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I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

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Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#151

Post by TeMPOraL »

Draiken wrote: post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

> If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter".

Nah. I'd ensure that my family is going to be well-cared for, that all affairs are in order... and then proceed to blow the remaining time on videogames and whatever strikes my fancy. With an actual dead line of one year, there's no point in starting anything that "really matters" to me.

Now if I knew for certain I'll die in exactly 10 years, I'd optimize the shit out of my life. I'd be a god of productivity. Or at least I'd try. In reality, knowing that my life is likely to actually end in somewhen between 30 to 50 years is already giving me this motivation.

Because the problem here isn't the focus on productivity, but what you're trying to be productive about. Most of us live lives full of things we wouldn't want to do if we could afford it. It makes sense to try and optimize them to minimum - to make room for the stuff that "really matters".

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#152

Post by Draiken »

chrisfosterelli wrote: post #66
Draiken wrote: post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

From TFA: > I knew I was spending quite a lot of it on social media, but I wasn't sure how much exactly. I also knew I was working quite a lot and wanted to quantify exactly how much (spoiler alert: not that much). I hoped that keeping track of what I do would help me to identify chunks of time that were being wasted and to turn them into quality time. Tracking time doesn't inherently have to be to optimize for "maki…

But I never said tracking time inherently does that. I agree with you. It's a great way to put things in perspective.

It's just my personal experience that the majority of time we label as "productive" is in fact productivity for the sake of someone else profiting on top of it. I have nothing against the OP or the article.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#153

Post by nequals1 »

Draiken wrote: post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

I probably used productivity too carelessly in my article - I meant it more as 'doing things that make me happy/help me develop as a person' as opposed to 'doing things that feel nice and easy now but I'd rather do them less'. I consider hobbies, reading books, going on walks and things like that as productive and tried to reduce time I spent mindlessly scrolling social media.

I'm also doing my PhD so by trying to increase my at-work productivity I'm trying to make sure that I don't waste too much of taxpayer's money.

But I agree that optimising productivity too much could be anxiety-inducing and I was trying to be mindful of that while looking at my data and deciding what to change in my life based on it.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#154

Post by TeMPOraL »

DecayingOrganic wrote: post #96
chrisfosterelli wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From TFA: > I knew I was spending quite a lot of it on social media, but I wasn't sure how much exactly. I also knew I was working quite a lot and wanted to quantify exactly how much (spoiler alert: not that much). I hoped that keeping track of what I do would help me to identify chunks of time that were being wasted and to turn them into quality time. Tracking time doesn't inherently have to be to optimize for "maki…

I'll raise my head above the parapet and admit that I don't get it. How about just scheduling things? If you want to spend more time on things that matter, just pick a date and time, and get going. That said, perhaps the alluring part was gathering data on one's self.

'renewiltord mentioned Akrasia. That's one big thing.

Another thing is that you may not have enough time to fit the things you want with your schedule - and you first need to optimize your things in your life. That may involve optimizing your productivity at work, to free up time or energy for your own things. That also will involve taking a look at what you do around and after work. All of us live at least partially on autopilot, so bad habits tend to sneak up and stay unnoticed. You need to shine a light every now and then to identify and eradicate them - and then that's more time and/or energy freed up for doing the things that matter to you.

Perhaps a less contentious way of saying "focus on productivity" is to say "making the wisest use of the 24 hours one has in a day".

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#155

Post by ThinkBeat »

> human function - the boring stuff: eating

I disagree on this one.

Eating can and on good days should be a pleasure. It can also be very social. Eating together is an ancient tradition. Breaking bread.

It is a common misconception that it takes a lot of time. If you are not used to cooking yourself then it will take time to learn how (not just how to microwave),and then learn how to adapt it for your own taste buds. Then you get used to it and a lot of dishes can be made fresh in less than 10 mins.

It also involves going to the store. If going into a sad US supermarket with plastic wrapped everything, It is easy to understand the reluctance to spend time on it.

Yet a proper market with the flavors, the colors and variety it is a different experience.

