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Want to Improve Efficiency? Stop Doing Low-Value Work
- FPGAhacker 9y agoMy struggle is with interesting but low value vs boring but high value. The energy cost or effort cost of a task is inversely related to how much interest the task holds for me.
- oreganoz 9y agoSame. I think attaching deadlines and someone to keep you accountable may be the only cure. This is the pain of actually loving this field. Your job is to do productive stuff, but you just want to study those cache-oblivious ds.
- dredmorbius 9y agoKeep a log or diary of what you're spending time on. I'm a fan of the Bullet Journal model. Paper & pen, but organised. Note your important tasks/goals, and actual time allocations. Learn to say "no" to the trivial, or, better, structure your environment such that they don't present themselves. Also recognise the limits to, and robbers of, yor attention and focus. It's still a struggle, but most of us can manage some improvement.
- fenesiistvan 9y ago"Keep a log or diary" ...another low value work
- dredmorbius 9y agoYou are labouring under a severe misapprehension.
- FPGAhacker 9y agoI've tried bullet journaling. I like the idea, but it's just not natural for how I capture information. So I do a sort of pomodoro, where I work for a while and use the break to do a recap of what I was working on. It helps keep me cognizant of how much time I'm spending on what.
- newfoundglory 9y agoI find an interesting contradiction between the recommendations to a) check your email only at scheduled times b) when you are working, say no to interruptions c) instead of replying with an email, walk over to someone’s desk [and assume that they are ready to chat with you at any moment instead of sending them an email that they can read on their own schedule]
- dredmorbius 9y agoYou've omitted the immediately preceding qualifier: "if something can’t be resolved quickly on email, suggest a meeting or simply walk to your colleague’s desk to confirm a plan." The party sending the email has already 1. signalled importance and 2. your own filter has indicated your agre,ent. If 1. was in fact false, there's the (perhaps remote) possibility that the sender(s) will come to realise that "send email" corresponds to "I will be interrupted in return". As an organisational norm, this is likely a Good Thing to cultivate.
- rando444 9y agoYou're inferring that the only option is to interrupt someone, when it's perfectly possible to schedule a meeting or send a message asking them when they can make some time for a quick chat.
- nine_k 9y agoSchedule is predictable well in advance. Interruptions aren't.
- lainga 9y agoLetsop's principle: be conservative in what you accept and liberal in what you send.