Joblog on the Lintels: Daily Work Log for 2007 October 2

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Daily Work Log for 2007 October 2

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


Time at AMBS:			9h 35m 22s
Time Working:			8h 1m 41s
	Communication:			2h 12m 50s
	Meetings:			0h 0m 0s
	Research:			1h 13m 33s
	Interruptions:			0h 26m 9s
		Phone:			0h 6m 40s
		Visit:			0h 19m 29s
		E-mail:			0h 0m 0s
		Chat:			0h 0m 0s
	Planned:			4h 9m 9s
		Tasks/Projects:			3h 1m 15s
		House cleaning:			1h 7m 54s
	Unspecified:			0h 0m 0s
Break:			1h 30m 3s
Personal:			0h 3m 38s

*** Raw Data ***

10/02/2007 7:40:00 AM,ar,"",0
10/02/2007 7:43:01 AM,hc,"empty mailbox",181
10/02/2007 7:48:38 AM,hc,"boot up after unexpected overnight shutdown",337
10/02/2007 8:14:20 AM,hc,"email -- ulcer-inducing",1542
10/02/2007 8:19:08 AM,bk,"d",288
10/02/2007 8:40:28 AM,re,"educause proposal thinking",1280
10/02/2007 8:53:21 AM,re,"rss",773
10/02/2007 10:04:26 AM,tk,"pull cable",4265
10/02/2007 10:12:07 AM,hc,"email",461
10/02/2007 10:23:45 AM,hc,"email",698
10/02/2007 10:41:43 AM,re,"rss",1078
10/02/2007 10:45:07 AM,iv,"blackboard posting rtf",204
10/02/2007 10:47:30 AM,iv,"chat",143
10/02/2007 11:00:40 AM,re,"rss",790
10/02/2007 11:24:01 AM,tk,"search for network card",1401
10/02/2007 11:45:31 AM,tk,"asst tasks",1290
10/02/2007 11:49:09 AM,ps,"crop donation",218
10/02/2007 12:15:00 PM,bk,"worship",1551
10/02/2007 12:55:41 PM,bk,"lunch",2441
10/02/2007 2:33:05 PM,vi," and iv I can't really keep it all straight anymore",5844
10/02/2007 2:35:30 PM,hc,"phone",145
10/02/2007 3:02:57 PM,vi,"various",1647
10/02/2007 3:09:37 PM,ip,"MVS project",400
10/02/2007 3:12:59 PM,tk,"asst instructs",202
10/02/2007 3:26:41 PM,iv,"video questions",822
10/02/2007 4:01:39 PM,tk,"doc for asst",2098
10/02/2007 4:21:26 PM,tk,"deliver instructions",1187
10/02/2007 4:33:16 PM,hc,"boxes",710
10/02/2007 4:51:59 PM,bk,"tmq",1123
10/02/2007 4:59:11 PM,tk,"return stuff to library",432
10/02/2007 5:07:10 PM,em,"scheduled tasks on mac",479
10/02/2007 5:15:22 PM,re,"mac apps",492

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

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Daily Work Log for 2007 October 2

How to Read These Posts

Blog Archive

About Me