I hate to say it–especially where prospective employers might see it–but my version of productivity is kind of…nonstandard.
That is, I have a tendency to sit around play guitar, read email, etc. for a long time, then sit down, crank out in a few minutes something that might take someone else hours to do, and then move on to other activites.
The sad fact is that this frustrates me, perhaps more than anyone else–I mean, from the perspective of my employers, who aren’t actually sitting and watching what I do, I am still terribly productive. I get more stuff done than a lot of other people, in a shorter billable time. That’s great for customers, but tough on the bottom line sometimes.
But it’s also tough on me, in part because I’m not in an office environment–I don’t really have anyone to chat with or go to lunch with, no meetings to go to, or any of those other general wastes of you have you’re in an office.
So even though I’m actually being just as productive as I likely would in an office setting, I always feel less productive. It’s tough.
