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RE: Where do you spend your time? (was RE: STC Letter to the Edit or)
Subject:RE: Where do you spend your time? (was RE: STC Letter to the Edit or) From:Paul Goble <pg -at- pgcommunication -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 05 Nov 2002 16:31:59 -0700
> ... is this typical for others on the list?
It sounds quite typical. My estimate is:
30% Learn the products and technology
20% Task switching
15% Planning/administration
10% Research general topics (techwr-l, etc)
10% Write (including revision)
10% Fonts, structure, style, and tool issues
5% Edit
10-20% of my time is spent in meetings, but I included that
time under administration and learning the products.
I spend a little extra time on fonts/style/tools because
I help others with their issues.
For me the distinction between writing, revision, and editing
is blurry. Like Kevin, I often must edit my own writing on the
fly. The shifting borders between these activities, and
the confusion this often causes professional writers, is
discussed in a wonderfully reassuring way in Keith Hjortshoj's
invaluable little book, "Understanding Writing Blocks."
I included task switching because, for me, it's a clearly
quantifiable time sink. I also include in this figure
the inefficency stemming from what Microsoft's Linda Stone
calls "continuous partial attention."
Paul
pg -at- pgcommunication -dot- com
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