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Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

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Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#31

Post by long_warmup »

pro542 wrote: post #11

Have you tried making the TODO list the night before? I don't do this regularly to avoid pushing myself too hard, but found it more effective.

I used to rewriting down TODO list every day (like using pen and paper) and then looking through it every day (first thing in the morning though). At the time I had quite a few tasks that was long-term and also not fully under my control (i.e. I had to wait for somebody's input, and that somebody was not very cooperative). I figured this list helps me put pressure on myself but in the same time demotivates me a bit due to those long-term tasks..

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#32

Post by AnimalMuppet »

On my first programming job (back in the 1980s), my manager said that studies showed that the maximum amount of real work you could get out of engineers was five hours a day. That's not because they're lazy or have a lot of meetings; it's a mental throughput limit. Rather than trying to run faster than anyone else can, maybe the correct answer is to accept that your brain has limits.

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#33

Post by long_warmup »

psv1 wrote: post #26

Has it occurred to you that you need a warm-up because you're in the office at 6am?

Hmm good point... but in the same time I don't have other option at the moment, with small kids everything seems challenging... (I actually contemplate to start at 5am and move my evening activities entirely to take place in the morning...)

But that definitely is good point and I'll need to think about it. I often wake up at 5am so at 6 I'm already 1 hour on my legs, already had shower and some walk on "fresh" air with my cup of coffee picked up on the way. So I don't feel sleepy or tired at that point, just not concentrated and not in the flow.

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#34

Post by long_warmup »

ramtatatam wrote: post #19

Divide and conquer. Achieving small increments will fuel motivation for further work and also makes it easier to start. If your first task is, say, put your headphones on with music and do the build then you are more likely to just do it. And once you are there with your usual setup it's easier to just switch on. Routine helps, and with your morning wake-ups you are already on good tracks!

Power of habits hmm... Sounds like something easy to try, thanks for advice!

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#35

Post by aavk »

I am in a related field (mathematics) and can pass along some (related) advice for a question I asked several people in the department: when do you find time to read papers and stay up to date with recent developments?

Most people said they read arXiv/papers first thing in the morning while having coffee to wake up. This advice has inadvertently helped reduce my wasted warm-up time since it is difficult to really think in the morning. I don't know what the equivalent of reading arXiv is for software development... reading HN?... so maybe you have already arrived at the solution :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#38

Post by jerome-jh »

Change something physical: location of your desk, desk organisation, team, job, wallpaper ... and a the same time stop playing mahjong, chess and read HN at work. Just stop completely, and never do it again.

Your brain will get accustomed to this new order of things, and will keep it as a given: when at work, I work.

Changing something physical in your work environment is _required_ for your brain not to fall back to its old habits.

Re: Ask HN: How do you make your warm-up time shorter

#40

Post by long_warmup »

jerome-jh wrote: post #38

Change something physical: location of your desk, desk organisation, team, job, wallpaper ... and a the same time stop playing mahjong, chess and read HN at work. Just stop completely, and never do it again. Your brain will get accustomed to this new order of things, and will keep it as a given: when at work, I work. Changing something physical in your work environment is _required_ for your brain not to fall back to…

"stop playing mahjong, chess and read HN at work. Just stop completely, and never do it again."

This is so simple and yet exactly what should happen.

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