Based on vacation hours, I could either have worked the day after Christmas, or, thanks to flexible hours, I could try to get all my hours in before Christmas Eve.
How
I took a blanket to the office, and stayed there till the deed was done. I slept when I was tired, took time out for walking and eating and other minor things, but mostly worked. Out of curiosity, I logged what I did in Excel:
Analysis
Below is the distribution of sleep, work, and other (life) that I endured. This is NOT STACKED though it looks like it.
See the flat line of blue from 1pm to 9pm? My wife picked me up, we went to look at a house, had dinner, then I went home, slept, and showered, then returned to work.
Comparatively, if I had done normal hours: (sleep midight to 7; work 9-12 and 1-4):
Thoughts
- I converted “Other” time into “Work”. Sleep was more or less identical. Theoretically, this gave me more “Other” time on Friday.
- It was quite stressful. I should probably include the day it took for me to return to normal. (Stress as in “my body was under stress”)
- If I ever do this again, I’m taking blood pressure and other measurements.
- Interesting that a segment of work translates to a segment of sleep shortly after. This was certainly not planned, but it worked out that way. You cannot escape needed sleep.
- Assuming the ratio stays about the same, I could do a regular week of work from Monday 8am to Thursday 8am? Assuming no meetings and scope changes, of course. (hah!)
Tips
If I were to do this again, what would I do the same or differently?
- Invest in a cot or air-mattress to make sleep more effective.
- When sleeping, sleep FULLY, not “just enough”. You’re going to sleep the same amount in the end.
- Nap after every good bit of work; but look ahead (preplan the next bit of code) before napping so subconscious can work on it.
- Invest in fatty snacks rather than carby snacks. Especially good for me this time was Dinty Moore Beef Stew.
- Have minor things you can do for yourself in the middle so you don’t feel neglected, like going for a walk, taking care of an errand, etc.
