Your Most Effective Work Times

How much actual work do you get done in a given work day? Some of us don’t think much about this. We clock in, work, then go home. Interruptions, meetings, and pointless tasks are just part of the daily routine. For others tracking productivity is almost a hobby or second job. They use tools and spreadsheets to track how much time they spend on tasks and even demark the value of those tasks. Several different research studies suggest that people are only productive for 2.5 to 3 hours in an 8 hour work day. Everyone has a most effective or peak performance time which typically lasts 3-4 hours. This is when the majority of people get their productive work done during the day. Factor in meetings and other interruptions and you get your average of 2.5 to 3 hours of productivity per day. However, the way you organize your schedule has a huge impact on your productivity. Knowing when you are at your most effective time means you can actively work to reduce distractions. Also, just because you are not at your peak doesn’t mean you can’t get productive work done during the down times. Unfortunately we don’t have full control over our work schedules. There are meetings we can’t control or required business hours when we have to be online or at the office. In these cases we have to know where we are in our productivity cycle and use that to make the best of the situation until it can be changed. Understanding when you are at your best performance and how to maximize it will help you not only in the work place but in your life outside of work as well. Whether you are a lion, a wolf, a bear, or even a dolphin you can learn to use your natural tendencies to get the most out of not only your peak times but also your troughs. Episode Breakdown Using Time Wisely Mono-task Instead of Multitask Multitasking may seem like a way to get more done in less time, but it leads to more mistakes and less creativity in thinking. As humans we have limited cognitive bandwidth, therefore our ability to accomplish things is dependant on our ability to focus on one task at a time. Unless used for the same task, reduce yourself to one screen when you are mono-tasking. The pomodoro technique, or interval work helps to stay focused on a task for a set amount of time. Distraction is a primal instinct. It was necessary for early humans to respond quickly to predators. Find the Prioritization That Works for You Prioritizing basically means figuring out which tasks you are going to get done in a limited amount of time. It doesn’t always mean one task is more important than the other, though that makes the process easier. Spend some time experimenting with different techniques to prioritize your schedule. Some people spend the first part of their day deciding which tasks to accomplish and prioritizing them. Whereas others will prioritize and entire week, or set up for the following day at the end of their workday. There is also the difference between starting with an easy task to get going or “eating the frog” and doing the most difficult thing first. This depends on personality and what you have to do that day. Stop Going to Meetings Meetings are typically time consuming wastes of time that are unproductive and foster disengagement of workers. Look at teams distributed across continents for inspiration on ways to avoid meetings. They are not able to all be in the same room or even online at the same time. Only attend meetings with agendas, especially if the items cannot be discussed or resolved without having synchronous communication. If you must go to meetings try to schedule them in blocks of time, or around blocks of focused work time. Reduce Interruptions Experienced developers understand the cost of interruptions, especially during their most effective work time,