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elfsI mentioned the Dalton Conley interview at Salon earlier today in the context of his quote about how we're effectively a polygamous society. I found it because Andrew Sullivan quoted it to add that all that was fine but snark about how gay marriage would destroy America.
Conley has much more to say in that interview, one of which has struck me throughout the day. He points out that knowledge workers are not limited by deliveries, resources, or materials on hand. Even in the past, office workers had to stop when they got home because the office materials were still at the office. "Bringing your work home" was a momentous event-- or an ominous one-- that often involved a heavy briefcase with files and books.
Parkinson's Law was first formulated by Major C. Northcote Parkinson, who worked in an administrative position in England during World War 2. He dealt with an unending stream of daily paperwork from on high to on low and vice versa, always just at the breaking point. One week, all three men above the Major are suddenly missing: one goes on leave, another becomes violently ill, and the third is called north on urgent business. The flood of paper ceased, and yet both the base operations and the entire war continued without pause. Major Parkinson later said, "There had never been anything to do. We'd just been making work for each other." He then went on to famously write Parkinson's First Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Putting Conley and Parkinson together, I realized that my life, at least, is a recipie for exhaustion and depression. If work is always available, if there are no hard limits on what I can do, then "work" (which as Parkinson wryly notes does not add up to accomplishment) can easily expand to fill every waking moment.
I have struggled most of my life with an oppresive form of ADHD, an annoying combination of distractablity and a pressing, urgent, and constant wish to feel "informed." I am not informed, however; often I am merely reguritant. I am distracted by this comforting infobulimia from other pressing responsibilities that are not "work" but are life, like connecting with friends and taking care of my family.
This isn't news. I've written about this before. Sometimes, when the habit gets bad, I simply write one of these to remind myself that the tools are at hand, the to-do list with a thoughtful list of concrete accomplishments, not merely tasks, separated into two very important categories: my job, and my life, and never the twain shall overlap.
Conley has much more to say in that interview, one of which has struck me throughout the day. He points out that knowledge workers are not limited by deliveries, resources, or materials on hand. Even in the past, office workers had to stop when they got home because the office materials were still at the office. "Bringing your work home" was a momentous event-- or an ominous one-- that often involved a heavy briefcase with files and books.
Parkinson's Law was first formulated by Major C. Northcote Parkinson, who worked in an administrative position in England during World War 2. He dealt with an unending stream of daily paperwork from on high to on low and vice versa, always just at the breaking point. One week, all three men above the Major are suddenly missing: one goes on leave, another becomes violently ill, and the third is called north on urgent business. The flood of paper ceased, and yet both the base operations and the entire war continued without pause. Major Parkinson later said, "There had never been anything to do. We'd just been making work for each other." He then went on to famously write Parkinson's First Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Putting Conley and Parkinson together, I realized that my life, at least, is a recipie for exhaustion and depression. If work is always available, if there are no hard limits on what I can do, then "work" (which as Parkinson wryly notes does not add up to accomplishment) can easily expand to fill every waking moment.
I have struggled most of my life with an oppresive form of ADHD, an annoying combination of distractablity and a pressing, urgent, and constant wish to feel "informed." I am not informed, however; often I am merely reguritant. I am distracted by this comforting infobulimia from other pressing responsibilities that are not "work" but are life, like connecting with friends and taking care of my family.
This isn't news. I've written about this before. Sometimes, when the habit gets bad, I simply write one of these to remind myself that the tools are at hand, the to-do list with a thoughtful list of concrete accomplishments, not merely tasks, separated into two very important categories: my job, and my life, and never the twain shall overlap.
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-03 05:34 pm (UTC)possibly the most useful insight to date, Elf. Thank you for that.
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Date: 2009-02-03 08:38 pm (UTC)Nowdays, I find I can't understand why anyone _wouldn't_ keep them separate... I had a co-worker at $WeInvestThings who would log in on Sunday to update his tickets for the week, so as to not get flagged in the Monday report for having tickets that hadn't been updated for more than 7 days.
I couldn't understand this. Yes, going through all my tickets on Friday and making sure they'd been updated took time I could have spent accomplishing things. So? That doesn't mean I was going to give up my weekend.
If my employer wants me to be thinking about work 24/7, then my employer can pay me for working 24/7.
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Date: 2009-02-03 11:56 pm (UTC)This is an aspect of the corporate culture of not just the worker, but the owner as well. As the owner of a business, I am constantly up against the mentality that if I don't put in 100% plus 50% I'm obviously not *really* interested in getting my business off the ground and going. At first I tried to buy into that strategy, but very quickly realized it was just bull. A way for men who had no life to feel like they had accomplished something, who's idea of a fun time was to get up at 6 am, run the gambit of work until 8 pm, then go get drunk with some hookers until 1 am, and start over again.
Not my way of doing things. I have a life. I have a family. And I have a successful company. And I don't need to put in 150% to do it.
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Date: 2009-02-04 12:46 am (UTC)I mean, are those people who are routinely putting in the so called 150% really any more productive in the long run?
I remember helping out in a small business where the 2 manager/partners were seemingly putting in 16 hours days but were actually less productive than if they would have limited their time, gotten some real rest so they could think straight, and had time to be with their family. They made a lot of mistakes/bad decisions that could have been avoided if they had slept and not been strung out on caffine and sugar.
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Date: 2009-02-03 07:18 pm (UTC)I will be re-organizing the house as we make progress to make this harder and less hypnotic. There is a REAL world out there and it's much more satisfying!
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Date: 2009-02-04 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-03 07:31 pm (UTC)Anyway, I'm thrilled about this info you posted. I've never heard of any of it before, yet I think I can honestly say I've known these laws for a long time now. Apparently one of his works is still being published. I'll have to order one....or more. :)
There's a similar concept I've had where the less people manage to get done, the harder they appear to work. I tend to be a lazy person in that inefficient work annoys the hell out of me. I strive to get the maximum results at the highest quality with the least amount of effort possible. What this means is that I (and others like me) tend to get as much, if not more, done than coworkers while (with an occasional special circumstance exception) getting to work on time, leaving on time, taking our lunches and breaks and not taking work home with us (I'm also a strong believer in work is work, personal is personal and never the two shall meet).
However, many supervisors will see you as doing less work than your coworkers even though they KNOW that you are doing the same work that is taking twice as much time and effort as someone else.
I've also noticed a strong tendency for supervisors to resist changes that will improve efficiency often stating "high" initial costs (often non existent costs) that are rarely any higher than the cost of all the extra effort being done.
Anyway, I need to end things here. I can rant on these subjects for hours and bore everyone to tears if I don't watch myself :)
Again, thanks for the info!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-03 07:41 pm (UTC)Sounds like a reformulation of Say's law: "... Production or supply, inherently creates demand for what is produced."
In other words, crap grows to fill the void.
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Date: 2009-02-04 01:08 am (UTC)Parkinson's Law seems to apply to smartphones. At my old job, I was given a smartphone so I could check email out of the office. I would check it compulsively, and garner comments of, "You work a lot." Having been without one at my new job (same position, different company) I can't say I miss it, nor do I feel any less productive.
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Date: 2009-02-04 04:26 pm (UTC)It's not just that you want to know as much as possible and have the world's largest and most versatile library in human existence. It's that your definition of the "possible" in the phrase as-much-as-possible has no bounds.
I wish I didn't share that problem.