3 ms·

I've diligently tracked my actual time worked every day. That's time spent on productive tasks directly tied to my projects, not time spent in meetings, commute

I've diligently tracked my actual time worked every day. That's time spent on productive tasks directly tied to my projects, not time spent in meetings, commute, and other wasted desk time. I usually manage 5-6 hours of productive time each day. 7 hours on a good day. 8 hours if the problem is interesting enough. I used to feel inadequate when I would hear stories of founders and geniuses working 16 hours/day. But now I'm convinced that outside of prodigies, specific mindless tasks, and "outside help" (like amphetamines), it's impossible to get more than 8-10 hours of real work done in a day over an extended period.

shuntress 6y ago
I know from experience that I am capable of working productively for 10+ hours continuously on a single project but this extreme flow seems to only happen under extremely specific and not easily reproducible circumstances that generally run counter to overall "productivity" (ie: It is usually late-night work on a pointless hobby-level program). I have occasionally in my career so far had an alignment of just the right problem, just the right guidance, just the right solution, and just the right deadline to facilitate 8-uninterrupted-hour-skip-lunch-"in-the-zone" programming days. I would assume those stories about founder geniuses are partially-exaggerated versions of that played out over a larger scale and with a more deliberate focus on facilitating that type of perfect alignment of problem & solution.