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Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

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Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#21

Post by eswat »

I’m in my late twenties. What I found was to establish a routine around the times where I find I’m most productive.

So I’m not a night owl and can’t code into the evenings like you. I prefer to get up early and plow through stuff in the morning. What has helped was figure what I absolutely need to do in the morning to get myself in work mode, just do that, and leave the optional BS out the window. So that means on most days I’m working, I wake up, grab a snack, head to gym, show, then head to a coffeeshop and work my ass off (except now I guess; I’m on a quick break :P). Unless absolutely necessary (client fires) I don’t check email, IRC or SMS. I think what helps too is the routine includes something to improve my health, so I don’t feel guilty if I work for an extended period (in my case a heavy lifting session to offset whatever punishment I’m going to put myself through with bad posture afterwards). Maybe try to do something that will get you sweating before you’re getting ready for a coding marathon.

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#22

Post by SyneRyder »

i0nutzb wrote: post #2

As an early 30's myself, I can suggest couple of few things: - aim to at least 6-7 hours of (continuous) sleep in 24 hours. Don't rely on the fact that you will sleep more in weekends (you won't, and even if you do, the body doesn't work this way) - try power naps: in the middle of the day, take an espresso shot then go in bed and try to sleep for maximum of 20 minutes. The caffeine will kick just when you wake up; 2…

On the power naps: I highly recommend the iPhone app Pzizz Energizer[1]. The website makes it sound incredibly corny (meditative new age music, voice suggestion, binaural beats) but I find it knocks me out like a light & reliably wakes me up at the end of a 22 minute power nap. It seems to become more effective the more you use it, the audio becomes a cue to enter sleep mode.

Apparently it's now free (I originally paid $10 in 2010). There is an Android app as well, but sadly it's broken on my Nexus 5 (audio cuts out after about 3 minutes) and I dearly wish the developers would fix it, because the iPhone app has been so valuable to me.

(Mid 30s dev here who also prefers to work through the night, helped by very understanding clients.)

[1] http://pzizz.com/

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#24

Post by KohgnaK »

Lots of great answers, thanks to all of you!

The solution of my problem probably lies in the mix of most of your answers; what I'm thinking about doing is:

1. Start waking up earlier in the morning and power nap to counterbalance any sleepiness in the afternoon

2. Be more strict in terms of diet, eat real food + no more coffee after lunchtime

3. Stop working overtime (weekend notably), to try to reduce the procastrination on small tasks

4. Talk with management and try to find some possible arrangements (maybe get a minion?)

5. Find a position where I would have only one major job, not 3 or 4.

Cheers!

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#25

Post by KohgnaK »

yourad_io wrote: post #16

> The problem is that if in my early twenties I used to be able to recover over only a few hours sleep for the next day, it seems like it is impossible for me right now (early 30's). Tell me about it. I'm 30 and I'm shocked at how drastically this has changed. I recently slept for 26 hours at the back end of a largely sleepless week. Twenty. Six. Hours. Needless to say, I'm taking it a bit easier on myself since then…

o_O

Usually I have one weekend where I just crash and I am utterly useless but that's pretty impressive/concerning...

What field you're in?

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#26

Post by KohgnaK »

kyled wrote: post #18

Some things I noticed about myself. - Less is more. Getting burnt out leads to bad code and less productivity. Avoid the situation by giving realistic expectations. Ask for additional help if needed. It's important to know when to say no and provide alternative solutions. Saying yes all the time is actually unprofessional. - You need sleep. That's when your brain is actually making connections to different ideas you…

I actually freaked out recently when my wrist went really sore to the point of almost getting blocked.

Since i got an ergonomic keyboard, slowed down my typing pace (whilst aiming to do less typos) and generally try not to use my mouse at all everything's fine again but it scared me a bit.

I'm trying to have small incremental changes but it is pretty difficult sometimes as I have to deal with user support / management tasks and sysadmin tasks on top of my dev duties. Small institutions, yaaaay!

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#27

Post by MalcolmDiggs »

yourad_io wrote: post #16

> The problem is that if in my early twenties I used to be able to recover over only a few hours sleep for the next day, it seems like it is impossible for me right now (early 30's). Tell me about it. I'm 30 and I'm shocked at how drastically this has changed. I recently slept for 26 hours at the back end of a largely sleepless week. Twenty. Six. Hours. Needless to say, I'm taking it a bit easier on myself since then…

Ha! I'm picturing a guy rolling out of bed, looking at the alarm clock like: "Oh wow, I feel so rested after only 2 hours...no...wait...how is it Sunday?"

Re: Ask HN: Tricks to integrate late coding session in current workflow?

#28

Post by yourad_io »

KohgnaK wrote: post #25
yourad_io wrote: post #16

> The problem is that if in my early twenties I used to be able to recover over only a few hours sleep for the next day, it seems like it is impossible for me right now (early 30's). Tell me about it. I'm 30 and I'm shocked at how drastically this has changed. I recently slept for 26 hours at the back end of a largely sleepless week. Twenty. Six. Hours. Needless to say, I'm taking it a bit easier on myself since then…

o_O Usually I have one weekend where I just crash and I am utterly useless but that's pretty impressive/concerning... What field you're in?

Architect/Dev/Sysadmin/.../Coffee Boy for a startup. By now they know not to call the police after "just" 24H but 48 :) Haha.
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