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So, my big question is: "Where does 100% completing everything you start doing during a day fit in with two other well-repeated arguments?" in particular, *

So, my big question is: "Where does 100% completing everything you start doing during a day fit in with two other well-repeated arguments?" in particular, * 40 hours a week is the max sustainable work week length * To help get started work the next day so you're not wasting time as the day starts and so your subconscious can work on it, start your last task of the day and get through working on a good part of it; and then stop before finishing it.

psweber 14y ago
Seems like the goal for addressing the first point is to get better at planning and estimating. Learn what you are capable of and then get better. The second point is based on that Hemingway quote right? “The best way [to write] is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day…you will never be stuck.” I've tried it a few times. I didn't notice much improvement. Maybe it makes most sense when you are working on a problem that excedes your comfort zone.
- andrewflnr 14y ago
  I'm sure it's been rediscovered by lots of people who hadn't heard it from Hemingway. Notice he didn't say (IIRC) "finish everything you start" but rather "finish everything you decide to finish". If you, for example, finish all the features you wanted to, and then leave a failing test case for the next day, that is consistent with the feature article's thesis as I understand it.
dpatru 14y ago
I think long-term productivity seems to come mostly from consistent, intense effort. I've read that a lot of writers only write for about three hours a day. The key is that they do this every day and it adds up. If you just put in a few hours a day of intense work, over time, you will accomplish a lot and be ahead of most people. For example, John Grisham started writing books by writing just one page every day. The best producers, however, seem to combine intense work with lots of time. Isaac Asimov worked many hours a day and published 1700 words per day on average. (http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/11/5-unusual-things-i-learned-from-isaac-asimov/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/11/5-unusual-things-i-lear...) To acheive consistency, you can't sabotage tomorrow's work by working late today. So 100% completion of today's work should be a goal in the context of the understanding that today's work has a definite ending time that is necessary to enable a successful tomorrow. Here's an article on deliberate practice: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/DeliberatePractice(PsychologicalReview).pdf http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/D... Here are two articles that give some insight into how writers work: http://io9.com/5106135/science-fiction-novelists-reveal-their-daily-writing-routines http://io9.com/5106135/science-fiction-novelists-reveal-thei..., http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/11/25-famous-thinkers-and-their-inspiring-daily-rituals/ http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/11/25-famous-thinkers-a...

psweber 14y ago

Seems like the goal for addressing the first point is to get better at planning and estimating. Learn what you are capable of and then get better. The second point is based on that Hemingway quote right? “The best way [to write] is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day…you will never be stuck.” I've tried it a few times. I didn't notice much improvement. Maybe it makes most sense when you are working on a problem that excedes your comfort zone.

andrewflnr 14y ago
I'm sure it's been rediscovered by lots of people who hadn't heard it from Hemingway. Notice he didn't say (IIRC) "finish everything you start" but rather "finish everything you decide to finish". If you, for example, finish all the features you wanted to, and then leave a failing test case for the next day, that is consistent with the feature article's thesis as I understand it.

dpatru 14y ago

I think long-term productivity seems to come mostly from consistent, intense effort. I've read that a lot of writers only write for about three hours a day. The key is that they do this every day and it adds up. If you just put in a few hours a day of intense work, over time, you will accomplish a lot and be ahead of most people. For example, John Grisham started writing books by writing just one page every day. The best producers, however, seem to combine intense work with lots of time. Isaac Asimov worked many hours a day and published 1700 words per day on average. (http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/11/5-unusual-things-i-learned-from-isaac-asimov/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/11/5-unusual-things-i-lear...) To acheive consistency, you can't sabotage tomorrow's work by working late today. So 100% completion of today's work should be a goal in the context of the understanding that today's work has a definite ending time that is necessary to enable a successful tomorrow. Here's an article on deliberate practice: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/DeliberatePractice(PsychologicalReview).pdf http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/D... Here are two articles that give some insight into how writers work: http://io9.com/5106135/science-fiction-novelists-reveal-their-daily-writing-routines http://io9.com/5106135/science-fiction-novelists-reveal-thei..., http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/11/25-famous-thinkers-and-their-inspiring-daily-rituals/ http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/11/25-famous-thinkers-a...