I don't actually work the extra hours, I just browse Reddit for a few hours a day. I really can't put in 8 hours of actual work, my brain melts after 6.
I find this to be generally true. I used to think i was just working too hard in the early part of the day, burning myself, and simply needed to take breaks. Its true to an extent, but generally speaking I find I have a "window" where I can get meaningful work done, usually between 9-3. Some days its really long, some days it doesn't exist at all, but most days its about 4-6 hours. I either pad the extra time (and feel like I'm doing something wrong) or stress out trying to be more productive. But in reality, I think the window is simply how creative effort works. Though my current office is pretty good about this in general, I wonder if more companies could embrace it would we develop patterns to maximize and plan around these effectivity windows.
Regardless of the outcome (productivity -> more / less / equal), I would like to see the same experiment in IT or even other so called white-collar positions. I am sure things would be different.
I find this to be true when I don't care about what I'm working on. I wish companies would acknowledge that they aren't providing the most interesting work in the world, and admit when that people can only deal with it for so many hours per week. If I find something within the company that I find interesting, I'd happily put in some extra hours for free, but I'd much rather be working 30 hours per week.
