We don't spend our time on HN
I found that I can skim HN without getting sucked in hours. Reddit however I have had to block in /etc/hosts .
Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
11–20 of 86 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#12Maybe relevant to watch this video for a first hand report of burnout from a coding rockstar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDb6VBO9os
From personal experience think that programming pretty much crashes and destroys your personal life when you really, really want to go above the rest.
Everything changes, except you and your computer.
I remember when there was no computers. Existed more beer, fun and happiness. But at the same time didn't felt as happy as getting something epic solved.
Maybe one day it looks as it is all worth. Maybe. Enjoy your life OP, you only get one.
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#13I've automated large chunks of my life. I have a JIRA for everything I do with customized workflows, and among many other projects I built this: http://hnalert.tk to mail me when subjects interesting to me come up on HN. I recommend reading 'Getting Things Done' and working at your own pace. Focus on the things you're motivated to do, not what you think you should be doing - that's what a paid job is for!
I would totally be keen on reading a blog post about that :)
Thanks, I did give some talks on it at my last corp, but it's so difficult to write about your own life.
I do blog on technical stuff here:
https://zwischenzugs.wordpress.com/
Most recently:
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#14If you don't feel compelled to code outside of work, it's probably because you don't love what you are working on enough. I find that programming itself is not enough for me to want to work constantly--I have to legitimately love what I'm building.
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#15We don't spend our time on HN
I found that I can skim HN without getting sucked in hours. Reddit however I have had to block in /etc/hosts .
largely the same (also have twitter and facebook blocked in hosts file, if I want to check them I use my phone, it's less convenient so I end up spending less time on either).
I think it's because HN only has "one" frontpage which changes relatively slowly rather than each subreddit I track, some of which change very rapidly.
Also half the stuff on the frontpage isn't relevant or isn't something I'm interested in so I tend not to disappear down the rabbit hole so much.
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#16Maybe you could make some life-style changes to improve your overall energy level and/or cure your tiredness. How do you eat? Do you eat right before you go to bed? Do you wake up with an alarm clock? Do you eat a lot of greasy, processed foods? Soda? Do you exercise? Other than that, maybe you could try pulling back the number of hours you're at work. I've felt myself getting stuck in that cycle of work, eat, sleep…
Yes, this is the other side of it. Make the hours you do have as productive as possible. Efficient problem solving and creative design (not just marathon coding) are also about getting your mind and body right. Get on consistent sleep patterns, eat healthy, exercise. Also, don't underestimate the importance of downtime for problem solving and planning. Bouncing off of another post from today, if you get the planning and design part right first, you can save yourself a lot of time in the implementation stages (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10963229). It's also easier to know where your progress is toward a specific goal in concrete terms. That also makes it easier psychologically to take breaks and enjoy life a bit.
I would add to this too, a little life-hacking: Try to design your daily workflow (things that take time such as cooking, dishes, etc.) using the same strategies you use in programming. Modular food strategies so that you can cook once (on the weekend for example) and put together various meals by adding only little things here and there that round out the nutrition and quantity throughout the week with minimal dishes to clean after. Don't underestimate the efficiency of a good blender and protein shakes!
Get the right tools for the job too, maybe a standing desk to improve focus?
Lastly, I would add make sure you are picking projects that you find important and are passionate about. Thinking about them wakes you up. Aim for importance to you, not just # of commits. There will always be people who just work faster then you, or where money is not a problem for them, or where what seems like their hobbies are very tied into their actual work and the two overlap and they just seem more productive. That is where you have to focus on importance and not breadth but depth of where you spend you time.
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#17"like food-to-code machines"
Great phrase - I'll be using that !
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#18"like food-to-code machines" Great phrase - I'll be using that !
A related quote you might also enjoy: "A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems" - Paul Erdos
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#19- Work only on what you want, when you want to (as a rule, exceptions have to be made)
- No TV, no (general) news
- No kids, no girlfriend
- Socialize mostly around projects (not neccesarily dayjob related)
There are some tradeoffs to the above, one could say. Staying healthy is also a challenge.
But don't worry about 'being one of those people', just try to do what like/love. And if you don't know what that is yet, find out!
Re: Ask HN: How do prolific programmers go about their daily lives?
#20- Work only on what you want, when you want to (as a rule, exceptions have to be made) - No TV, no (general) news - No kids, no girlfriend - Socialize mostly around projects (not neccesarily dayjob related) There are some tradeoffs to the above, one could say. Staying healthy is also a challenge. But don't worry about 'being one of those people', just try to do what like/love. And if you don't know what that is yet,…
But there are some simple tricks without much drawbacks. One of them is to write/publicize everything you do. Don't consider something done until you've released and documented it.