The Daily Ping

P is for Ping. That's good enough for me.

November 30th, 2006

Your Work Day

I’d guess that most Pingers work a standard day job with standard hours from 9-5 or thereabouts. But given we “waste” 2 of those 8 hours, that leaves just 6 hours of actual work time. Six hours.

Out of those six, when are you most productive… other than lunch?

Since I’m generally a morning person I find that I’ve got a few times that just gel well: 8:30-10:00 (in other words, right when I get in to the office), 9:00-11:00 (leading up to an early lunch), and 1:00-3:00. Two hour blocks of programming and design are a nice size.

Here’s a question though: if a person works about 6 hours a day, why aren’t workdays just 6 hours? If I knew I was done at 3, I’d definitely feel less pressure to take care of stuff over lunch or the like… knowing I could just do it at home. Of course there’d be some people who decided to work just 4 hours out of those 6 and, well, next thing you know… anarchy.

How’re the ebbs and flows of your work day?

Posted in Everyday Life

Monica November 30, 2006, 7:52 pm

it depends whether or not I have class or office hours. Usually I’m most productive after lunch, since the time beforehand is all the catching-up stuff. I think that’s been true ever since I was in high school! 3-5/6 pm has a big energy-peak.

Paul, how much snow do you have down there?

Paul November 30, 2006, 8:52 pm

Bupkis so far, Monica!

Dave Walls November 30, 2006, 9:29 pm

I’m always more productive in the afternoon. Even though I get up before the crack of dawn (5a) for work, as soon as the first half of my split shift is done, I’m crashing at home.

The best part about a split shift is the ability to run errands, do chores, get things done during the day, and still have a life at night.

Steve A December 1, 2006, 11:33 am

My day at work starts either at 7am or 8am, depending on whether we have our truckload of food coming in. The line needs set up, prep needs done and all those nickel/dime things folks take for granted to ensure there’s adequate food available for guest. Regardless, 11am-1:00pm are my busiest hours when *you folks*, the ones who go out for lunch, come a’calling.

By 2:00pm things are usually wound down enough that I can finish whatever I had started earlier in the morning.

Ciao,

Kevin B. December 1, 2006, 1:51 pm

I find that Im the most productive after I get back from lunch. I go to lunch at around 11:30am every day for an hour. I just feel better…usually because I didn’t have time to grab a breakfast before work of any kind. I normally end up drinkin coffee all morning til lunch, then hittin the deli.

Adam December 1, 2006, 2:57 pm

I’m definitely not a morning person. I arrive at 9am, but I’m not really there until 10 or so. I’m easily most productive from about 2 or 3 on. Which is why I usually end up working until 7 or 8pm.

Merle December 2, 2006, 3:58 pm

My work day varies a lot, and the most productive time is early morning or late afternoon, when nobody seems to realize that I’m in the office: many fewer distractions.

Lunch *could* be productive, but now and then someone will wander over right when I bring my lunch back, say “hmm, I should get lunch”, and will stand there gabbing for half an hour. I don’t understand that. If someone declines invitations and brings lunch back to their cubicle, and appears to be working, shouldn’t you leave them alone?

What is this then?

The Daily Ping is the web's finest compendium of toilet information and Oreo™® research. Too much? Okay, okay, it's a daily opinion column written by two friends. Did we mention we've been doing this for over ten years? Tell me more!

Most Popular Pings