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I've struggled with this question lately. However, I think our definition of 'productivity' needs more refinement. Currently I'm working on a new startup which

by LeonM 9y ago

I've struggled with this question lately. However, I think our definition of 'productivity' needs more refinement. Currently I'm working on a new startup which tries to tackle a rather hard problem (a generic document parser for invoices). Sometimes I'm stuck for days on a particular problem, and I feel like I'm not productive at all, I just stare at a blinking cursor all day. However, in my head I'm constantly working on the problem, and one could say that the moments where I don't write code are actually the most productive, even though it does not feel that way. It's rather counter intuitive. So I don't think there really isn't a pattern in actual productivity (at least not in my case), although there might be a pattern in how productive you feel.

Radim 9y ago
I feel you. The time spent discovering a new domain is high-value but also very creatively demanding. Often underestimated by technical folk used to "coding to specification". That stressful period, full of uncertainty and half-articulated thoughts, as you figure out the basic concepts, how they inter-relate, form goals, make things fall into place conceptually. Personally, I don't find staring at a blinking cursor helps. During this phase, long walks work the best for me.
- LeonM 9y ago
  Thanks for understanding, it's always nice to hear you're not the only one struggling. Also great of you to mention walking, I walk a lot during 'work hours'. To outsiders it's so hard to explain that yes, walking is actually part of my process, and yes, walking around in the nearby forest is in some sense my job.
foxhop 9y ago
Wouldn't it be cool if invoices had a spec (xml or json) with specific fields that had specific meaning and then we could use something like CSS to make them "pretty" and branded. This would save from having to parse anything. To create a bill-of-materials you simply would attach a bunch of invoices from a bunch of vendors. There are jobs out there of people who fetch invoices and then transform them into in-house systems all manually.
- LeonM 9y ago
  This XML spec does exist, it's called UBL. However adoption of this is slow and still quite uncertain. As always, many companies try to make money by creating their own flavour and trying to license it (unfortunate with success) and of course all these competing standards are not compatible with each other. Since digital bookkeeping is ubiquitous nowadays, one could argue that invoicing is simply about sharing digital transactions between systems, and should not need to be 'pretty' or human readable at all. I'm trying to bridge this gap, and I know that given enough time, my service will become obsolete. But I'm goign higly off-topic now ;-)
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    "my service will become obsolete" I don't think you need to worry for a long time.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
vbuwivbiu 9y ago
Today I made it out of a local thicket of a problem I've been stuck in for a week and once it worked I was like "well, now that works I can do this, and now _that_ works I can do this" and I got so much done today. But yesterday I went to bed having all but given-up on my path, about to accept defeat after days of failure after failure. Anyway, now it works I can be happy for a day, but tomorrow I know I'll realize this solution is shit and I should really do it another way entirely!
agumonkey 9y ago
That's the problem, if I was paid for neuron firing and imagination I'd be rich. I'm only paid for some output.

by LeonM 9y ago

Radim 9y ago

I feel you. The time spent discovering a new domain is high-value but also very creatively demanding. Often underestimated by technical folk used to "coding to specification". That stressful period, full of uncertainty and half-articulated thoughts, as you figure out the basic concepts, how they inter-relate, form goals, make things fall into place conceptually. Personally, I don't find staring at a blinking cursor helps. During this phase, long walks work the best for me.

LeonM 9y ago
Thanks for understanding, it's always nice to hear you're not the only one struggling. Also great of you to mention walking, I walk a lot during 'work hours'. To outsiders it's so hard to explain that yes, walking is actually part of my process, and yes, walking around in the nearby forest is in some sense my job.

foxhop 9y ago

Wouldn't it be cool if invoices had a spec (xml or json) with specific fields that had specific meaning and then we could use something like CSS to make them "pretty" and branded. This would save from having to parse anything. To create a bill-of-materials you simply would attach a bunch of invoices from a bunch of vendors. There are jobs out there of people who fetch invoices and then transform them into in-house systems all manually.

LeonM 9y ago
This XML spec does exist, it's called UBL. However adoption of this is slow and still quite uncertain. As always, many companies try to make money by creating their own flavour and trying to license it (unfortunate with success) and of course all these competing standards are not compatible with each other. Since digital bookkeeping is ubiquitous nowadays, one could argue that invoicing is simply about sharing digital transactions between systems, and should not need to be 'pretty' or human readable at all. I'm trying to bridge this gap, and I know that given enough time, my service will become obsolete. But I'm goign higly off-topic now ;-)
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  "my service will become obsolete" I don't think you need to worry for a long time.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

vbuwivbiu 9y ago

Today I made it out of a local thicket of a problem I've been stuck in for a week and once it worked I was like "well, now that works I can do this, and now _that_ works I can do this" and I got so much done today. But yesterday I went to bed having all but given-up on my path, about to accept defeat after days of failure after failure. Anyway, now it works I can be happy for a day, but tomorrow I know I'll realize this solution is shit and I should really do it another way entirely!

agumonkey 9y ago

That's the problem, if I was paid for neuron firing and imagination I'd be rich. I'm only paid for some output.