I often feel happy once I have found a right cut of fish, I cant wait to get home, prepare it and eat it.

I am sad that in some countries and in some circles it is seen as a "must do/boring", instead of "This is going to be delicious".

For some scarfing down a Granola bar and a protein milkshake is what eating has been reduced to.

Granted that would save a lot of time and people are different.

Everyone should spend time satisfying the foundation of Maslow pyramid. that a lot of users of this site can take somewhat for granted (Not everyone :( )

Having been in the army for a while and at war ( As a means of getting out of a bad background) I was made aware of how important all the parts of the foundation is.

I swore to myself that I would always remember to be grateful when I enter a place that is dry and comfortable, when I have an actual bed to rest on, when I have dry clothing and boots in the morning, and how miraculous it is to have a say in, and the ability to not eat what minimally sustains you. A toilet that flushes and is private and a the ability for a shower.

We should all be conscious of the privileged it is to have these things available to us and take joy in it. It might not last.

Still even with old rations for 90 days straight the communal experience of sharing a meal was present.

Also sex. It is not mentioned in the schedule. That may be for puritanical reasons. That is no business of yours buddy, and that is fine, but spend a bit evaluating what is included and what is not. Most of this logged time in self actualization. Is it also a reflection of what the author is proud of / wants to share.

Eating and sex both can be wondrous or a ration pack that should have been thrown away 12 years ago. Both low on the pyramid.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#156

Post by nequals1 »

nyxtom wrote: post #32

This sounds like a obvious question, but when do you log the data? Do you set a timer every 15 minutes? What about the time spent logging data every 15 minutes? Any complementary apps?

I try to note start and end times of activities. At work, or whenever I'm doing something on my laptop I would fill the spreadsheet as soon as I finish or take a break from an activity (eg finished reading a paper, going on a coffee break now). When I'm doing something more varied I would note start/end times via google sheets app on my phone or just remember them and fill them once I have access to my laptop. Sometimes, I would use data from my fitbit (to see when I started/stopped walking) or my search history (to see changes between working vs looking at silly things on the internet). The categories were broad enough that logging the data is not too time-consuming and often they could be added as big time-blocks of a single activity.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#157

Post by Draiken »

gibrown wrote: post #60
Draiken wrote: post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

> If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". But if you are going to try and do things that "really matter" don't you want to be productive at them? I've seen a number of folks with ALS who have done amazing things with the time they had left, and I am sure t…

> But if you are going to try and do things that "really matter" don't you want to be productive at them?

I'd definitely try to, hehe.

For me it's more about what we categorize as productive than the experiment itself. The experiment is a great way to gather data. But the categorization made me really think about what people, in general, categorize as "productive".

Maybe sleeping should be way more important than many job related things, but by default we assume sleeping is just a necessity, many times sacrificing it in favor of the others.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#158

Post by TeMPOraL »

coldtea wrote: post #91
sunir wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have a very narrow understanding of what "productive" means. You can produce or make progress towards anything that you value. Making other people money is just one avenue. If you had a year to live, you would definitely want to be productive. There's a lot that needs to get done to wrap up your one single life well, so that your time on earth wasn't lost. Just getting your will and testament done, talkin…

> If you had a year to live, you would definitely want to be productive. You'd be surprised. That's more of rat-race-disease artifact, where a person is measured by their "achievements" and "success" (as opposed to being intristically worth). Many people of many peoples would want to either relax, love and be with family, or enjoy themselves (and more likely a healthy combination of the two).

And unless you're completely free of obligations, you'd want to maximize the time you spent "relaxing, loving and being with family, or enjoying yourself". This requires some thought and effort - and that's precisely being productivity / optimizing your life.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#159

Post by nequals1 »

sabellito wrote: post #129

Super interesting. Definitely a little crazy, but I'm glad you found the willpower to finish and share it. And holy cow, 3:25h per day socialising? How?

The holiday period contributed a lot to that average. I also lived with other people for the whole year (uni housing, with family and now with flatmates), so meal times would count towards socialising. And those coffee breaks and quick chats here and there add up to a lot!
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