Re: The value of not working all hours
In my first proper job we worked on things like Vax780s and things of less power.That, in my job, left a lot of waiting time for jobs to finish and I used it to learn new skills. Because of the nature of the job you could do create some moderately accurate productivity data. Over about 6 years I worked our a continuous 37 1/2 hr week was the most productive. I could do a couple of weeks of 60hr weeks to get a job finished on time and then it would take a month of normal to get back up to normal. A month of 60hrs would lead to lower than normal productivity, largely due to recovering from errors but also from lack of enthusiasm.
The real answer to loss of productivity in longer hours I discovered working in the US where 12 hr days 6 days a week seemed to be the norm: just dont do anything that might tire you out like work.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
