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If this is how you deal with having lots of work, you might want to instead quit your job, or better yet re-negotiate your terms of employment Sleep deprivatio
by itamarst 9y ago
If this is how you deal with having lots of work, you might want to instead quit your job, or better yet re-negotiate your terms of employment
Sleep deprivation destroys your productivity. It's equivalent to being drunk. E.g. "Chronic restriction of sleep periods to 4 h or 6 h per night over 14 consecutive days resulted in significant cumulative, dose-dependent deficits in cognitive performance on all tasks." (https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/26/2/117/2709164 https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/26/2/117/2709164).
The idea that "oh I can just can stay awake longer" might have merit. I doubt it. But the whole premise is flawed, even if it is workable.
The premise is that working longer is better. It's not. Productivity is about achieving your goals with minimal wasted effort. If you're spending your time thinking about "how can I have more hours to work" you're not thinking about the important thing: "what work am I doing that is unnecessary."
You can get order of magnitude reduction in effort by having the right idea, or the right shortcut, or the right set of priorities. Staying awake more might give you 25% more hours at the cost of massive cognitive deficit, and a completely broken set of priorities.
More on productivity and sleep:
- Productivity: https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/08/25/the-01x-programmer/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/08/25/the-01x-programmer/
- Why your startup has you working long hours: https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/06/21/why-company-want-long-hours/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/06/21/why-company-want-lon...
- References to research on long working hours and sleep deprivation: http://www.igda.org/?page=crunchsixlessons http://www.igda.org/?page=crunchsixlessons
- tsenkov 9y agoTotally agreed. Yet (to continue with the metaphors) telling someone dying of thirst "You should've packed more water." isn't immediately helpful. Please assume (and that is addressed to everyone who would like to comment) there is no other way, you are in that spot and you need to get that work done. That's what my question is about. And BTW, I can't speak for other people, but in my case being in these situations where I have more work than I can complete within regular working schedule, is more often caused by me loving my job too much, then me, being forced to work longer hours. Thanks for the links, will check those out.
- itamarst 9y agoIf you love your job then work sane hours. You'll do better at your job. Really. There is almost always another way. By starting with assumption there isn't you're dramatically reducing the changes of finding it.
- Red_Tarsius 9y agoI agree. I underslept for a few months. I didn't realize I had a headache all along until I made quality sleep my top priority. Now I go to bed at 9/10pm everyday. If I miss that window, it's much harder to fall asleep. Recovering from sleep deprivation also takes a long time, let's say, one week per night of work. the extra hours are not worth the overall loss of productivity and health.