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Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

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Re: Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

#111

Post by e19293001 »

I memorize a certain algorithm/code snippet and recall it while driving. My favorite is Paul Graham's ANSI Common Lisp[0]. From the code snippet, I choose a certain function to recall. It would be hard at first (I suppose that only few that can) but once you've repeatedly recall those functions everyday then you'll be amazed on the benefits when you've got into the flow. I got this idea from reading about Richard Feynman[1] that cause this to divorce with his wife since he is doing calculus in his head while driving: the appointee's wife was granted a divorce from him because of appointee's constantly working calculus problems in his head as soon as awake, while driving car, sitting in living room, and so forth, and that his one hobby was playing his African drums.

[0] - https://sep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/paulgraham/acl2.lisp

[1] - http://gizmodo.com/5916502/richard-feynmans-fbi-files-make-f...

Re: Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

#112

Post by tmaly »

I have a commute of between 45 minutes and 1 hour where the majority of it is a straight shot on the highway.

I try to learn something new on every drive, and for me this comes from two activities.

1) try to work out design of something I have not done before or something that needs to be done. Iterate over some use cases in my mind, look for leaky abstractions etc.

2) listen to technical podcasts or podcasts about programming or developing some skill related to programming. examples podcasts The Changelog, Go Time, SE Daily, Software Engineering Daily, Full Stack Radio, YC Podcast

Re: Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

#113

Post by tunap »

reitoei wrote: post #94
tunap wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, audiobooks are excellent for wide open freeway miles, and much less beneficial in traffic. One small event(close call) becomes an attention tangent and I miss last 10 or more seconds of content. Which leads to fiddling to scan back which becomes a distraction/irritation. Try driving in silence. It allows me to process yesterday and anticipate the coming day.

Processing yesterday or the day just gone is not always a good idea, especially if you had a bad day. This used to happen to me, I'd mull over things I should have said or done and basically torture myself for an hour until I made it home. Fuck that.

Yup, different strokes. If I don't take time to reflect my life becomes messy and my decisions become reflexive instead of weighted. When I am heated, I do go through the thoughts and let emotions run(alone) to allow the release long before I act.

edit:removed unnecessary anecdote.

Re: Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

#114

Post by jgill »

jgill wrote: post #9
AkiraMichi wrote: post #4

I've tried listening to university lectures and varies conferences talks. But, I find them distracting on the road. I've found, consuming really technical stuff to be much easier. When I can give it my full attention. Personally, I like to listen to podcasts that cover new and upcoming technologies in the field. They could be about high level stuff or even the nitty and gritty, like new language syntax or upcoming im…

What are some of your favorite more technical podcasts?

Thanks for the new things to check out!

Re: Ask HN: As a developer, how can I take advantage of time spent driving to work?

#116

Post by Zelmor »

Consider partial work-from-home for a couple days a week. I don't miss commuting at all, and for me, it would only involve a 45 minute bus-ride during which I can read all I want, since its an end-to-end ride. But working with a cat in the lap sure does beat those cold winter commutes.
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