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How to Burn Out Programming

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Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#111

Post by devonrt »

wambotron wrote: post #85
chasing wrote: post #19

Where's "Don't exercise?" That'd be pretty close to the top of my list. A quick 2-3 mile jog around the neighborhood can help get me out of work-related funks. (I work at a home office, though, so it's easier for me to say "fuck it" and go do something sweaty in the middle of the day...) My theory is that, since the only real item on your jogging to-do list is to put one foot in front of the other, your brain is free…

Maybe he didn't list it because he was, in fact, exercising? It's possible to burn out and exercise, but for some reason every other comment on HN drudges up exercise with a routine to "help" everyone else. This goes back to the post that said something about only giving advice when it's asked for. I've burnt out before while exercising pretty heavily. The reasons he listed, after a while, can completely ruin anythin…

HN has terrible opinions and ideas about exercise. For a group that is generally pretty critical, they are surprisingly naive and uncritical when it comes to exercise. Go figure.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#112

Post by abdulhaq »

romaniv wrote: post #91

2. Have a negative attitude toward everything. People who pretend to think that you can simply willfully infuse yourself with positivity annoy me. Negativity is how individuals react to certain environments. You can change some features in the environment and fix that, but simply demanding everyone to be positive is stupid. It's essentially a demand for suffering in silence.

Avoiding a negative attitude to things is quite different to forcing a fake positive attitude. For instance, try to give people the benefit of the doubt - you can consciously change the way you react to other people, until it starts to become unconscious.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#113

Post by avenger123 »

christiangenco wrote: post #96
chasing wrote: post #19

Where's "Don't exercise?" That'd be pretty close to the top of my list. A quick 2-3 mile jog around the neighborhood can help get me out of work-related funks. (I work at a home office, though, so it's easier for me to say "fuck it" and go do something sweaty in the middle of the day...) My theory is that, since the only real item on your jogging to-do list is to put one foot in front of the other, your brain is free…

Exercise, I've found, is probably the single most important aspect of maintaining "happiness." The problem is I can't consistently muster the willpower to block out an hour long chunk of time to go running or workout at gym. I found a lovely compromise, though: ### The Seven Minute Workout [1][2] ### It removes literally every excuse my brain can come up with not to work out. Too cold outside? Doesn't matter, you're…

Going to the gym 3/4 times a week for an hour or two is a luxury I just don't have anymore.

For those that have the room, the best solution is a home gym setup. I wake-up at 5:30 AM and am doing my workout by 5:45 AM or 6:00 AM. I don't have anything fancy - just a set of weights with a couple of bars, a Nautilus dumbbell set (where you can change the weights on each dumbbell via a dial) and dinky bench. I will likely add a rowing machine to this for cardio.

It's still a challenge getting the habit in place but there is really no friction anymore. No time is wasted driving back and forth to a gym. No issues about finding the time. Doing 45 minutes, three times a week is great.

Being a night person, waking up at 5:30 AM is still a habit that I am solidifying but the main reason for doing it this way is that I can do this for the rest of my life. I am hoping within 6 months this routine becomes ingrained as brushing my teeth in the morning.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#114

Post by Elizer0x0309 »

cpncrunch wrote: post #95
Elizer0x0309 wrote: post #75

Another passionate-less bloke, spreading the passionate-less gospel. Yay for averageness and stagnating lazy stupidness!

You sound like someone who has never experienced burnout...

