There was a poll on HN a couple of years ago that asked how many productive hours each reader had in a given day, and if I remember correctly there was a large plurality that picked 4-6 and a rather large group that picked 2-4. Which seems to square fairly well with my personal experience and that of the scientists in the piece. I often wonder how much actual work people who spend 80 hours in the office are actually getting done.
I used to spend 80 hours in the office. Most of it was waiting around for everyone to go home so I could get some programming done.
Now I'm much more balanced. I realized I want to have work I'm passionate about, and go at it with all the gusto I have, but also limit it to a timebox so it doesn't take over my life.
Everything that involves reaching "as far as you can" needs to also be boxed. Otherwise, it's like a cancer cell that "grows as much as it can" until it destroys you.
So, define a box for how much you want to work. Inside that box, work like a single-minded barbarian. But outside the box, enjoy life, smell the roses, and participate in hobbies. That's my formula now.
Yep, that's it! Thanks for the find. So, basically, ~56% of respondents actually worked between 3-6 hours a day, what I wish the poll also gave was how many hours they spend at work. So we could really get a sense for how many hours at work are actually productive hours.
