How many work hours are too many to call it a productive day?
Karan Arora
34 replies
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Roland Marlow@rmarlow
I mean, it depends how you do it. I think most people can only do 2-4 hours productively before seeing dimensioning returns. At that point, you need some sort of break, even if it's just 10 to 15 minutes, eat something, have some water, walk around, etc. I think assuming you have proper rest, eat right, and use your time effectively, you can be productive for most of the day.
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@gamifykaran It really comes down to time management. Setting specific time for certain things (even if its distractions) and making sure you aren't getting distracted by something else during that time. Do this for everything from checking emails, building, marketing, meals, workouts, and family time. People may find it annoying but its extremely effective.
It is impossible to give a stable answer; different people work differently.
@gamifykaran For me, a productive day means when I have accomplished my planned goals. I rely on the result.
I can have 18 hour days that felt like nothing got accomplished, and other days where just 1-2 hours felt like everything is moving again.
Hard to say for everyone, but I think time isn't as important as quality of output!
@kali_curated Agreed, I think it happens will all of us.
How do you measure your quality of work?
@gamifykaran For me, it's best to have a list of goals/action items in short, medium, and long timeframes. If I check off a few items from each of those sections, it feels like some good quality work has been completed that day - regardless of how long they took me.
A short timeframe item could be as simple as finishing some reports/code/immediately pressing items. On longer timeframes, it could be finalizing a major milestone or roadmap item - which feels amazing since it's "cleared" from my mind!
@kali_curated I tried to do the same with the to do list for day today or weekly goals.
But the list kept on growing, and I barely complete 30-35% of the tasks.
@gamifykaran Try splitting the list up a bit more between short, medium, and longer term goals - make sure you're reasonable with your own abilities and time too ;)
It varies for everyone. For me, it's not less than 10 hours.
@gamifykaran of course smth it happens (even a whole week could be so unproductive).. though it's a pity to lose time but thinking through is a part of developer's process
Launching soon!
4-5 hours are enough
Until you get exhausted!
Hey Karan, I believe 4 hours
@istiakahmad Why do think 4 is enough and how do you measure the quality of work?
@gamifykaran Karan, At the office, I've noticed that during an 8-hour shift, we aren't consistently focused on work the entire time. With breaks and other interruptions, it seems like we're truly engaged in productive work for about 4 hours. This makes me believe that 4 solid hours of productive work can define a successful productive day. I hope this make sense to you ( :
I think you have to monitor yourself for a couple weeks to figure out when you feel you become distracted or not working effectively.
You should also expirement with multiple mini breaks and longer breaks, then tailor a schedule accordingly.
1 hour of deep effective work for important tasks that drives growth for your business is worth more than 4 hours of work that didnt get your full focus..
4-5 hours without too much lunch time and coffee chat.
@victoria_sk I guess we all love chat over coffee. How do you measure the quality of your work in those 4-5 hours?
min 4 hrs of focused work in a productive day, don't burden yourself.
@sarvpriy_arya Agreed.
Do you get the urge to check social media, or emails during focused hours? If yes, how do manage those!
Honestly, I don't measure my productivity based on the hours I worked but by the things and tasks that I've done in a single day. I have a task list and if I've managed to touch them all and provide updates or complete a couple of them, if not all, even more, if I've created some initiatives or improvements in other stuff which aren't necessarily my task -- that's when I know it's a productive day :))
@k_onrade I tried to-do list to track my progress but the list kept on growing.
This year, I decided to switch to Google Calendar for 3 reasons:
1. To plan tasks better.
2. To see how well I'm using time.
3. To plan smarter, for example- if 10 slides take an hour, I'll set 2 more hours for the remaining 20 slides.