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Being a knowledge worker I’ve noticed the following when I push beyond 8hrs of focused work per day. 1. Tasks take 50% more time to complete. 2. The probabili

Being a knowledge worker I’ve noticed the following when I push beyond 8hrs of focused work per day. 1. Tasks take 50% more time to complete. 2. The probability of screw up increases. And it really shoots up beyond 10hrs or so. 3. Net result, I take more time cleaning up the mess I created than if I had worked on them at a normal pace. It’s like a over speeding car taking more time to reach the destination because it either took a wrong route or its engine broke down and had to be replaced.

sscarduzio 6y ago
I can confirm this running my own company, I work less (albeit, with very high concentration) to achieve more. When I bring up my concentration, my brain is much faster and I'm more impatient. So I had to buy a very fast computer
vnglst 6y ago
Bankers don't need focus, any monkey can beat the market [1], but monkeys can't bill 80 hours a week for it. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/?sh=3c9f4693630a https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey...
- JumpCrisscross 6y ago
  > Bankers don't need focus, any monkey can beat the market This isn't what bankers do.
risyachka 6y ago
I'd argue that really effective mind work is max 4 hours per day (max concentration and productivity suited for solving hard problems). Less intensive work can be done for a few hours more, after that it is pure wasting of time.
- gbronner 6y ago
  PowerPoint jockeying isn't mind work. You need them to be there, do the work, and not complain because everyone is on a crazy tight deadline and everyone is tired. Unfortunately, you can't split the work between people as the communication overhead and loss of secrecy overwhelms the savings in time
melomal 6y ago
Whenever I try to 'push' myself I always remind myself of about 8 years ago when it was 12 - 16 hours on the computer, sleep and repeat. In my mind at the time I felt like it was being productive and doing good. Reality was that it was a lot of clicking around, trying to focus was impossible and my productivity was just shot. Now I work solidly for 7 hours and that's it. If I have enough juice to be able to focus on an article or do some of my course then I'll do it but if I have to re-read the same sentence 3 times, I tap out. Tomorrow is a new day and so far my obsession with 'optimizing' every waking minute has provided me with exactly nothing so now I'm trying to switch things up to a more placid life.

sscarduzio 6y ago

I can confirm this running my own company, I work less (albeit, with very high concentration) to achieve more. When I bring up my concentration, my brain is much faster and I'm more impatient. So I had to buy a very fast computer

vnglst 6y ago

Bankers don't need focus, any monkey can beat the market [1], but monkeys can't bill 80 hours a week for it. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/?sh=3c9f4693630a https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey...

JumpCrisscross 6y ago
> Bankers don't need focus, any monkey can beat the market This isn't what bankers do.

risyachka 6y ago

I'd argue that really effective mind work is max 4 hours per day (max concentration and productivity suited for solving hard problems). Less intensive work can be done for a few hours more, after that it is pure wasting of time.

gbronner 6y ago
PowerPoint jockeying isn't mind work. You need them to be there, do the work, and not complain because everyone is on a crazy tight deadline and everyone is tired. Unfortunately, you can't split the work between people as the communication overhead and loss of secrecy overwhelms the savings in time

melomal 6y ago

Whenever I try to 'push' myself I always remind myself of about 8 years ago when it was 12 - 16 hours on the computer, sleep and repeat. In my mind at the time I felt like it was being productive and doing good. Reality was that it was a lot of clicking around, trying to focus was impossible and my productivity was just shot. Now I work solidly for 7 hours and that's it. If I have enough juice to be able to focus on an article or do some of my course then I'll do it but if I have to re-read the same sentence 3 times, I tap out. Tomorrow is a new day and so far my obsession with 'optimizing' every waking minute has provided me with exactly nothing so now I'm trying to switch things up to a more placid life.