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Ask HN: What's your working day like?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#241

Post by brookside »

positivecomment wrote: post #200
squeaky-clean wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy helping when people come up to me with legitimate questions, for all the reasons you mention. It feels like half the time, I'm being bugged not for any real reason, but because the person couldn't bother to put some effort in first. For example, I've become known as "the regex guy" at the office. I know regex really well as well as the ins and outs of the regex engines of languages we use. I don't mind when I…

Programmer who doesn't know regex is something like a system admin who doesn't know sed.

I do ok.

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#242

Post by TeMPOraL »

grogenaut wrote: post #178
nyrulez wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. How about actually building stuff? For most software engineers, thats a very important part of their job/life/happiness. That requires long focus and flow. And in my personal opinion has a great sense of fulfillment attached to it compared to lot of scattered micro impacts. Ultimately you need to learn to balance both otherwise it gets very frustrating​.

Do you have to personally write every single line of code or are you happy when the whole team builds the code?

Somebody has to do something. If everyone is running around talking to everyone else like a bunch of agitated monkeys, no real work actually gets done.

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#243

Post by beilabs »

gagabity wrote: post #169
beilabs wrote: post #25

CTO - 6 staff - Kathmandu 6AM - Wake up - read news / email / Facebook 6.30 - Exercise on exercise bike for 1 hour 8.45 - Office - check PRs, slack, Pivotal Tracker 9.45 - Standup meeting 1pm - Lunch 7pm - Dinner 7.30 - Back at office 10pm - Home - movie / reading / sleep I have no commute; my office is right beside my house. The only meetings we have are remote (slack / skype) which happen every so often. All commun…

Kathmandu in Nepal? They have a tech scene over there too?

I've a fiber line to my office. Tech scenes can crop up in incredibly unlikely places... :)

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#244

Post by [deleted] »

treehau5 wrote: post #46

Profession: Software "Engineer" [06:15] First alarm goes off; [06:45] Finally wake up, get out of bed, shower, shave, make espresso for me and the wife [07:15] out the door, 30 minute commute to office [07:45] breakfast bagel at my work cafe [08:00] arrive at desk, begin contemplating work -- work on something I procrastinated on the previous day so that I can have a good standup report [9:00] everyone arrives at off…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#245

Post by gaving »

hfsktr wrote: post #131
gaving wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"5 minute drive"? Buy a bike and chuck out 0600-0700!

I very strongly considered it. Or just walking (3 miles). The two hold ups are that I don't want to turn up to work all sweaty (or wet, or frozen etc) and to a lesser extent carrying all my stuff (purse, wallet, coffee, lunch). Also going home for lunch is highly convenient and I really like that nap. I wouldn't have to bike/walk every day of course. I am still considering it (clearly).

I'd certainly try it out for a day or two a week, backpack / jersey pockets for stuff.. easier if you have a locker or showers at your work. Hopefully you wouldn't arrive too sweaty after 3 miles which should take you about ~15 minutesish.

Win-win though, exercise and if you get in to it less fuel costs. Could easily clock up 30 miles a week and extend your route on nice days.. no brainer!

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#246

Post by rprameshwor »

gagabity wrote: post #169
beilabs wrote: post #25

CTO - 6 staff - Kathmandu 6AM - Wake up - read news / email / Facebook 6.30 - Exercise on exercise bike for 1 hour 8.45 - Office - check PRs, slack, Pivotal Tracker 9.45 - Standup meeting 1pm - Lunch 7pm - Dinner 7.30 - Back at office 10pm - Home - movie / reading / sleep I have no commute; my office is right beside my house. The only meetings we have are remote (slack / skype) which happen every so often. All commun…

Kathmandu in Nepal? They have a tech scene over there too?

Kathmandu does have some tech scene. Its nowhere near to neighbouring indian cities, but considering how small and underdeveloped the country is, i'd say its pretty good.

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#247

Post by wonderwonder »

redleggedfrog wrote: post #162

Full stack web developer in .NET. 5:25AM : Alarm goes off. 5:26AM : Make tea in microwave. 5:30AM : Study period where I learn new tech. 6:30AM : Make a double espresso. 6:35AM : Catch up on the tech news. Sometimes I play a short video game. 6:50AM : Personal hygiene. 7:05AM : Fresh eggs (from our chickens) over-easy on toast/bagel/English muffin. 7:20AM : My commute. Often in the summer it's 30 minutes and by bike.…

Tea... from the microwave...

Use a kettle, your life will be renewed. Your days more meaningful and your relationships happier.

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#248

Post by contingencies »

Profession: Founder / hacker

Critically, I wake up naturally. Usually I research a little before doing anything. If I wake up before 3AM, I tend to sleep again by 6AM. After 4AM I tend to power on through. Depending where I am, I might eat/shower/dress. If I commute it is usually by bike, whereas in hotels I swim.

I avoid phones and IM services like the plague. If coding, the most important thing for me is focus and I work until that leaves, I get tired, or there is something pressing. If doing business stuff, I tend to finish mid to late afternoon and socialize or go home and do nonbiz work.

A fully static/repetitive rhythm is not for me. Though when I get in that mode I often get flow time, these days I focus on writing less code smarter. When I was younger I rethought 1000 problems there were existing solutions for, learned a lot, but in reality wasted a lot of time being 'busy'.

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#249

Post by morcutt »

Profession: Freelance/Contract iOS Engineer + Working on a Startup

[6:40] Wake up and feed the dog (she is my alarm clock)

[6:50] Workout for 30 minutes

[7:30] Eat breakfast, make protein shake, take vitamins

[7:40] Shower

[8:00] Get the dog exercise walking the neighborhood or trail

[9:00] Head to 1st coffee shop to work

[12:00] Grab something to eat somewhere

[2:00] Head to a new coffee shop and work

[4:00] Head home and feed the dog/toss the ball in the backyard

[5:00] Find some more food!

[6:00-8:00] Depending on the day, head back to the coffee shop

Re: Ask HN: What's your working day like?

#250

Post by TeMPOraL »

akavel wrote: post #213
dasmoth wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the previous poster, but I'd argue that being able to point to something meaningful (doesn't have to be the whole system, but a coherent component) and say "I made that" brings satisfaction that's hard to beat. This seems tricky to reconcile with the "everything is done by a team" model that's currently in vogue.

Also: http://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt-... The above comic strip absolutely perfectly shows what's it about for me. Though I agree there is stuff better done with others (brainstorming, or discussing hard problems where you're stuck; also variants of rubber-duck debugging/designing; I'd say it boosts "breadth" and "lateral thinking"). But for many people there is most certainly also stuff b…

+1, this comic strip is perfect. It describes the issue precisely, in a way rarely seen even in best comic strips.

Things I have to do fall into two categories - either I immediately know how to approach them, at which point I can code while having conversations and there's little you can do to distract me - or, I don't immediately know how to approach them, at which point I need time alone and in peace to load the whole system into my head and think through appropriate steps, possibly running mental simulations of several solutions in my head. The second kind of work is when I turn into a pretty antisocial person - I don't just avoid conversations, I avoid being in the same room with other people.

And frankly, second kind of work is kind of more important. It doesn't take skill to pump out hundreds of lines of code an hour. It takes skill and concentration to write those and only those lines that move the project forward in a way that's maintainable down the road.

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