Comments on: Productive Output: What the 9 – 5 Misses and Why I’m Done with a 40 Hour Workweek http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/ Musings of a Balding 27 Year Old Entrepreneur Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:52:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: 13 Ways to Find More Time in ‘09 | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-1719 13 Ways to Find More Time in ‘09 | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:27:35 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-1719 [...] 45 minute pocket of time each night.  A real lot done.  I first realized this in college (see my productive output post), and it changed me from being “just average” when it came to getting things done to [...] [...] 45 minute pocket of time each night.  A real lot done.  I first realized this in college (see my productive output post), and it changed me from being “just average” when it came to getting things done to [...]

]]> By: It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-1512 It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:26:43 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-1512 [...] Entrepreneurs are lucky because we don’t need to worry about any of that.  My partners and I have established a culture that allows for us to have maximum freedom while still meeting the requirements of the business.  We each work about 18 hours/week in the warehouse. The rest of the time we’re free to do whatever we want.  Everyone has their own way of getting shit done, but I prefer to spend about half of that time working from home and the other half at a coffee shop.  I tend to turn off all distractions and zone in on my work so that I have plenty of free time to recharge.  I pretty much am still hitting all of the goals outlined in my productive output post. [...] [...] Entrepreneurs are lucky because we don’t need to worry about any of that.  My partners and I have established a culture that allows for us to have maximum freedom while still meeting the requirements of the business.  We each work about 18 hours/week in the warehouse. The rest of the time we’re free to do whatever we want.  Everyone has their own way of getting shit done, but I prefer to spend about half of that time working from home and the other half at a coffee shop.  I tend to turn off all distractions and zone in on my work so that I have plenty of free time to recharge.  I pretty much am still hitting all of the goals outlined in my productive output post. [...]

]]> By: What I Do on the Weekend - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-1332 What I Do on the Weekend - Adam McFarland Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:26:28 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-1332 [...] - as hard as it was, even for someone cognizant of overworking themselves - I took a step back and made a conscious decision to work less.  Every night I started doing something fun that was non work related.  I started saying [...] [...] – as hard as it was, even for someone cognizant of overworking themselves – I took a step back and made a conscious decision to work less.  Every night I started doing something fun that was non work related.  I started saying [...]

]]> By: Productive Output Update - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-1241 Productive Output Update - Adam McFarland Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:56:12 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-1241 [...] output post where I declared that I would never work more than 35 hours in a week again (see Productive Output:  What the 9-5 Misses and Why I’m Done with a 40 Hour Workweek). It was only two months ago, but a lot has changed since [...] [...] output post where I declared that I would never work more than 35 hours in a week again (see Productive Output:  What the 9-5 Misses and Why I’m Done with a 40 Hour Workweek). It was only two months ago, but a lot has changed since [...]

]]> By: The Absolute Hardest Thing To Do For Any Business Owner - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-852 The Absolute Hardest Thing To Do For Any Business Owner - Adam McFarland Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:24:40 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-852 [...] or get some work done I’m so frazzled that I cannot think straight.  Not a week where my productive output plan really came into play much, although for all of the other more “normal” weeks [...] [...] or get some work done I’m so frazzled that I cannot think straight.  Not a week where my productive output plan really came into play much, although for all of the other more “normal” weeks [...]

]]> By: When to Hire: Our Next Big Task - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-808 When to Hire: Our Next Big Task - Adam McFarland Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:33:43 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-808 [...] this first story sounds familiar, it is - I touched upon it in my Productive Output post.  A few weeks ago the owner of a local large online retailer (approx 10x bigger than us) [...] [...] this first story sounds familiar, it is – I touched upon it in my Productive Output post.  A few weeks ago the owner of a local large online retailer (approx 10x bigger than us) [...]

]]> By: Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-791 Adam McFarland Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:03:50 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-791 @ Nethy - I had not previously read that essay. It was very well written - yet another way to look at efficiency and wealth. One thing that I noticed when reading that is the emphasis on programmers as one of the only jobs left where you can "create" something of high value from scratch. There's certainly some truth to that. @ Nethy – I had not previously read that essay. It was very well written – yet another way to look at efficiency and wealth. One thing that I noticed when reading that is the emphasis on programmers as one of the only jobs left where you can “create” something of high value from scratch. There’s certainly some truth to that.

]]> By: » Down With 9-5 | Kate Says http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-786 » Down With 9-5 | Kate Says Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:47:04 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-786 [...] I’m off to read the post that inspired HIS post (and probably buy The 4-Hour Workweek) and then to read the rest of Dave [...] [...] I’m off to read the post that inspired HIS post (and probably buy The 4-Hour Workweek) and then to read the rest of Dave [...]

]]> By: Nethy http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-784 Nethy Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:13:00 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-784 Have you read:paulgraham.com/wealth.html ? What hit me when I read it was what used to hit me when I was at Uni. I was never good at balancing load through the semester. The consequence seemed to always be (at a very conservative estimate) 70-80% of the essay written in the last 10-30% of the time. Or (on several occasions), one whole course (1/4 of a fully loaded semester) in 5-10 days. We had about 35 weeks of classes in a year including exams. Only about 10 of those really seemed necessary if one could go at full throttle. A whole degree in about a year. Converting that to reality is a trick though. Have you read:paulgraham.com/wealth.html ?
What hit me when I read it was what used to hit me when I was at Uni.

I was never good at balancing load through the semester. The consequence seemed to always be (at a very conservative estimate) 70-80% of the essay written in the last 10-30% of the time.
Or (on several occasions), one whole course (1/4 of a fully loaded semester) in 5-10 days. We had about 35 weeks of classes in a year including exams. Only about 10 of those really seemed necessary if one could go at full throttle. A whole degree in about a year.

Converting that to reality is a trick though.

]]> By: Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/comment-page-1/#comment-772 Adam McFarland Sat, 31 May 2008 16:49:38 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/05/22/productive-output-what-the-9-5-misses-and-why-im-done-with-a-40-hour-workweek/#comment-772 @ Barbara - exactly. There's no way someone who is stressed and sleep deprived gets more done in 10 hours than they would in a healthy state in 6 hours! @ Ian - thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm planning on writing a post about how I think people in a corporate environment can go about implementing some of this stuff because they are clearly faced with different challenges than I am. @ Barbara – exactly. There’s no way someone who is stressed and sleep deprived gets more done in 10 hours than they would in a healthy state in 6 hours!

@ Ian – thanks for the words of encouragement. I’m planning on writing a post about how I think people in a corporate environment can go about implementing some of this stuff because they are clearly faced with different challenges than I am.

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