Ask HN: In your average ~8h workday, how many hours do you *actually* work?

12 points by Schroedingers2c 3 years ago | 24 comments

A lot of the time I am not writing code, but I am working all the time. My job is not to write code, but rather to come up with solutions, do research. A lot of the job is just thinking things through.

dyingkneepad 3 years ago | |

So you never waste a few minutes to an hour doing not-work things such as browsing Hacker News, Facebook, trash talking Elon Musk with your coworkers at the watercooler, etc?

(not saying you don't, just curious, I know some rare individuals on Earth are like this)

EligibleDecoy 3 years ago | | |

Not speaking for anyone else, but breaks are important. I am more productive working a cycle of 50 minutes “work” then taking 10 minute breaks. I would count my walking outside to get fresh air (or decompressing with some HN) work as it’s helping me solve problems.

But then again, sleep is super important to being productive but I wouldn’t call that work either.

paulcole 3 years ago | | |

He’s claiming that his mind is always subconsciously thinking about solving problems even when he’s doing those things.

It’s kind of a humblebrag.

chatmasta 3 years ago |

According to wakatime, sometimes I go a few days with 0 hours, and sometimes I hit 15. Programming productivity tends to be very streaky for me.

replwoacause 3 years ago |

It varies but on average I’d guess between 3-5, although when there are big projects I can put in 8+. I basically work whenever I’m needed and don’t feel badly about giving myself a little time back, considering I will work on the weekend or late into the night if there’s a reason to, which is rare.

throwawaysalome 3 years ago |

Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work. -- Office Space, 1999.

VoodooJuJu 3 years ago |

A lot of people fooling themselves here.

Look, no one likes to feel like they're wasting their time, but with modern jobs, with the common "butts-in-seats for 8 hours" rule, we do waste a lot of time - much of that time is spent not working. It's dishonest to say that it's all spent working and I believe it does damage to a potential future where the "butts-in-seats for 8 hours" rule ceases to exist. If we value our time, let's start being honest, because then maybe that silly 8 hour rule can go away some day.

bjourne 3 years ago | |

I think this very much depends on your definition of "working" and "wasting time". Participating in this debate on Hacker News is not "wasting time" if I get something out of it. Regardless of whether my employer profits from it or not. I believe the meaning of the verb "working" should be reserved to mean "full-filling your part of an employment contract with an employer". And that I'm doing right now. Other activities that may or may not be related to "working", such as writing code, should be called "coding", "programming", "hacking", etc. So it is true that I'm not "coding" eight hours per day, but it is true that I'm "working" eight (or more) hours per day.

zeroego 3 years ago |

I'm a mid level developer and probably about 5 or 6 on any given day. I do a lot of designing/coding and by the time 3pm rolls around the part of my brain that can think in that way just starts to shut down. Having upcoming deadlines invigorates me and can help me push the number of hours worked up, but it's very much "borrowing from my future self". I try to maintain a steady pace throughout a sprint and 9/10 times it works and allows me to work those 5 or 6 hours a day. I'm still available/at my desk for those remaining 2-3 hours though.

InfamousRece 3 years ago |

On average 3-4 hours. But the variance is large. Sometimes I work 10 hours straight and sometimes I barely work for 1 hour.

bad_username 3 years ago |

I time my work diligently and typically amass betwen 6 to 7.5 hours of "pure" work per day. Meetings included, breaks not included.

sloaken 3 years ago |

It depends on the phase of the project and how much I hate what I should be doing.

Over the last couple of months, probably about 6 hours. The two hours are breaks where I need to rest my head, but napping is not allowed. Or going for water / restroom. Idle chatting is probably around 15 minutes a day.

p1esk 3 years ago |

No more than 2 hours on average: some days it’s zero, some days could be 4-5 hours of intense focus.

thorin 3 years ago |

Emails are work, meetings are work, discussions are work. I'm not a developer anymore, when I was I did maybe 2-3hrs a day of coding and testing. Now I might do a couple of hours a week.

Assuming these are work, I do maybe 7-8.5hrs/ day

gladiatr72 3 years ago |

Define "actual work". Billable hours or does that include work-related things?

Schroedingers2c 3 years ago | |

Including work-related things. Anything you do because of your job (including core work, emails, chatting with someone about work and stuff like that; but excluding e.g. coffee-chat with a colleague about non-work related things, surfing web about non-work related things and stuff like that).

okokwhatever 3 years ago |

Probably 6-7 focused hours doing real stuff and 1-2 hours researching online and understanding the scope of my tasks.

annie_muss 3 years ago |

Between 0 and 4 hours. I dream of being able to do 8 hours of concentrated, focused work.

7174n6 3 years ago |

Do you include time sitting in meetings that should have been an email?

Schroedingers2c 3 years ago | |

Yes.

i_have_an_idea 3 years ago |

Around 12 hours.

ano88888 3 years ago |

1 to 4 hour