I spend a whole lot of time distracted (Archinect, anyone?), but I still manage to get in about six hours of real work on a good day. That number has gone up and down depending on other factors in my life, way more when I was working on my portfolio and getting down to the final days, way less when I have no pressing tasks.
I know people who are able to fit in a lot more work on a daily basis and it surely pays off.
If you are implying that you have ADD (a very vague generalization of a variety of mental conditions) in order to obtain ADD drugs, I would recommend highly against it. I have known many people who thought that the drugs would be an answer to their lack of motivation and laziness. Yes, the drugs did help them for a short period of time, but after a tolerance was built up they went straight back to their old habits and had the added bonus of being addicted to amphetamines.
Try exercise, looking at architecture or art books, or doing anything out of the ordinary to spur you into producing something.
haha thanks loremipsum, but I'm just taking a poll for fun.
I don't really have ADD, nor am I looking for drugs. I'm just one of those who are easily distracted. Studio, work, or sitting at home, I have days of high productivity, and days of absolutely none. I still manage to finish everything on time, so I think it all balances out in the end lol.
Good! Just making sure, because, wow, are there a lot of people looking for attention drugs. Also, you can't talk much about any sort of cognitive condition (productivity) without folks defaulting to prescription remedies. (In the USA, of course!)
I had friends who required it to do any sort of work... essays, models, paintings. It was very sad.
I took some adderall once on the recommendation of a colleague, I was up for two straight days! I had severe adverse reactions. I cannot believe that we allow doctors/parents to force feed it to children.
Well... not to detract from the ADD meds talk, but I spend about 4 hours total in the day being "productive". I work the same way I did in studio, where I worked on my project / tasks for a solid 15 minutes then spend the next 45 browsing the internet or IMing. It's pathetic. About once a week, though, I get super motivated and focused and get work done the entire day. That day was yesterday for me.
When I'm home I spend the majority of my time watching TV or dumb stuff like painting my nails.
Base on a 8 hour workday, real productivity is about 6 hours on good days and about 3 on lazy days.
But, I'm thinking about the projects I'm working on 24/7/365. Most of the good solutions in terms of design and detailing comes when I'm not working such as smoke breaks, baths/showers, sitting on the toilet, insomniac episodes, etc.
My productivity is directly proportional to how busy I am. If I'm slammed, I have no problem working (and I mean really working) for a full 9+ hour day (we do the 4 1/2 day work week... best EVER!)... If I'm not busy, I work far, far less efficiently. I genuinely prefer being overworked to not having enough to do, but of course I wouldn't say that to my boss.
As for the blog.... when I'm working on the blog it's generally 90%+ efficiency, but it's interesting in that I only really post when I want to, and I sometimes go weeks without posting.
liberty bell -- I am struck by the relatively small amount of time so many posters indicate they actually work during a normal work day.
growing up, my Dad pounded into my head the phrase "a fair day's wage for a fair day's work" -- anymore it seems a lot of people expect a fair day's wage for a partial day's work (present company excluded, of course).
We are really getting slow at work and when you work only 6 or so hours, there is little time to get distracted, otherwise somebody will notice no work being done.
I did spend an allnighter the other day, first one since December of 2008.
i had a job once as a drafter in a government department and i think i literally spent about 18 hours per 40 week working. spent a lot of time checking out new music on the internet.
I work in a super easy subcontractor of a government road project job hence my extra inefficient days. All the work I have to do gets done but there really isn't much to do. When I got the job I was told I have to be there full time (in case people call) but my actual workload is half time or less.
I'm also in between undergrad and graduate school so my focus is elsewhere...
If I am at work for 9 hours, I am working for 8 of those 9 hours. When my brain is getting sluggish I work on something mindless until it decides to turn back on.
I get nervous in an environment as competitive as it is today that if I am not producing billable work then why should my boss keep me on the payroll. None of us are entitled to have a job, I feel like I need to earn it.
i swear there are a lot of days where i work for 8 hours with only my 1 hr lunch break. you know, besides bathroom breaks and such. i'd say on average, it's about 7 hours of the 8 i get paid for where i'm productive. and then there's studying for exams on top of it...
i don't think it's all nervousness about competition in this market as much as feeling a responsibility to clients being billed for my time, and actually wanting to accomplish and learn as quickly as i can so i can move on toward bigger personal goals.
sometimes being productive can be boring, but sitting there without work is much worse.
9-10 hour days. try to take a half hour at lunch to completely detach from whatever is going on. also, try to take 5 minutes each hour to switch gears somehow.
what kills me these days is the fact that i end up taking 30 calls a week that are largely unproductive: people looking for positions i haven't advertised for; engineers/consultants all wanting to know if we'll consider them for a project that's just hit the street; product reps wanting to know the same thing; you name it. leeches those calls are...
Outed, in order to collect my unemployment, I am required to make those phone calls. Sorry for the leech-dom, whenever I get around to phoning you. I've finished everything in upstate SC, and am headed your way...
no problem justin - i'm just venting. really, for every employment call, i get 30 from consultants looking for us to include them on our team. some days it's worse than others...
How much of your day is spent doing work?
Employed or Unemployed or Students.
How productive are you throughout the day ..
On a typical 8 hour day at the office?
At home updating your portfolio, resume, etc.?
In studio?
I think I have ADD. I'm on a horse.
Motivation!
I spend a whole lot of time distracted (Archinect, anyone?), but I still manage to get in about six hours of real work on a good day. That number has gone up and down depending on other factors in my life, way more when I was working on my portfolio and getting down to the final days, way less when I have no pressing tasks.
I know people who are able to fit in a lot more work on a daily basis and it surely pays off.
