Joblog on the Lintels: Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 September 3

Monday, September 3, 2007

Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 September 3

An imprecise, but accurate on the whole, job accounting.


Time at AMBS:			47h 12m 58s
Time Working:			44h 54m 8s
	Communication:		2h 47m 34s
	Meetings:		15h 32m 58s
	Research:		0h 16m 0s
	Interruptions:		2h 2m 55s
		Phone:	1h 9m 2s
		Visit:	0h 53m 53s
		E-mail:	0h 0m 0s
		Chat:	0h 0m 0s
	Planned:		24h 14m 41s
		Tasks/Projects:	18h 30m 12s
		House cleaning:	5h 44m 29s
	Unspecified:		0h 0m 0s
Break:			1h 46m 33s
Personal:			0h 32m 17s
Average Daily Time at AMBS:			9h 26m 35s
Averagy Daily Working Time:			8h 58m 49s

*** Raw Data ***

08/27/2007 7:56:39 AM,ar,"",0
08/27/2007 7:58:44 AM,tk,"check bkp",125
08/27/2007 8:14:44 AM,re,"techrss",960
08/27/2007 8:22:34 AM,hc,"email",470
08/27/2007 8:24:05 AM,tk,"new accts",91
08/27/2007 8:26:40 AM,vi,"motion sensor question",155
08/27/2007 8:28:41 AM,tk,"print pres script",121
08/27/2007 8:39:38 AM,tk,"print pres",657
08/27/2007 4:26:35 PM,mt,"faculty",28017
08/27/2007 4:35:32 PM,hc,"email",537

08/28/2007 8:13:47 AM,ar,"",0
08/28/2007 8:49:46 AM,tk,"faculty pres prep and e-mail checking",2159
08/28/2007 8:55:18 AM,hc,"email acct reassurance",332
08/28/2007 3:06:59 PM,mt,"fac",22301
08/28/2007 3:12:47 PM,hc,"email",348
08/28/2007 3:16:16 PM,tk,"student enrolling",209
08/28/2007 4:49:18 PM,vi,"various",5582
08/28/2007 5:28:20 PM,hc,"phone and e-mail",2342
08/28/2007 6:00:37 PM,ps,"tmq",1937

08/29/2007 7:59:31 AM,ar,"",0
08/29/2007 8:40:16 AM,hc,"email",2445
08/29/2007 9:18:54 AM,tk,"move printer",2318
08/29/2007 9:25:01 AM,hc,"email",367
08/29/2007 9:27:44 AM,hc,"phone",163
08/29/2007 10:01:14 AM,tk,"printer",2010
08/29/2007 10:03:58 AM,tk,"copy course",164
08/29/2007 10:06:22 AM,hc,"phone",144
08/29/2007 10:11:39 AM,tk,"fax",317
08/29/2007 10:18:59 AM,bk,"",440
08/29/2007 11:03:23 AM,tk,"computer updates",2664
08/29/2007 11:08:16 AM,hc,"email",293
08/29/2007 11:10:20 AM,tk,"shopping",124
08/29/2007 11:35:25 AM,iv,"computer setup",1505
08/29/2007 11:51:37 AM,tk,"shopping",972
08/29/2007 1:50:38 PM,hc,"email",7141
08/29/2007 3:02:55 PM,tk,"set up kiosk",4337
08/29/2007 3:06:34 PM,hc,"email",219
08/29/2007 3:33:06 PM,hc,"phone",1592
08/29/2007 3:49:31 PM,vi,"email adobe",985
08/29/2007 4:28:37 PM,hc,"phone",2346
08/29/2007 5:07:57 PM,tk,"circ computer",2360

08/30/2007 7:38:19 AM,ar,"",0
08/30/2007 7:46:17 AM,hc,"email",478
08/30/2007 8:22:30 AM,tk,"update drupal",2173
08/30/2007 8:31:53 AM,hc,"email",563
08/30/2007 8:39:32 AM,ip,"reference for indiana elec",459
08/30/2007 8:43:56 AM,tk,"acct creation",264
08/30/2007 8:50:45 AM,tk,"download update for re",409
08/30/2007 9:12:09 AM,tk,"search for orientenroll",1284
08/30/2007 9:20:06 AM,ip,"cannot find files",477
08/30/2007 9:59:21 AM,tk,"deliver notebooks",2355
08/30/2007 11:33:41 AM,mt,"av asst",5660
08/30/2007 12:54:16 PM,bk,"lunch",4835
08/30/2007 12:58:15 PM,tk,"reupdate",239
08/30/2007 2:18:29 PM,tk,"started as an re update but ended as a whole slew of interruptions and other tasks",4814
08/30/2007 2:44:05 PM,iv,"sending email and adobe photoshop troubles",1536
08/30/2007 2:47:17 PM,iv,"address book fixing",192
08/30/2007 2:58:12 PM,ph,"blackboard troubles",655
08/30/2007 3:03:20 PM,em,"a few things",308
08/30/2007 3:27:31 PM,tk,"various little things",1451
08/30/2007 4:07:00 PM,vi,"various",2369
08/30/2007 4:21:51 PM,tk,"reupdate",891
08/30/2007 5:33:44 PM,tk,"ordering and a bunch of other stuff",4313
08/30/2007 5:45:44 PM,tk,"install software on notebook temporarily",720

