Where is your work cap?

Week, I had to work longer in Monday and Tuesday http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/6918.html. Monday close to midnight, I still work in front of the computer, some Tuesday projects also keep me busy late at night.

But then something interesting happened. I can't seem to concentrate on my work in Wednesday. It took me a long time to wander around in the afternoon, wandering outside my home office, vaguely hoping for some (but not happening) emergency. Thursday is not a good coming. I left early in Friday.

In the past few years, I've studied hundreds of time records and I'm starting to speculate that most people have a cap on their work. Each week, we can devote any given project to productive working hours, with a certain number. More than that, the marginal benefits we get are diminishing. This number is different for everyone, but it's about 45 hours for me. After spending 28 hours in Monday and Tuesday, my brain was reluctant to work more than 6 hours a day for the rest of the week. This is not to say that I can only stay in front of my desk for 6 hours. If I should be in the office according to the company's requirements, I would probably sit there. But I will always be aimlessly browsing the web and checking emails every 5 minutes. It's just a waste of time. It's better to take a walk, read a book, or go home.

If you want to figure out your work limit, you can try to use a log for your time, and see when you don't want to start a new project during the week and when you're interested in the Pinterest of the photo-sharing site. Particularly compelling items can temporarily increase your work limit. But when you finish your work, you may feel a little uncomfortable. Diminishing marginal returns is difficult to overcome.

Once you know what your limit is, you can try to take that into account when you're planning a week's work. If you work overtime last night, you have to consciously give yourself a structural rest the next day. Sneak out and go to a new place. Or go to work later.

If you are the manager, do not force your employees to exceed his work limit. Working overtime for two consecutive nights may be passable, but beyond that you will find it hard to get any output or people will wander around until your dinner is served. Get your team home and save you money.

What is your work limit? When will you experience diminishing returns?