7 ms·

They're not really contradictory. A 9 to 5 day can easily turn into 4 hours of real work. Show up, eat breakfast, spend some time reading HN, an hour of work, l

They're not really contradictory. A 9 to 5 day can easily turn into 4 hours of real work. Show up, eat breakfast, spend some time reading HN, an hour of work, lunch, an hour or two working, grab coffee, play some foosball, another hour of work, go to the gym, time to go home!

madhadron 9y ago
Conversely, most engineers only have three to five hours of really hard, sustainable technical work in them per day, and that's assuming a regular schedule, adequate sleep, good nutrition, no major emotional upsets going on... Now, that is work. No checking Facebook. No checking email. Process optimized so there are no long periods of waiting around. I have had periods when my day was six hours: five hours of hard work and an hour of eating lunch at my desk while I chatted with someone, dealt with email, got tomorrow planned, and other overhead. It remains my most effective schedule when I'm doing straight technical work as opposed to people work. That hasn't stopped bosses from wanting me to sit around the office for a couple more hours so other people, who did take regular Facebook breaks and the like, didn't feel like I was a part timer.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- madengr 9y ago
  Agree. If I'm at work it seems I can't get shit done due to innteruptions. If I'm working from home I burn out after 4-5 hours due to zero interruptions. I don't know where the happy medium is.
- ksk 9y ago
  >Conversely, most engineers only have three to five hours of really hard, sustainable technical work in them per day, What makes you say that?
  - madhadron 9y ago
    Measuring myself for a decade and a half, and some data from colleagues measuring themselves on my suggestion, and watching youngsters that I was mentoring.
matwood 9y ago
Also depends what you call work. Actively coding is not the only work engineers do, particularly if they are senior. As a senior engineer, communicating to those less senior is typically much more important than coding. That's how a good senior engineer force multiplies their knowledge and levels up the entire organization.

madhadron 9y ago

Conversely, most engineers only have three to five hours of really hard, sustainable technical work in them per day, and that's assuming a regular schedule, adequate sleep, good nutrition, no major emotional upsets going on... Now, that is work. No checking Facebook. No checking email. Process optimized so there are no long periods of waiting around. I have had periods when my day was six hours: five hours of hard work and an hour of eating lunch at my desk while I chatted with someone, dealt with email, got tomorrow planned, and other overhead. It remains my most effective schedule when I'm doing straight technical work as opposed to people work. That hasn't stopped bosses from wanting me to sit around the office for a couple more hours so other people, who did take regular Facebook breaks and the like, didn't feel like I was a part timer.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
madengr 9y ago
Agree. If I'm at work it seems I can't get shit done due to innteruptions. If I'm working from home I burn out after 4-5 hours due to zero interruptions. I don't know where the happy medium is.
ksk 9y ago
>Conversely, most engineers only have three to five hours of really hard, sustainable technical work in them per day, What makes you say that?
- madhadron 9y ago
  Measuring myself for a decade and a half, and some data from colleagues measuring themselves on my suggestion, and watching youngsters that I was mentoring.

matwood 9y ago

Also depends what you call work. Actively coding is not the only work engineers do, particularly if they are senior. As a senior engineer, communicating to those less senior is typically much more important than coding. That's how a good senior engineer force multiplies their knowledge and levels up the entire organization.