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Subject:Re: Goofing off on the job? From:Elna -dot- Tymes -at- SYNTEX -dot- COM Date:Fri, 7 Oct 1994 12:33:52 PDT
In article <9410041425 -dot- AA06587 -at- sunny -dot- mercury -dot- co -dot- il -dot- mercury>,
<julie -at- mercury -dot- co -dot- il> writes:
> The folks that write long answers about suit colors, mouse vs. keyboards etc.
> where do you find the time? Are you goofing off on the job?
> I work 45 hours a week (standard for Israel) writing software documentation.
> often find it difficult to keep my mind on my work when spending long hours
in
> front of the computer.
> Can anyone suggest tips for improving concentration?
Aside from your implication that those of us who write here have nothing else
to do with our time, the fact that we take occasional breaks is actually a
direct answer to your question. It has long been proven that long, unbroken
stretches of the same activity actually result in decreased productivity. It
has also been demonstrated that switching between a variety of tasks improves
overall productivity.
I spend considerably more than 8 hours a day in front of a computer screen.
This week I'm billing the client for something in excess of 60 hours, including
the 15-hour day I did yesterday. Then I go home and do other things, which
include spending some of my so-called leisure time in front of several other
computers. This would be deadly dull were it not for the fact that I'm doing
a variety of tasks, from writing to data analysis to searching for information
to - etc., etc. I also wind up spending a far-too significant portion of my
week standing at a copy machine, and trying to figure out the chicken-scratches
that are supposed to be review comments.
What writing on the net represents is approximately a 15-minute break, usually
taken during what passes in my life for a lunch hour (never HAS been an hour,
truth be told).
Difficulty concentrating? Not really - unless other people around me are
having one of those conversations that I just *can't* avoid overhearing.
