

Ask HN: How much work do you get done in a day? - jdbo88

I was just wondering how much do people 'do' in a regular working day.<p>If you're a web designer then how far would you get with a concept mockup?<p>If you're coding a custom cms in php then how many features would you get through?<p>The reason I ask is that I'm always trying to push myself to do more but, not having worked with similar people in my field, I find it difficult to know whether I'm trying to achieve too much or not doing enough.<p>I know it's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question but would appreciate any insight you can give.
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bricestacey
This might not be the answer you're looking for, but.... I am the sole
technical person and am pretty much responsible for all technology for my
library. I actually don't get much of anything done on any given day. But most
importantly, I maintain people's confidence in our systems and assuage their
fears so that everything continues as normal. I am lying to them half the time
(our downtime is almost always unexpected issues in "the cloud" and all we can
do is wait. When implementing new systems, if I feel they're good, I assume
it'll work out and promise success with a hiccup here or there), but it's
necessary and important part of keeping us going. Simultaneously, I have
developed several apps on the side.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that productivity is relative. It's
what matters to you and your company. If features are important to your
company, then you should be knocking them out. If you're a university with
15,000 students and thousands of full-time employees, not doing much and
making sure people still trust you is more important.

With that said, I have recently been worried about my skills and have been
working hard to be sure I'm keeping fresh. I used to get hung up on design,
but lately I realize I can code up a horrendous site but 100% functional site,
and make it look pretty later - saving myself hours and hours of work. Also,
I'm working on writing tests so that I do not spend much time tracking down
regressive bugs. It's amazing how useful a comprehensive test suite is to
determine your next task, ensuring that you regularly press forward.

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veyron
The question suggests that there's a linear answer, but honestly its like most
other creative activities: work gets done in fits and spurts.

Some days I will do nothing, some days I will tweak a small piece of a small
component, and some days I will completely rebuild parts of the platform.

If you push yourself to do more, you are trying too hard. You can't force the
creative process.

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whichdan
[http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/04/14/1925218/How-Many-
Hour...](http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/04/14/1925218/How-Many-Hours-a-Week-
Can-You-Program)

Lots of insightful comments in this thread.

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cstrouse
I can usually implement 1-2 features in code per day (more when programming in
Ruby). In most cases I can only get like 25% of a site mocked up in a day (I'm
really slow when it comes to design).

