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"if you focus you can probably get three times as much done in an hour." This part makes no sense to me. Why can I produce 3x as much work in an hour at a sta

"if you focus you can probably get three times as much done in an hour." This part makes no sense to me. Why can I produce 3x as much work in an hour at a startup because I "focus"? I think that's a bit of a stretch.

beat 12y ago
I think over the longer term, it's true, although not for individual hours. Knock some of pg's essays if you want (they deserve it), but "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" hits the nail on the head about productivity. http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
- Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
  I actually find this essay odd. What it says is fundamentally true but I'm curious about the allocation of "maker" and "manager". As someone who has worked as a manager and a developer, I value uninterupted time in both roles. It doesn't matter whether I'm planning, or writing a proposal, or coding - large chunks of uninterrupted time are good, a broken up day is bad and less unproductive. Certainly managers might more often have to respond to changing situations (though if you're a developer with any involvement in support you might question that) but if they opt to plan around frequent task changes when they don't have to that's just odd. To me it just feels like a difference between people who manage time well and those who don't, rather than a maker / manager distinction.
silverbax88 12y ago
It's absolutely true. I work less now and get far more done (I would say more than 3x) of what I did when I was pulling 7-days-a-week work marathons. People waste lifetimes thinking they are working hard but are really just puttering around. It's been stated by authors (I mentioned Tony Shwartz in another comment and I highly recommend his book) but I offer this analogy: Consider you are standing next to a roaring river. It is treacherous. It is dangerous. On the other side, it looks like it's a lot nicer (more grass, nicer setting, maybe a picnic table all set up) than the side you are standing on. Sure would be nice to get over there. But man, to swim that current...dangerous. So maybe you could build a raft? You start looking for wood, something to put it together. Can't find anything. You try looking at the river to see if there's an easier way to cross. Maybe some shallows? Not sure. Then, behind you, suddenly there is a pack of lions. They look hungry. They ARE hungry. And they see you. And they start loping your way, drool dripping from their teeth. This ain't Hobbs. This is real. These lions are going to literally rip you apart and it's going to happen in a few seconds. How long does it take you to get across that river now? Are you still going to try and build a raft? Still going to look for a shallow end? Still going to worry about getting wet? Focus is a curious thing. We think are 100% committed to something, but we are really not. We achieve what we are truly focused on. I mean, it sure FELT like you were working 100% on getting across the river when you were trying to lash together a raft and when you were scouting the river for an easy way across. But when it meant getting across or being eaten, THAT'S when you focused truly 100%. The secret is learn how to FOCUS, truly focus, put your entire mind intensely on the most important task...then take a break, recover. Then do it again. And wow...does it ever work.
- justinpaulson 12y ago
  I'm not saying that focus isn't a key to improved productivity. My question is, what does it have to do with being at a startup? His argument is that focusing AT A STARTUP can make you 3x more productive...it makes no sense. Focus alone can make you more productive, I don't see why the setting of a startup changes that multiplier.
  - silverbax88 12y ago
    You are right, it should not. But it does for many people...because it's LIONS. (The lions are always there, people are just more acutely aware of them at a startup.)
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      You are conflating focus with fear and risk/reward evaluation. Those are not at all related, though, when focused you might be able to see another way out that was not apparent when you were just afraid and not focused. A panicked jump into a roaring river can kill you just a surely as a well reasoned one. But that smoldering fire to your left contains a branch long enough that waving it around a couple of times creates a flame an lions are scared of fire. (If you can conjure up Lions, rivers and green grass to make your point I don't see why my imaginary fire is an illegal device. It could have been a machine gun for the same money, you'd dine on lion steak and congratulate yourself for not trying to swim to the other side of the river).

beat 12y ago

I think over the longer term, it's true, although not for individual hours. Knock some of pg's essays if you want (they deserve it), but "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" hits the nail on the head about productivity. http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
I actually find this essay odd. What it says is fundamentally true but I'm curious about the allocation of "maker" and "manager". As someone who has worked as a manager and a developer, I value uninterupted time in both roles. It doesn't matter whether I'm planning, or writing a proposal, or coding - large chunks of uninterrupted time are good, a broken up day is bad and less unproductive. Certainly managers might more often have to respond to changing situations (though if you're a developer with any involvement in support you might question that) but if they opt to plan around frequent task changes when they don't have to that's just odd. To me it just feels like a difference between people who manage time well and those who don't, rather than a maker / manager distinction.

silverbax88 12y ago

It's absolutely true. I work less now and get far more done (I would say more than 3x) of what I did when I was pulling 7-days-a-week work marathons. People waste lifetimes thinking they are working hard but are really just puttering around. It's been stated by authors (I mentioned Tony Shwartz in another comment and I highly recommend his book) but I offer this analogy: Consider you are standing next to a roaring river. It is treacherous. It is dangerous. On the other side, it looks like it's a lot nicer (more grass, nicer setting, maybe a picnic table all set up) than the side you are standing on. Sure would be nice to get over there. But man, to swim that current...dangerous. So maybe you could build a raft? You start looking for wood, something to put it together. Can't find anything. You try looking at the river to see if there's an easier way to cross. Maybe some shallows? Not sure. Then, behind you, suddenly there is a pack of lions. They look hungry. They ARE hungry. And they see you. And they start loping your way, drool dripping from their teeth. This ain't Hobbs. This is real. These lions are going to literally rip you apart and it's going to happen in a few seconds. How long does it take you to get across that river now? Are you still going to try and build a raft? Still going to look for a shallow end? Still going to worry about getting wet? Focus is a curious thing. We think are 100% committed to something, but we are really not. We achieve what we are truly focused on. I mean, it sure FELT like you were working 100% on getting across the river when you were trying to lash together a raft and when you were scouting the river for an easy way across. But when it meant getting across or being eaten, THAT'S when you focused truly 100%. The secret is learn how to FOCUS, truly focus, put your entire mind intensely on the most important task...then take a break, recover. Then do it again. And wow...does it ever work.

justinpaulson 12y ago
I'm not saying that focus isn't a key to improved productivity. My question is, what does it have to do with being at a startup? His argument is that focusing AT A STARTUP can make you 3x more productive...it makes no sense. Focus alone can make you more productive, I don't see why the setting of a startup changes that multiplier.
- silverbax88 12y ago
  You are right, it should not. But it does for many people...because it's LIONS. (The lions are always there, people are just more acutely aware of them at a startup.)
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    You are conflating focus with fear and risk/reward evaluation. Those are not at all related, though, when focused you might be able to see another way out that was not apparent when you were just afraid and not focused. A panicked jump into a roaring river can kill you just a surely as a well reasoned one. But that smoldering fire to your left contains a branch long enough that waving it around a couple of times creates a flame an lions are scared of fire. (If you can conjure up Lions, rivers and green grass to make your point I don't see why my imaginary fire is an illegal device. It could have been a machine gun for the same money, you'd dine on lion steak and congratulate yourself for not trying to swim to the other side of the river).