Joblog on the Lintels: Work Summary for the Week ending Friday, 19 December, 2008

Monday, December 22, 2008

Work Summary for the Week ending Friday, 19 December, 2008

4 days summarized below


Time at AMBS:			35h 11m 37s
Time Working:			30h 32m 17s
	Planned:			18h 1m 14s
		Projects/Tasks:			4h 26m 50s
		Meetings:			0h 0m 0s
		Reading/Research:			3h 16m 0s
		Communication:			5h 7m 44s
		House cleaning:			5h 10m 40s
	Unplanned:			6h 53m 57s
		Distraction:			0h 0m 0s
		Interruption:			4h 29m 42s
		Projects/Tasks:			2h 24m 15s
	Other Work:			5h 37m 6s
		Non-work Work:			5h 15m 12s
		Community Life:			0h 21m 54s
	Unspecified:			0h 0m 0s
Personal/Break:			4h 39m 20s
Average Daily Time at AMBS:			8h 47m 54s
Average Daily Working Time:			7h 38m 4s


Time Working:			86.77%
	Planned:			59.01%
		Projects/Tasks:			24.68%
		Meetings:			0.00%
		Reading/Research:			18.13%
		Communication:			28.46%
		House cleaning:			28.73%
	Unplanned:			22.59%
		Distraction:			0.00%
		Interruption:			65.15%
		Projects/Tasks:			34.85%
	Other Work:			18.40%
		Non-work Work:			93.50%
		Community Life:			6.50%
	Unspecified:			0.00%
Personal/Break:			13.23%

*** Raw Data ***

12/15/2008 8:01:47 AM,ar,"",0
12/15/2008 8:12:04 AM,up,"reboot",617
12/15/2008 9:07:12 AM,em,"and hrs",3308
12/15/2008 9:35:26 AM,re,"rss",1694
12/15/2008 10:05:00 AM,tk,"acct script tweaking",1774
12/15/2008 10:26:54 AM,cl,"monday",1314
12/15/2008 11:55:00 AM,tk,"acct creation",5286
12/15/2008 1:21:26 PM,ip,"conference phones",5186
12/15/2008 1:30:00 PM,iv,"phone in yet another room",514
12/15/2008 1:52:43 PM,bk,"lunch",1363
12/15/2008 2:39:50 PM,ip,"precision audio",2827
12/15/2008 3:34:56 PM,iv,"various things",3306
12/15/2008 4:19:06 PM,tk,"acct creation script",2650
12/15/2008 5:11:44 PM,re,"rss",3158
12/15/2008 5:14:03 PM,re,"rss",139

12/16/2008 8:04:00 AM,ar,"",0
12/16/2008 8:30:41 AM,em,"andre rss",1601
12/16/2008 9:59:28 AM,hc,"office",5327
12/16/2008 10:19:10 AM,bk,"",1182
12/16/2008 10:51:11 AM,em,"acct creation request",1921
12/16/2008 11:08:02 AM,up,"acct creation",1011
12/16/2008 11:41:27 AM,hc,"office",2005
12/16/2008 11:43:22 AM,iv,"student",115
12/16/2008 1:00:00 PM,bk,"lunch",4598
12/16/2008 1:07:07 PM,re,"rss",427
12/16/2008 1:24:40 PM,ps,"p&t",1053
12/16/2008 1:53:35 PM,iv,"various little things",1735
12/16/2008 2:08:29 PM,iv,"handheld",894
12/16/2008 2:14:11 PM,em,"",342
12/16/2008 2:18:05 PM,ph,"check msgs",234
12/16/2008 2:45:25 PM,ps,"tmq",1640
12/16/2008 5:04:56 PM,hc,"cd organization and some good life analysis",8371
12/16/2008 5:14:17 PM,hc,"disk mgmt",561

12/18/2008 8:05:15 AM,ar,"",0
12/18/2008 8:57:07 AM,em,"catch up on back from break requests",3112
12/18/2008 9:14:29 AM,hr,"various",1042
12/18/2008 9:18:34 AM,up,"media",245
12/18/2008 9:27:10 AM,hr,"report on prior hrs",516
12/18/2008 9:46:35 AM,tk,"lms stuff",1165
12/18/2008 9:51:39 AM,bk,"d",304
12/18/2008 10:20:46 AM,tk,"imacros not working w/the new blackboard miserable archiving method",1747
12/18/2008 10:47:54 AM,hc,"return cds",1628
12/18/2008 11:41:48 AM,up,"dead computer",3234
12/18/2008 11:55:29 AM,tk,"shopping",821
12/18/2008 12:15:20 PM,tk,"torxd",1191
12/18/2008 1:21:30 PM,bk,"lunch",3970
12/18/2008 1:25:25 PM,em,"",235
12/18/2008 2:45:21 PM,em,"computer at AMBS",4796
12/18/2008 2:49:26 PM,iv,"llb",245
12/18/2008 2:54:45 PM,nw,"book print",319
12/18/2008 3:45:11 PM,re,"trade mag",3026
12/18/2008 4:55:45 PM,nw,"good enough and some other tasks that may prove useful down the road",4234
12/18/2008 4:56:57 PM,up,"change hutter update time",72

12/19/2008 8:38:15 AM,ar,"",0
12/19/2008 8:50:42 AM,em,"",747
12/19/2008 8:55:34 AM,iv,"student",292
12/19/2008 9:04:45 AM,em,"",551
12/19/2008 9:05:52 AM,ip,"spouse",67
12/19/2008 9:19:03 AM,em,"",791
12/19/2008 9:34:31 AM,tk,"phone cable",928
12/19/2008 9:42:02 AM,hc,"mail check etc.",451
12/19/2008 9:46:59 AM,hc,"",297
12/19/2008 9:53:35 AM,re,"rss",396
12/19/2008 10:42:15 AM,re,"netbooks",2920
12/19/2008 12:04:36 PM,nw,"spt paper",4941
12/19/2008 12:18:22 PM,em,"",826
12/19/2008 12:25:50 PM,tk,"acct password stuff",448
12/19/2008 1:10:00 PM,bk,"lunch and some post lunch activity",2650
12/19/2008 1:26:41 PM,iv,"document posting",1001
12/19/2008 1:48:38 PM,up,"acct creation",1317
12/19/2008 1:58:39 PM,up,"outlook at home",601
12/19/2008 4:14:22 PM,nw,"spt paper",8143
12/19/2008 4:35:37 PM,nw,"spt paper",1275

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, December 22, 2008

Work Summary for the Week ending Friday, 19 December, 2008

How to Read These Posts

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