Should I Work Less to Increase Efficiency?

Nah……

[justgowithit]

Here’s my basic work schedule:

- Drink coffee
- Start work around 8:30am
- Correct all errors from previous evening
- Drink coffee
- Get some good quality development in
- Take lunch around 12pm
- Drink coffee
- Get some decent quality development in
- Break for dinner around 5pm
- Drink coffee
- Return to the computer to write sloppy, error-ridden code that must cleaned the next morning
- Drink coffee
- Around 8pm become frustrated with mound of errors and quit working for the day before damaging equipment

After studying this outline it seemed pretty obvious to me that I’m simply not drinking enough coffee to keep me sharp after 5pm.

[Bddmed]

How about this schedule:

- Drink coffee
- Start work around 8:30am
- Correct the one error from previous evening
- Drink coffee
- Get some good quality development in
- Take lunch around 12pm
- Drink coffee
- Get some decent quality development in
- Break for dinner around 5pm
- Have a beer or two
- Return to the computer to write solid code.
- Have some glasses good wine
- Around 8pm join the forums you like

[benevolent001]

Where is the time for your hobbies , friends , parents, spouse , children?

Include that and you'll be champ in few days

[justgowithit]

This is the only flaw in your proposal

Correct the one error from previous evening

[LifeinAsia]

After studying this outline it seemed pretty obvious to me that I’m simply not drinking enough coffee to keep me sharp after 5pm.

Obvious solution: sleep until noon and start drinking coffee then.

[trannack]

My daily schedule.

8.00am think about getting up.
8.30am. take the two painkillers needed to circumvent the hang-over.
9.00. wish I'd taken more painkillers and earlier, but get up anyway.
9.15. drink a gallon of water in the vain hope I will feel better.
9.30. Smoke the first roll-up with a cup of tea.
9.31 Regret the first roll-up - but roll another anyway.
9.45 Get husband to make the next cup of tea.
10.00. Stumble over to computer to look at yesterday's figures.
10.15 - suddenly remember I have 5 starving animals to feed - deep joy, the smell of fishy cat-food.
10.30. More tea.
10.45. Shower.
11.00. Go back to computer, check forums to see if anyone else is experiencing the weird stats that I noted earlier.
11.15 Re-do stats, making all typing error adjustments as required.
11.30 Have a celebratory cup of tea - stats are fine.
12.00 Break for lunch.
13.00 Decide to take rest of day off to recover from the strenuous morning!

........and so it continues.! :)

[greenleaves]

A lot of times it is the simple things we don't do that make us over-tense.

My recommendations:

Don't drink so much coffee. Maybe have your coffee after you start your work. I generally have some mind-numbing things to do in the beginning of my day, I like to finish that before my fist cup, so that after that I am ready for the nitty-gritty.

When you take lunch, where do you eat. Indoors, eat-out, at your desk? If you work at home it helps to bring your lunch to a park once in a while, sit under a tree, get in contact with life before you go back to work. If you eat out at the same place, take a different route to get there. Do some walking.

Have dinner latter. Many times after dinner I do not want to keep working, so I leave that to the last part of my day.

Eat your fruit and vegetables. Have walks, go biking, do something short during your day (even if only 20 min) to get your mind of things. Try to stay away from routines. Even little things like taking a different route to get to the same place can break the dread of routine.

Remember, healthy happy living many times translates into healthy happy working.

[vik_c]

Read a little every evening to relax, even if the reading is work related.

[ken_b]

If it's true that work expands to fill the time allocated for it, then yes, reducing the time allocated should increase productivity by eliminating the opportunity for work to expand.

[Bddmed]

This is the only flaw in your proposal

Correct the one error from previous evening

I'm a coder. Several projects all the time. I never finished any project without a single bug, nor did Microsoft BTW.

Read a little every evening to relax, even if the reading is work related.

That's exactly what I'm doing in here and there ;)

[trannack]

;)

[Leosghost]

whats "am"?

[walkman]

I wish I could work just 4 hours a day. I mean work, not chatting or looking at 400 windows or distractions. Less is more sometimes

[vik_c]

That's exactly what I'm doing in here and there ;)

Staring at the computer screen is strenous for long periods even if you use anti glare screens et al. So while you're giving yourself some rest by not coding, it's still not as relaxing. Try reading a book instead. It may even boost your productivity at work.

[sonny]

Remember:
"Efficiency is Intelligent Laziness"