Optimal Time for Productivity

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Often times our productivity on a given task is very much tied to the time of day.  For example, I find that exercising in the afternoon seems to work best for me because it lets me unwind from the day.  I've always found it odd that my most productive times for programming are after 10pm.  There are obviously advantages to doing things late in the evening--fewer distractions, etc.  However, even when I'm not going to be interrupted during the day, I still can't seem to get into the "zone" as much as I can late at night. I think I've finally solved the mystery.  When I'm working on a task that where I don't know how long it will take, I generally do better when I don't have any hard … [Read more...]

Large Monitor = More Productivity

Apple hired a company to study the productivity impact of using a 30 inch monitor as compared to a 20 inch and 17 inch monitor.  The results indicate that a user on a 30 inch monitor will save about 1.3 hours per week over a user on a 17 inch monitor.  The report is based on what they consider to be normal usage. This isn't a huge productivity gain, but it might make it a little easier to justify upgrading your monitor.   Also, even small productivity gains add up.  At 1.3 hours per week, you'll be getting over half a day of savings each month. Depending on your work, the savings in productivity could be much greater.  If you work with many different applications at the same time … [Read more...]