly arbitrary limitations that other people have? If I'm having fun coding something for 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I feel I can sustain this output, why do I have to limit myse…

As someone who's been there done that: throttling yourself a little bit is a lot more productive in the long-term.

I used to work to the point of exhaustion. Now I work to a clock I've come up with empirically. This means that instead of having bursts of super productivity followed by weeks/months of tiredness or simple "Meh, that's not interesting" I can trod along, putting one foot in front of the next, with a consistent pace. Day in, day out. You might outsprint me today, but I will be there when you're tired, and I will be walking at the same pace I am now.

I am an orc. I do not stop. I do not tire. I just go. Forever. At a constant pace. I will outplod you.

Persistence is humanity greatest natural asset next to intelligence. Use it. We are very bad sprinters.

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