Oof. I know I said the same thing last Friday but it bears repeating: it’s been a doozy of a week, and really, just a doozy of time since getting back from vacation. The biggest factor in all this is work. I know I’ve mentioned here a few times in recent months that things at work had been slow, but that has NOT been the case for the last few weeks.
I’ve been absolutely slammed, and there’s not much I could have done to prevent it because the primary reason is one specific two-week assignment. The timeline for this particular assignment was entirely out of my control, and it wasn’t possible to start any earlier than this week, but the work absolutely must get done, and it absolutely must get done by the end of next week. And since I’m planning to take a couple days off next week with Emma out of school for spring break, that cuts into my time even more. (By my own choice, of course.) So I’ve been going like gangbusters, on top of my regular tasks, to make sure I can finish my part of this assignment by the end of the day next Wednesday. I think I’m gonna make it but whew, it’s good that I have three more days next week.
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Being so busy at work for the last two weeks, and contrasting that with the relative relaxation of the previous months, has led to some interesting observations. First and foremost is simply that when I’ve got this much to do in such a short amount of time, I come home EXHAUSTED. Any periods of downtime that I would have during a normal day at work — chatting with coworkers, going out for lunch, etc — are the first things to get eliminated. And having to focus fully on my tasks without small breaks is extremely mentally tiring. By the time I get home, I barely have the energy to make it through the usual evening routine. By the time the kids are in bed, doing anything else that requires thought — like writing a blog post! — sounds like entirely too much effort.
Writing this sounds like a complaint, and perhaps it is, but it’s also kind of fascinating. I’ve read articles before describing studies on the modern workday, and many come to the conclusion that the 8-hour workday is a bit bogus, and that in many “white collar” jobs, your brain is only capable of truly concentrating on detailed, information-heavy tasks for more like 5-6 hours. Weeks like this, in my own experience anyway, seem to add credence to that idea.
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Sewing, thankfully, is not really mentally taxing, so I’ve gotten some of that done this week at least. My secret sewing project is coming along, slowly but steadily, as is my Alison Glass swap mini quilt. Today is a flex day and even though I considered working on the afore-mentioned job task, I’m feeling comfortable enough to go ahead with the longarm reservation I made a month ago. I’ve got this quilt top and some backing fabric in my bag, and a plan for the quilting, so here goes nothing!
Jennifer says
“your brain is only capable of truly concentrating on detailed, information-heavy tasks for more like 5-6 hours”
I’m sure this is true, but the vast majority of jobs include a significant component that is not detailed and information-heavy and is more administrative. Therefore, your typical worker perhaps works anywhere from 1 to 6 hours of very technical work and spends the rest of the time attending meetings, sending e-mails, having conversations with people, documenting their work, whatever. As the administrative load increases (say when you become a manager), spending more hours per day working becomes more valuable because you have more stuff to do that doesn’t require deep thought but is nonetheless important.
I also think the amount of time people can spend focused on work varies widely. Even spending 6 hours a day of focused work is quite taxing, and I think most people can’t do that; the percent of good engineers who can, though, is much higher. Some great engineers are great because they can be focused and productive for longer periods of time than most people can. (There are others ways to be a great engineer, of course; being able to work long periods of time is just one way to increase productivity and value.)
Also, I am completely and totally wiped out after my first week on my “new” job.