
The Productivity Paradox: How Working Less Will Make You More Productive - NicoJuicy
https://hackernoon.com/the-productivity-paradox-how-working-less-will-make-you-more-productive-b7c6d3df442c?source
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chaabani
Let’s note p(h) the productivity a person gets in a day when she works h
hours. And let’s assume she works the same amount of hours every day.

p(0) is 0, and p(24) is almost 0 because except the initial productive hours,
she won’t be able to produce anything since she can’t sleep, eat, etc and
won’t be physically able to work. Also p(1) is positive.

When plotting the function p, it starts at 0h, increases then decreases until
it reaches 0 again at 24h.

This means that there is an optimal value H where p(H) is at its peak.

With the plot of p(h) in mind, let’s note h0 the amount of hours you currently
work. Also let’s assume h0 > H, which is the case described in the article.

This means two things. First p(h0) < p(H). Second, there is h1 < H where p(h1)
= p(h0) (try drawing an horizontal line that passes through p(h0) and you will
see that is traverses the plot in another point).

So yes, if you work more than the optimal amount of hours per day, you can be
more productive if you work less hours, unless you reduce the amount of hours
to less than h1.

The ideal is to try to track your productivity and find the sweet spot for
you.

Also, unless you are superhuman, don’t work 20 hours a day.

Finally, please note that this is a simplified model and things are more
complicated in real life (work-life balance, kids, commuting, deadlines, ...)

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jh72de
What is paradoxical in this?

~~~
tbihl
It's not paradoxical at the extremes, but rather in how it goes against the
beliefs that many people put into practice. 'I need to go in to the office
this weekend because I have a lot to get done.'\--'I had to pull an all-
nighter to get the project done.'\--'I stay late a few nights a week to make
sure I get all my work done.'

Incidentally, in all three of those examples I suspect the advantage comes
from working when fewer people are available to distract you, but the
implication is always that you get more work done by spending more time doing
it, which is being refuted as a valid concept for knowledge work.