08/31/2007 7:47:28 AM,ar,"",0
08/31/2007 7:54:54 AM,hc,"boot up",446
08/31/2007 8:02:30 AM,ip,"photoshop",456
08/31/2007 8:07:37 AM,hc,"email",307
08/31/2007 8:27:20 AM,tk,"new computer setup",1183
08/31/2007 8:56:03 AM,tk,"gimpshop",1723
08/31/2007 12:32:30 PM,tk,"scan computers",12987
08/31/2007 12:41:22 PM,tk,"scan computers holy cow",532
08/31/2007 1:00:00 PM,bk,"lunch",1118
08/31/2007 2:15:18 PM,tk,"various",4518
08/31/2007 3:01:08 PM,ip,"yet another interruption",2750
08/31/2007 3:03:24 PM,hc,"email",136
08/31/2007 4:52:18 PM,tk,"a whole bunch of stuff I wasn't expecting",6534
08/31/2007 5:18:52 PM,tk,"orientation docs",1594

How to Read These Posts

These posts are posted by a perl script I wrote to parse the output of a text file created by a slightly modified version of quicklogger. Posts on Tuesday through Saturday cover one work day; posts on Monday summarize the previous work week.

The parser relies heavily on two-letter codes, visible in the raw data. These codes went into effect July 1, 2016:

ar = arrive (as in, "this is when I arrived at work")
bk/ps = break (unpaid) or personal stuff
mt = meeting
mr = meeting-related (preparation/followup)
bm = budget management (shame on you)
re = reading/research
or = ordering
tr = training (includes telling someone how to do something, not just student supervision)
su = supervision
pr = project (just a task, but longer -- I know them when I see them)
av = specific AV-related task or project
hr/tk = short task/project done immediately (hr = something someone asked me to do; tk = something I decided to do just right then without planning for it)
ro/on = routine or ongoing task/project - stuff I do regularly for whatever reason
tm = task I initiated (but planned to do at a particular time, not something I just thought of this moment)
to,ob = task initiated at another's behest, but something I scheduled to work on at this particular time (not an emergency or spontaneous "let's just get this done" thing)
nw = meta-work (recording vacation, registering for a conference, rewriting the joblogger, chatting with the colleague whose quick question turned into a longer discussion about unrelated things [pastoral care work])
cl = community life stuff (chapel, forum, breaks)
co,em = correspondence, consultation, email

These tasks often flow into one another, so a spontaneous task (tk) includes not only the work I'm doing, but also the three interruptions in the hallway (that would normally be categorized as hr or co) that I dealt with while completing it.

Additionally, the categories are not strict. Tasks (tk or tm or to) have a tendency to become projects (pr), sometimes depending on nothing more than how I feel about them.

And, lest you think I spend all my time at work logging what I do at work instead of actually working, I'll break it down for you: if I average 50 log entries per day, and if each entry takes five seconds, that's six minutes and 10 seconds of each day committed to logging. Not nothing, but also not massive. And each entry probably takes less time than that -- I'm a touch typist, so most of the time entering in the log is related to waiting on the quicklogger to wake up when I press Ctrl-Alt-L. And even then I'm not sure more than five seconds pass.

Now the time coding and re-coding and remembering to use my new codes ... well, that's different. Let's call it nw.

So why the change? The new codes fit more neatly into categories in my job description so that when annual reporting and job description review comes up I can be a bit less impressionistic.

*** Older codes follow ***

These codes went into effect January 2, 2008, and are now obsolete:

ar = arrive (as in, "this is when I arrived at work")
bk/ps = break (unpaid) or personal stuff
di = distraction (self-imposed interruption)
ic = interruption by instant messenger (chat)
ip = interruption by phone
iv = interruption by visit
hr/up = help request or unplanned task (something that comes up as a result of checking my e-mail or phone messages -- usually not the result of an interruption)
mt = meeting
ch = chat initiated by me (should be rare)
em = e-mail checking/corresponding
ph = phone (calling, checking messages)
vi = visit (initiated by me)
hc = housecleaning (office)
tk = planned task or project
re = reading and research
cl = community life (this includes various all campus events, special and regular breaks, forum, chapel, etc.)
nw = work-related non-work things (for those things that aren't exactly community life, but are also not exactly work -- conference registration comes to mind)

*** Original Codes Follow ***

Original code set (2007) - now obsolete:

ar = arrive (as in, "this is when I arrived at work")
bk = break
mt = meeting
ic = interruption by instant messenger (chat)
ie = interruption by e-mail (as in, "I was doing something else and an e-mail popped up on my screen because that's my preferred method of receiving help requests")
ip = interruption by phone
iv = interruption by visit
ch = chat initiated by me
em = e-mail correspondence initiated by me
ph = phone correspondence initiated by me
vi = visit initiated by me (presumably, if others were logging these last three things, there would be a corresponding "iv," "ip," or "ie")
ps = some personal task (as in, "Oooo ... I forgot to check the bank balance, maybe I should do that before I forget")
hc = housecleaning (as in, "I better check my e-mail, listen to my phone messages, and clean up this clutter on my desk, NOW!")
tk = planned task
re = reading and research

Joblog on the Lintels

Monday, September 3, 2007

Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 September 3

How to Read These Posts

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