The Long Road

12/07/2004 Archived Entry: "Waiting Time"

Waiting Time is the free time between things I plan on doing. I’ve gotten to the point where anything at least semi-productive that I want/need to do has to be scheduled in advance so that I can dedicate myself entirely to it for a given amount of time or until some set goal.

Say there’s a meeting at 2, and I’m at lunch until 1, during that one hour I could whip out some code and try to fix a bug or write a new function or something. The problem ends up being that I can’t half-commit myself to working on something in “waiting time” cuz I’ll eventually have to drop everything I’m doing and head off. It always takes a while to “switch gear” into what I’m doing and feel like I can’t take dedicate limited time to it. I hate spending time building a mindset to work on something specific that won’t get done in the allotted time.

The worse thing about Waiting Time is that I’ll start doing something unproductive instead like reading the newsarama forums or some random web browsing and it eventually starts creeping in to the time that I was supposed to actually do something with. I’ll often come home from work and finish dinner by 8 and plan on hitting the gym at 9:30 but then it ends up being something like 10:30 before I leave the apartment, the time in-between having been spent on something completely unproductive.

This is a problem I’m trying to fix; too much time ends up being wasted in my life. I feel like it’s really limiting me in what and how much I can accomplish in a day. I need to be able to do things in smaller chunks of time, need a lot of little things to work on, or change this “do it all at once” mentality (which I actually like).

Replies: 7 comments

WOW! This "waiting time" theory may be the very key behind why you're always late...:P!

On the subject of wasting time, I don't dwell on the little bits here and there. I look at things on the grander scheme to see where my life is going. As of yet, I don't like the "picture I'm painting". Life exerts too much control over me, rather than I over it. Analysis beyond this is too depressing.

Posted by dAN @ 12/07/2004 08:56 PM EST

Well, I disagree that you can't be productive during that 1 hour before the meeting; I also disagree that the time spent at work and the time at home are the same kinds of times!

Before the meeting, you can still scout out and sketch out whatever it is that you're planning on doing next; you might be surprised at how little time it takes to fix a bug.

The time "wasted" at home I think of more as winding-down time; I find I can't do much of anything right after I come home from work (except to make dinner). Brain's off, body's tired..
Although I admit I wish I did more with my evenings, but it seems like there's so little time.

dAN -- take time to design your life & plan it. You'll slowly put your plan to execution; things take time. Takes a long time for people to convince themselves of a lifestyle change; sometimes years. (Heck, took me a few weeks of visualizing before I managed to get up the courage to shave my head. :P)
..and life has control over a lot of people -- just look at everyone you know who's addicted to caffeine and can't go without it for a day.

Posted by Arshwana @ 12/07/2004 09:36 PM EST

It is a well known fact (OK maybe not) that people in a job that requires the type of concentration and thought patterns that computer science/programming jobs require, it takes them 15 minutes to get in the groove of working efficiently whenever they start. As a result, since you intuitively know this, you probably do not like to start working on something for a short period of time, since you know that you will have to stop soon and and won't be able to work effectively. This is also the problem you may have when you are constantly or regularly being interrupted at work since returning to your task will take another 15 minutes to really get in the zone.

At least so says the people on the Joel on Software forums.

Posted by sbdep @ 12/07/2004 10:14 PM EST

I don't see how this urban legend about me always being late has to come up everytime it's even remotely possible to bring it up.

I don't really dwell on the "bits". 10 minutes wasted staring at the screen won't haunt me but when it's like 2 hours or something it does get on my nerve that I don't actually have anything to show for that amount of time.

I realize that a lot can actually be done in a few minutes. But getting down to actually doing it just takes a lot of effort.

See, I was just about to write this comment cuz it was something semi-productive and I was planning on taking a shower soon and I had to force myself to.

Posted by Rayne @ 12/07/2004 10:15 PM EST

Wow Stephen!! I didn't know that! Now I have all kinds of excuses! (well, just one excuse) But I sorta feel this "groove" delay for everything I do, even non-CS stuff.

Posted by Rayne @ 12/07/2004 10:18 PM EST

rayne, you think too much ... is this habit of over-analysis partly to blame for the waiting time?

Posted by melpie @ 12/08/2004 10:08 AM EST

haha, melpie has the best answer of all!

Posted by sbdep @ 12/08/2004 06:56 PM EST