Can a surgeon do surgery for more than 40 hours/wk?
Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
41–50 of 55 posts
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#42I'd kill for 40 hours a week to work on my project, but between the day job and family commitments (4 month old son!), I'm lucky if I can get 10 hours in!
Luckily, we're moving house next month and I'll finally have my own space where I can go, sit at a desk and code - even if it's in short bursts. Trying to work on the sofa while my wife watches TV just doesn't work for me.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#43I think it depends on the project. I've spent the odd weekend starting on Friday night and finishing on Sunday morning (although that doesn't happen now with a wife). Years back I started writing multi-format shellcode, which required me to learn 4 different OS and 3 different chip architectures to the point where I could get assembly running across all of them. That was an insane project that started out as get shel…
I can identify with you on boring stuff, even a few hours of work can be draining there. Not all parts of coding are equally interesting.
I should probably work on my sleep schedule. I get about 5-6 hours a night on a weeknight and 10 on the weekend. I have a seriously difficult problem going to bed before 2am, but fortunately my job doesn't expect me in until 9 or so.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#44I think it depends on the project. I've spent the odd weekend starting on Friday night and finishing on Sunday morning (although that doesn't happen now with a wife). Years back I started writing multi-format shellcode, which required me to learn 4 different OS and 3 different chip architectures to the point where I could get assembly running across all of them. That was an insane project that started out as get shel…
I can identify with you on boring stuff, even a few hours of work can be draining there. Not all parts of coding are equally interesting. I should probably work on my sleep schedule. I get about 5-6 hours a night on a weeknight and 10 on the weekend. I have a seriously difficult problem going to bed before 2am, but fortunately my job doesn't expect me in until 9 or so.
Interesting. How much caffeine do you get through in a day, and when is your last caffeinated drink?
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#45I find that while my 'dayjob' programming saps my willpower, the same activity for my sideprojects refills it right up. I firmly believe that you need downtime though. Between my dayjob and my sideprojects I always take an hour or so to play, watch television, read or anything else that doesnt take much brainpower.
This phenomenon has everything to do with intrinsic motivation. When you can decide yourself what to work on, you can be orders of magnitude more motivated & productive. Dan Pink's Drive is a good book to learn more about this stuff.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#46Is it possible the side projects are not interesting enough? If they feel like work, rather than fun, it may be hard to keep plugging away at them after a long day of coding.
I have fun working on it but I think having a partner would really energize me after a day's work. Unfortunately, living in Alabama makes it hard to find a partner. I've made contacts over the net but they tend to fizzle out after a couple weeks. Being solo means isolation and that definitely kills some of the fun for me.
Having a partner is amazing. Whenever I feel down or just too tired to get things done, I go & talk to my partner to get myself fired up again. If you don't have a business partner, maybe you can find someone who works in the same field & just meet up for drinks & bullshitting from time to time?
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#47Is it about your side-project? You really should only be doing a side-project for your enjoyment and the challenge. However, if you stress about your productivity you might lose sight of the reason you started a side-project. I am the person who can concentrate 16 hours a day, or even days on end without sleep or breaks (in fact, i'm well known for it). It doesn't mean my projects get done faster, the real result has…
Your last word worries me, because I've seen insomnia and it's a killer. Like you I often have trouble shutting off my mind, causing me to continue working on problems in my mind while I'm supposed to sleep. Sometimes productive, but you will crash in the end, especially as you get older. When it gets really bad I force myself to sit down & meditate. When I do that for a few days I know I can find a healthy rhythm again. Heartpain, headaches & stress-induced illness are not worth any perceived productivity gain. Learn to shut down your mind.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#48I have been slammed with work for the last 6 mo, picked up two other guys and am still slammed. I literally code 12-16 hours a day and have a side project that has just been languishing on the back burner for months. It is definitely not a case of want to but I have too, I pulled a 116hr week one week of literally non-stop code. I freelance and not pulling those hours means that I loose the contracts that I have. It…
A couple of years ago I made the mistake of committing to too many projects. (I'd just started free-lancing and put a few feelers out and they all came in at the same time! Typical!) Think I was pulling 16 hours a day consistently for two or three months. Managed to meet all deadlines, but in hindsight I think I made a couple of poor design decisions - and I didn't question some of the things clients asked for (just…
Yeah, I have been doing this for a while, but something is going on as of late, they just don't stop coming, I double my rate and they still take it, double that the next time and they still take it. So I am on this treadmill where I can't say no and bringing people on, means having to stop to train. I am at that critical point where it is very hard to grow correctly but can't continue to handle it with the 3 people we have now, the other two where guys I worked with extensively so they where real easy to onboard, the next won't be so easy. Our time is so constrained that we don't even have time to build a company web site (pretty sure we are going to just sub that one out, but we still have to come up with the marketing messages). Not complaining though it is a good problem to have.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
You just outlined the exact reason that getting into freelancing worries me. You start out as one guy and will have to face some long hours no matter how well you plan. I know when push comes to shove, I can do it, but anyone capable of doing 80+ hours/wk for 3 or more weeks and stay productive is superhuman to me.
The trick is learning to say no. Once you have too much work you can pick your clients. Then you can do the most interesting work at the best rate for the most reliable clients.
Right I call it the "no or grow" decision, I chose the latter, I just found out that the grow decision is a difficult one to make, we are working through it but it take time.
Re: Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
The trick is learning to say no. Once you have too much work you can pick your clients. Then you can do the most interesting work at the best rate for the most reliable clients.
Right I call it the "no or grow" decision, I chose the latter, I just found out that the grow decision is a difficult one to make, we are working through it but it take time.
You only want to grow your business based on sustained clients with a lot of work. Do it very slowly and carefully, one of the most common ways for a business to fail is to get too big, too fast.
Are you totally certain that you will have a lot of work 3 months from now? 12?