Joblog on the Lintels: Daily Work Log for 2007 October 29

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Daily Work Log for 2007 October 29

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


Time at AMBS:			8h 27m 47s
Time Working:			7h 5m 11s
	Communication:			0h 21m 21s
	Meetings:			0h 0m 0s
	Research:			1h 8m 17s
	Interruptions:			1h 0m 28s
		Phone:			0h 23m 16s
		Visit:			0h 37m 12s
		E-mail:			0h 0m 0s
		Chat:			0h 0m 0s
	Planned:			4h 35m 5s
		Tasks/Projects:			3h 30m 25s
		House cleaning:			1h 4m 40s
	Unspecified:			0h 0m 0s
Break:			1h 22m 36s
Personal:			0h 0m 0s

*** Raw Data ***

10/29/2007 8:07:51 AM,ar,"",0
10/29/2007 8:34:43 AM,hc,"email",1612
10/29/2007 8:57:48 AM,tk,"pastor computer",1385
10/29/2007 9:02:58 AM,re,"dhcp",310
10/29/2007 9:05:28 AM,re,"survey",150
10/29/2007 9:06:24 AM,iv,"corrupt file",56
10/29/2007 9:06:50 AM,tk,"pastor notebook",26
10/29/2007 9:07:39 AM,re,"survey monkey",49
10/29/2007 9:18:14 AM,ip,"find a file",635
10/29/2007 9:19:44 AM,ip,"ellul",90
10/29/2007 9:24:09 AM,hc,"email",265
10/29/2007 9:35:40 AM,hc,"admin fac",691
10/29/2007 9:43:12 AM,ip,"s:\",452
10/29/2007 9:43:55 AM,em,"admins",43
10/29/2007 9:44:24 AM,ip,"lightbulb question",29
10/29/2007 9:47:34 AM,em,"admins",190
10/29/2007 9:50:20 AM,re,"self study",166
10/29/2007 10:15:00 AM,bk,"monday",1480
10/29/2007 10:34:17 AM,tk,"new employee",1157
10/29/2007 10:35:34 AM,iv,"phone number",77
10/29/2007 10:43:22 AM,re,"sbc",468
10/29/2007 10:56:00 AM,tk,"lost attachments",758
10/29/2007 10:57:30 AM,hc,"email",90
10/29/2007 11:05:24 AM,iv,"lightbulb change",474
10/29/2007 11:22:52 AM,em,"self-study stuff (IT questions)",1048
10/29/2007 11:24:36 AM,hc,"email",104
10/29/2007 11:27:56 AM,tk,"pastor computer",200
10/29/2007 12:01:48 PM,re,"first monday and open journal system",2032
10/29/2007 12:07:04 PM,iv,"reading layout",316
10/29/2007 1:05:00 PM,bk,"lunch",3476
10/29/2007 1:15:55 PM,hc,"email",655
10/29/2007 1:21:21 PM,hc,"email",326
10/29/2007 1:34:50 PM,re,"open journal systems",809
10/29/2007 1:37:07 PM,hc,"email (evals)",137
10/29/2007 1:39:00 PM,re,"repatch",113
10/29/2007 1:54:24 PM,tk,"new dhcp scope",924
10/29/2007 1:59:13 PM,tk,"retrieve printout",289
10/29/2007 2:19:39 PM,tk,"zotero and profile playing",1226
10/29/2007 2:28:18 PM,tk,"zotero install script",519
10/29/2007 3:16:41 PM,tk,"printer inventory",2903
10/29/2007 3:20:47 PM,tk,"printer inventory",246
10/29/2007 3:21:37 PM,tk,"network revisions",50
10/29/2007 3:30:46 PM,iv,"picture size in powerpoint",549
10/29/2007 3:33:56 PM,ip,"spouse",190
10/29/2007 3:36:09 PM,iv,"powerpoint image insertion",133
10/29/2007 3:37:16 PM,tk,"network revisioning",67
10/29/2007 4:00:44 PM,tk,"network revisioning",1408
10/29/2007 4:11:11 PM,iv,"powerpoint images",627
10/29/2007 4:13:03 PM,tk,"mr16mi ip address",112
10/29/2007 4:18:25 PM,tk,"mr16mi",322
10/29/2007 4:35:38 PM,tk,"vmware stuff",1033

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

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Daily Work Log for 2007 October 29

How to Read These Posts

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