Being a knowledge worker I’ve noticed the following when I push beyond 8hrs of focused work per day.
1. Tasks take 50% more time to complete.
2. The probability of screw up increases. And it really shoots up beyond 10hrs or so.
3. Net result, I take more time cleaning up the mess I created than if I had worked on them at a normal pace.
It’s like a over speeding car taking more time to reach the destination because it either took a wrong route or its engine broke down and had to be replaced.
Whenever I try to 'push' myself I always remind myself of about 8 years ago when it was 12 - 16 hours on the computer, sleep and repeat.
In my mind at the time I felt like it was being productive and doing good. Reality was that it was a lot of clicking around, trying to focus was impossible and my productivity was just shot.
Now I work solidly for 7 hours and that's it. If I have enough juice to be able to focus on an article or do some of my course then I'll do it but if I have to re-read the same sentence 3 times, I tap out. Tomorrow is a new day and so far my obsession with 'optimizing' every waking minute has provided me with exactly nothing so now I'm trying to switch things up to a more placid life.
PowerPoint jockeying isn't mind work. You need them to be there, do the work, and not complain because everyone is on a crazy tight deadline and everyone is tired.
Unfortunately, you can't split the work between people as the communication overhead and loss of secrecy overwhelms the savings in time
1. Tasks take 50% more time to complete.
2. The probability of screw up increases. And it really shoots up beyond 10hrs or so.
3. Net result, I take more time cleaning up the mess I created than if I had worked on them at a normal pace.
It’s like a over speeding car taking more time to reach the destination because it either took a wrong route or its engine broke down and had to be replaced.