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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?

#101

Post by grogenaut »

quicklime wrote: post #57
grogenaut wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 hours by car is likely minimum 60 miles which is 4 hours by bike every single day minimum. If they're getting to highway speeds at all then it's even worse. It'd be like black mirror episode 2 every day

Another way of thinking about this is that the marginal cost of biking is only 1 extra hour per day. And there's no reason why this needs to be done every day - he could just bike in once a week.

He's already complaining about the actual cost.

If he manages 60mph the whole time are you saying he should do 180 miles once a week? That's not really possible without a lot of training. What if he lives in issaquah and commutes to Seattle. How about on the oil fields in nd?

Bigger question what else does he do to better himself during the bike rides?

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

#102

Post by evanwolf »

benzesandbetter wrote: post #84

I think you're solving the wrong problem here. Let's start with some math. With your current arrangement, you're losing 3h of productive time a day, 15h each week, and a staggering 750h yearly. That's the equivalent of 18.75 40h workweeks of lost productivity. Pause for a moment and consider what you could do with that time. If you feel your current employer is compensating you fairly for that sacrifice, then you lik…

yep. once your bill rate hits $100/hour, hiring someone for $15-25/hour to drive you (assuming you can do billable work in transit) is a good investment.

It may even be worth it to non-billable work, like write your novel, learn a new language, build a side project, etc.

P.S. This "doing something else in transit" is a potentially huge benefit of the emerging self-driving-car economy.

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

#104

Post by m3talridl3y »

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.

Not in the Bay Area. Every developer or ops person I know either has roommates or has a similar 1.5-hour commute.

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

#107

Post by iamlolz »

blunte wrote: post #98
iamlolz wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :).

Well I'm going to give it a go. Thank you for posting above, you've put me on to two valuable resources. :)

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

#108

Post by twblalock »

m3talridl3y wrote: post #104
twblalock wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not in the Bay Area. Every developer or ops person I know either has roommates or has a similar 1.5-hour commute.

I live in the Bay Area too, and I only know one or two people in the tech industry who have that kind of commute. Many of my coworkers rent their own apartments without roommates.

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

#109

Post by imauld »

Learning takes a good amount of your attention. While driving your attention should be on the road and what's going on around you. Please don't try to do in depth learning while you are driving.

- Pedestrian who doesn't wanna get smoked by a distracted driver learning about some new Java framework

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

#110

Post by qwrusz »

I live in LA, traffic is an issue here too. I see other comments mentioning take a brain break from IT stuff. They have a point, but up to you how much you need or want this.

Another option: instead of learning something new during this time, use it to teach or mentor someone over the phone.

Whether talking to a student or beginner dev, a couple of the commutes you can schedule weekly mentoring sessions while you drive. Similarly, one could offer tutoring over the phone if relevant. Up to you if you want to charge $ for your time or do it just for the good karma of helping someone.

Either way, chatting on the phone while mentoring/tutoring in my experience affects the brain differently than learning something via audiobook, and it is still possible to concentrate on driving while giving good advice.

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