No.16 hrs work days. Sleep, exercise, eat extremely clean and healthy. Code/Engineer all day and very successful.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#115

Post by chocolate_ »

christiangenco wrote: post #96
chasing wrote: post #19

Where's "Don't exercise?" That'd be pretty close to the top of my list. A quick 2-3 mile jog around the neighborhood can help get me out of work-related funks. (I work at a home office, though, so it's easier for me to say "fuck it" and go do something sweaty in the middle of the day...) My theory is that, since the only real item on your jogging to-do list is to put one foot in front of the other, your brain is free…

Exercise, I've found, is probably the single most important aspect of maintaining "happiness." The problem is I can't consistently muster the willpower to block out an hour long chunk of time to go running or workout at gym. I found a lovely compromise, though: ### The Seven Minute Workout [1][2] ### It removes literally every excuse my brain can come up with not to work out. Too cold outside? Doesn't matter, you're…

I was skeptical, but now I'm impressed. I just had a great 7-minute workout in my clothes without leaving my living room. This will definitely become my routine when I don't feel like going to the gym.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#116

Post by christiangenco »

chocolate_ wrote: post #115
christiangenco wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exercise, I've found, is probably the single most important aspect of maintaining "happiness." The problem is I can't consistently muster the willpower to block out an hour long chunk of time to go running or workout at gym. I found a lovely compromise, though: ### The Seven Minute Workout [1][2] ### It removes literally every excuse my brain can come up with not to work out. Too cold outside? Doesn't matter, you're…

I was skeptical, but now I'm impressed. I just had a great 7-minute workout in my clothes without leaving my living room. This will definitely become my routine when I don't feel like going to the gym.

JOIN ME BROTHER! http://dontbreakthechain.com

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#117

Post by scotty79 »

marcosdumay wrote: post #108
scotty79 wrote: post #23

Isn't "Do long enough things you dont like to do." enough to burn out?

Not for me. - It's lacking intensity, more like "spend a big enough share of your day on long enough thigs". - The "you don't like to do" part is not required (hell I burned out doing a side project, in a new language, with an amazing framework - at least, I was amazed, all th time untill burnout). - And it's missing something that I suspect is the "lack of rewards" described on other posts.

> The "you don't like to do" part is not required (hell I burned out doing a side project, in a new language, with an amazing framework - at least, I was amazed, all th time untill burnout)

Weren't you just tired? Same way that after few even amazing but long hikes you don't feel like walking again for some time (weeks, months).

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#118

Post by rjzzleep »

wslh wrote: post #73
rjzzleep wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this^^ i spend all my time in front of my computer(including my train and bus rides), but i also do sports almost every day. the problem a lot of us face is that they can't stop thinking about work related things. be it political, company hierarchy(or architecture), or a soft/hardware related problem, that you didn't manage to fix in time. personally i find running or working to allow me too much time to think. i fin…

i find my balance in sports, that require 100% attention It's not a sport but I recommend cooking, doing Legos (have you tried EV3?), etc as a way to connect to physical things.

haven't tried ev3, but i tend to get immersed in cooking when i do it too. believe it or not i actually had an ex gf that was worried about it.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#119

Post by romaniv »

civilian wrote: post #102
romaniv wrote: post #91

2. Have a negative attitude toward everything. People who pretend to think that you can simply willfully infuse yourself with positivity annoy me. Negativity is how individuals react to certain environments. You can change some features in the environment and fix that, but simply demanding everyone to be positive is stupid. It's essentially a demand for suffering in silence.

Yes, some negativity will always come up. But I've known people who have a miserable attitude about everything, or far too frequently, and as a disproportionate response to their environment. It's like they wake up and say "I want to be a crummy person today". I was working data-validation at a big tech company, and the data-validation tool was under active development. It'd crash ~20 times in an 8 hour workday. I wo…

I was working data-validation at a big tech company, and the data-validation tool was under active development. It'd crash ~20 times in an 8 hour workday. I would happily restart my Tool and get back into it, but other people would huff and puff and rant. And it's like: What are you accomplishing with this attitude?

You're communicating to others that you don't consider an app that crashes 20 times a day an acceptable norm. The question is, does anyone listen?

Sure, there are things that are unchangeable and there is no point in complaining about them. But if you have a positive attitude towards cockroaches in your food (figuratively speaking), it's no longer positivity. It's called not giving a fuck.

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