If you are implying that you have ADD (a very vague generalization of a variety of mental conditions) in order to obtain ADD drugs, I would recommend highly against it. I have known many people who thought that the drugs would be an answer to their lack of motivation and laziness. Yes, the drugs did help them for a short period of time, but after a tolerance was built up they went straight back to their old habits and had the added bonus of being addicted to amphetamines.
Try exercise, looking at architecture or art books, or doing anything out of the ordinary to spur you into producing something.
haha thanks loremipsum, but I'm just taking a poll for fun.
I don't really have ADD, nor am I looking for drugs. I'm just one of those who are easily distracted. Studio, work, or sitting at home, I have days of high productivity, and days of absolutely none. I still manage to finish everything on time, so I think it all balances out in the end lol.
Good! Just making sure, because, wow, are there a lot of people looking for attention drugs. Also, you can't talk much about any sort of cognitive condition (productivity) without folks defaulting to prescription remedies. (In the USA, of course!)
I had friends who required it to do any sort of work... essays, models, paintings. It was very sad.
I took some adderall once on the recommendation of a colleague, I was up for two straight days! I had severe adverse reactions. I cannot believe that we allow doctors/parents to force feed it to children.
// End
Well... not to detract from the ADD meds talk, but I spend about 4 hours total in the day being "productive". I work the same way I did in studio, where I worked on my project / tasks for a solid 15 minutes then spend the next 45 browsing the internet or IMing. It's pathetic. About once a week, though, I get super motivated and focused and get work done the entire day. That day was yesterday for me.
When I'm home I spend the majority of my time watching TV or dumb stuff like painting my nails.
Base on a 8 hour workday, real productivity is about 6 hours on good days and about 3 on lazy days.
But, I'm thinking about the projects I'm working on 24/7/365. Most of the good solutions in terms of design and detailing comes when I'm not working such as smoke breaks, baths/showers, sitting on the toilet, insomniac episodes, etc.
ditto...
best ideas always come in the down-time for me.
If I try too hard I get frustrated.
So essentially, I get more accomplished by doing other things. Wrap your head around that one.
I only work half days. Whichever 12 hours of the day it may be.
I definitely have days exactly like lidandan describes: 15 minutes of work "rewarded" by 45 minutes on Archinect/Jezebel/Facebook/whatever.
This week my schedule has been exactly like dsc's - 12 hours on, 6 hours being a mother, six hours of sleep, all interspersed.
On a typical day: I get 4-6 hours of work done during the day then 2-3 more after 9pm (when my son goes to bed).
and we wonder why the economics of the profession suck !
good to see you live and well LB
Hi dsc! It's been a nutty week.
comb I'm not sure I understand your comment?
tend to agree with comb.
My productivity is directly proportional to how busy I am. If I'm slammed, I have no problem working (and I mean really working) for a full 9+ hour day (we do the 4 1/2 day work week... best EVER!)... If I'm not busy, I work far, far less efficiently. I genuinely prefer being overworked to not having enough to do, but of course I wouldn't say that to my boss.
As for the blog.... when I'm working on the blog it's generally 90%+ efficiency, but it's interesting in that I only really post when I want to, and I sometimes go weeks without posting.
liberty bell -- I am struck by the relatively small amount of time so many posters indicate they actually work during a normal work day.
growing up, my Dad pounded into my head the phrase "a fair day's wage for a fair day's work" -- anymore it seems a lot of people expect a fair day's wage for a partial day's work (present company excluded, of course).
We are really getting slow at work and when you work only 6 or so hours, there is little time to get distracted, otherwise somebody will notice no work being done.
I did spend an allnighter the other day, first one since December of 2008.
i had a job once as a drafter in a government department and i think i literally spent about 18 hours per 40 week working. spent a lot of time checking out new music on the internet.
I work in a super easy subcontractor of a government road project job hence my extra inefficient days. All the work I have to do gets done but there really isn't much to do. When I got the job I was told I have to be there full time (in case people call) but my actual workload is half time or less.
I'm also in between undergrad and graduate school so my focus is elsewhere...
If I am at work for 9 hours, I am working for 8 of those 9 hours. When my brain is getting sluggish I work on something mindless until it decides to turn back on.
I get nervous in an environment as competitive as it is today that if I am not producing billable work then why should my boss keep me on the payroll. None of us are entitled to have a job, I feel like I need to earn it.
i swear there are a lot of days where i work for 8 hours with only my 1 hr lunch break. you know, besides bathroom breaks and such. i'd say on average, it's about 7 hours of the 8 i get paid for where i'm productive. and then there's studying for exams on top of it...
i don't think it's all nervousness about competition in this market as much as feeling a responsibility to clients being billed for my time, and actually wanting to accomplish and learn as quickly as i can so i can move on toward bigger personal goals.
sometimes being productive can be boring, but sitting there without work is much worse.
9-10 hour days. try to take a half hour at lunch to completely detach from whatever is going on. also, try to take 5 minutes each hour to switch gears somehow.
what kills me these days is the fact that i end up taking 30 calls a week that are largely unproductive: people looking for positions i haven't advertised for; engineers/consultants all wanting to know if we'll consider them for a project that's just hit the street; product reps wanting to know the same thing; you name it. leeches those calls are...
Outed, in order to collect my unemployment, I am required to make those phone calls. Sorry for the leech-dom, whenever I get around to phoning you. I've finished everything in upstate SC, and am headed your way...
no problem justin - i'm just venting. really, for every employment call, i get 30 from consultants looking for us to include them on our team. some days it's worse than others...
I respect the "no phone calls, please" requests, if posted, but if I don't get an email response, I make the follow-up calls. What else can I do?
On a given day I spend about 7 hours out of the 8 being productive, and often I feel like I'm one of the slackers.
5 or 6 hours out of the 18 I'm awake. This is distilled productive time and doesn't include even the smallest break or blink...
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