Joblog on the Lintels: Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 October 8

Monday, October 8, 2007

Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 October 8

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


Time at AMBS:			27h 47m 36s
Time Working:			23h 33m 21s
	Communication:		2h 25m 19s
	Meetings:		5h 21m 32s
	Research:		2h 37m 51s
	Interruptions:		2h 12m 48s
		Phone:	1h 50m 6s
		Visit:	0h 22m 42s
		E-mail:	0h 0m 0s
		Chat:	0h 0m 0s
	Planned:		10h 55m 51s
		Tasks/Projects:	7h 20m 50s
		House cleaning:	3h 35m 1s
	Unspecified:		0h 0m 0s
Break:			4h 4m 2s
Personal:			0h 10m 13s
Average Daily Time at AMBS:			9h 15m 52s
Averagy Daily Working Time:			7h 51m 7s

*** Raw Data ***

10/01/2007 7:46:49 AM,ar,"",0
10/01/2007 7:56:45 AM,hc,"email",596
10/01/2007 8:02:30 AM,hc,"boot up and clean up some cable remnants",345
10/01/2007 8:14:40 AM,tk,"print policies",730
10/01/2007 8:19:25 AM,tk,"print policies",285
10/01/2007 8:22:35 AM,ip,"logon troubles",190
10/01/2007 8:32:13 AM,tk,"seek out policies and evaluate when modified",578
10/01/2007 8:38:58 AM,ip,"printer misbehaving",405
10/01/2007 8:44:29 AM,re,"print satisfaction survey results",331
10/01/2007 8:48:21 AM,hc,"email",232
10/01/2007 9:00:50 AM,vi,"mail",749
10/01/2007 9:24:56 AM,mt,"notebook checkup",1446
10/01/2007 9:27:49 AM,hc,"email",173
10/01/2007 9:46:21 AM,re,"1997 self-study docs",1112
10/01/2007 10:10:00 AM,bk,"monday",1419
10/01/2007 11:18:19 AM,mt,"self-study",4099
10/01/2007 11:20:39 AM,tk,"enroll user in blackboard",140
10/01/2007 11:22:27 AM,ip,"file for student",108
10/01/2007 11:26:15 AM,tk,"colloquy removal",228
10/01/2007 11:29:28 AM,iv,"asst",193
10/01/2007 12:08:05 PM,re,"teaching rsrch seminar",2317
10/01/2007 12:12:00 PM,tk,"remove ep bb users",235
10/01/2007 1:00:00 PM,bk,"lunch",2880
10/01/2007 3:32:42 PM,mt,"teaching research seminar",9162
10/01/2007 3:49:19 PM,hc,"email",997
10/01/2007 4:33:03 PM,ip,"notebook software transfer",2624
10/01/2007 4:42:05 PM,hc,"email",542

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

10/03/2007 7:51:56 AM,ar,"",0
10/03/2007 8:30:10 AM,hc,"email",2294
10/03/2007 8:53:57 AM,tk,"library wiring",1427
10/03/2007 8:58:20 AM,hc,"phone and e-mail",263
10/03/2007 9:14:49 AM,mt,"firefox tutorial",989
10/03/2007 9:17:27 AM,re,"journal asynchronous learning",158
10/03/2007 10:06:08 AM,tk,"library wiring",2921
10/03/2007 10:25:08 AM,re,"tech news",1140
10/03/2007 10:43:29 AM,mt,"phone it consultation",1101
10/03/2007 11:48:33 AM,tk,"library wiring",3904
10/03/2007 11:52:40 AM,ps,"print rsv",247
10/03/2007 1:15:00 PM,bk,"lunch",4940
10/03/2007 1:26:07 PM,mt,"e-mail questions",667
10/03/2007 1:56:35 PM,mt,"audio at a distance",1828
10/03/2007 2:31:51 PM,hc,"phone and e-mail",2116
10/03/2007 3:03:41 PM,ip,"e-mail setup stuff",1910
10/03/2007 3:09:40 PM,hc,"email",359
10/03/2007 3:25:49 PM,ip,"ipod lockup",969
10/03/2007 3:32:58 PM,hc,"phone",429
10/03/2007 3:40:30 PM,hc,"email",452
10/03/2007 3:58:58 PM,tk,"library wiring",1108
10/03/2007 4:12:31 PM,tk,"new mac setup",813
10/03/2007 4:14:59 PM,ps,"church heating",148
10/03/2007 4:44:51 PM,tk,"network wiring",1792
10/03/2007 5:08:25 PM,tk,"finish wiring in library area (almost)",1414
10/03/2007 5:08:54 PM,hc,"email",29

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, October 8, 2007

Weekly Work Summary for the week ending Friday, 2007 October 8

How to Read These Posts

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