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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?

#91

Post by iamlolz »

blunte wrote: post #87
iamlolz wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard "How to win friends and influence people" mentioned regularly. What impact did it have on you, if you don't mind me asking?

The book describes principles of good communication. When you read it, you think, "Duh." However, many of the points and methods described were not how I, nor people I knew, behaved when interacting with others. It's not easy to answer your question simply, but I can say it started for me with just remembering to consider, "What does this other person want?" There are many ways this is described in life, such as "Put…

Thank you for responding. It sounds really interesting and I think I could use something like that, I've purchased it on Audible and will listen to it next.

When you were doing the Pimsleur courses, how far did it help you progress? Did it stick with you?

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

#92

Post by uf »

a3n wrote: post #27

Do you ever solve problems or have other insights while not working on those things? Like when you sleep, or in the shower? Your brain needs rest and distraction, both for professional health and general health. If I worked, say, 8 hours a day, and then added in your three hour commute every day, that would be borderline death march. Besides all the utilitarian suggestions, you could consider something unrelated to y…

I too sing on my way at to work. I'm using public trains so I usually can't sing with full voice. I have several exercises I can do quietly. Also, whenever I need to learn scores for a gig or an upcoming production, I do this on the train. Here I'm more productive than at home on the piano.

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

#93

Post by johndoe90 »

You're just like me. Except for I don't drive, I take a bus, then subway and then bus again.

I do read HN, Medium, twitter (all IT-related) and other resources. Though sometimes it's really pretty hard to concentrate and read articles carefully. I also use headphones to not get distracted by the engine noice.

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

#94

Post by reitoei »

tunap wrote: post #70
reitoei wrote: post #11

Relax and clear your head. Listen to some music, audio books.

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.

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

#95

Post by cdevs »

I'm typically thinking about what I have to do at work, or complaining about what processes is horrible and how I can propose to make it better. If I charged for those brainstorming hours during driving I would have a very nice car every year but I feel it makes me better at work and I've come up with some of my best ideas while stuck in traffic.

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

#96

Post by sergiMunoz »

grzm wrote: post #68
Nadya wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the selection is smaller but there is also Downpour [0]. DRM-free which means you should be just fine playing on your MP3 Player. The cost is comparable to Audible ($13/mo instead of $15/mo) and you get much the same deal: 1 audio-book per month with the "credit" you get. [0] http://www.downpour.com/

Hadn't heard of this! Thanks for the link. I wonder what their business model is like. It looks like they've been around for at least 3 years, so that's a positive sign that they're doing something right.

Just testing.

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

#97

Post by garysieling »

Kaedon wrote: post #79

Listen to software conference talks! It's true that some of the more technical ones will not translate as they require too much concentration. Ideally, you can find some that are more conceptual or do not rely directly upon watching the slides. I posted a few of my favorites from last year here: https://www.kevinlondon.com/2015/09/10/10-software-talks-to-... I, too, generally dislike software podcasts in the car. For…

I've been working on a catalog of tech conference talks, which you might find interesting - https://www.findlectures.com/?p=1&type1=Tech%20Conference.

I'm hoping soon to have additional facets for things like programming language / framework.

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

#98

Post by blunte »

iamlolz wrote: post #91
blunte wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The book describes principles of good communication. When you read it, you think, "Duh." However, many of the points and methods described were not how I, nor people I knew, behaved when interacting with others. It's not easy to answer your question simply, but I can say it started for me with just remembering to consider, "What does this other person want?" There are many ways this is described in life, such as "Put…

Thank you for responding. It sounds really interesting and I think I could use something like that, I've purchased it on Audible and will listen to it next. When you were doing the Pimsleur courses, how far did it help you progress? Did it stick with you?

I went through the first two CDs of German I and French I, but because I'm a driver who automatically prioritizes driving first, I was only half-attentive to the language courses. That said, what was on those two CDs, if I started hearing the phrases again, would come right back.

I didn't stick with it, however, because I moved to Netherlands :).

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

#99

Post by Decade »

twblalock wrote: post #58
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #44

I’m sure you have some very good reasons for explicitly stating that moving closer to work is not an option, but I’m really dying to know why you’re trapped in such a miserable circumstance.

Yeah, this seems odd to me, considering that a reasonably successful software engineer can afford to live pretty much anywhere.

Haha, no. I support the YIMBY movement as a matter of infringed liberty, but we need it so successful software engineers (as well as everybody else) can afford to live near their jobs.

http://idiosyncraticwhisk.blogspot.com/2015/11/housing-serie...

http://www.sfyimby.org

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

#100

Post by Declanomous »

Schwolop wrote: post #80
kayman wrote: post #60

I suggest leveraging the meditative process driving has on the brain. I went through a process where I was trying to be extremely productive every minute of every day. That meant filling every minute with productive tasks including commute time with Podcasts and educational material. But you get into this productivity loop without any real productivity. In the end I found the best use of my drive time is just relax a…

I second this, but would also add that I've started motorcycling instead of driving. Even a commute on a motorbike is a thing of wonder, using parts of my brain and fight-or-flight responses I've left dormant for years. But to the primary point, I also thoroughly agree that downtime is important, and there's a danger of trying to optimise every waking hour too much. Learning the art of structured procrastination (nei…

I started bicycling to work earlier this year, and it's much less stressful than driving. My commute is about 7 miles when riding my bike, or about 10 miles when driving. Driving takes about 25 minutes on the way to work, and about 35 on the way home.

Cycling is about 40 minutes both ways. I take it a little easier on the way to work because I don't want to sweat too much, and then change in to my work clothes and do a hobo shower in the single stall bathroom. On the way home I can choose my pace, unlike when I'm driving. I can mash the pedals and let off some steam when I need to, or I can mosey home when I'm getting burned out. Stopping along the way is much easier. I'll grab coffee, or a snack, or check out a used book store I've never seen before. Plus, you are much more a part of the world when you are cycling, and you can look around more and notice things you wouldn't when driving. I'm sure a lot of these things hold true for motorcycling as well.

I'm not much of a morning person, but I find it much easier to concentrate when I arrive at work after cycling in. I also find myself much more energized when I get home, even if I'm pretty tired when I leave work. I find taking public transportation provides some of the meditative aspects, since I can reflect on my day more when I'm not driving in Chicago traffic, but bicycling allows me to combine my commute with exercise, which is amazing from both a mental health and physical health perspective.

That being said, riding a bicycle is certainly more dangerous than driving or taking public transportation. While I can take steps to mitigate the risk, I need to cross a number of bridges and go under a number of viaducts on my way to work, and the risk is substantially higher while on a bike than in a car, bus or train. I don't think I'd be comfortable riding my bike on my current commute if I had a kid.

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