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Write Code Every Day

ejohn.org

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41–50 of 221 posts

Re: Write Code Every Day

#41

Post by dbrian »

slig wrote: post #12
gdubs wrote: post #2

This "don't break the chain" approach has worked extremely well for me, particularly during busy periods of high stress. I first learned about it in my college writing classes, where you're supposed to write something, anything, meaningless jibberish even, every single morning. Recently I read about Seinfeld using this approach to great successs. Every day he works on material, and puts a big, fat, "X" on the calenda…

+1. I've been using Joe's Goals [1] to track my daily goals since I learned about it on Life Hacker years ago. Can't recommend enough. [1] http://www.joesgoals.com/index.cfm

HabitRPG works much the same way, tracking activities to form habits.

https://habitrpg.com/

Re: Write Code Every Day

#42

Post by iSnow »

jeresig wrote: post #35
iSnow wrote: post #23

In the long run, this is unhealthy. Yes, it makes you more productive, but what if you fall in love, get sick, have a child...? Then you feel guilty about not catering to your side projects and guilt breeds procrastination. I learned how to break down work into small pieces and rather finish one small piece and then call it a day instead of leaving something half-working for the next day. Because of this, I left proj…

I think you might be conflating things a bit. The guilt about a lack of productivity already exists (daily work, or not). Doing daily work helps to mitigate it to a large degree. Naturally if I get sick I'll be comfortable enough to "let it slide". If anything I'll be eager to get back to work right when I can. I do agree that breaking things into tiny tasks is the best way to go, it's helped me tremendously. More th…

>The guilt about a lack of productivity already exists (daily work, or not).

This is what I think is unhealthy. If you want to spend a lot of time coding in your free time, go for it. If you notice guilt because you are slacking, you should revisit your priorities and earnestly think about why you are coding that much.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#43

Post by liyanage »

ds206 wrote: post #36
munificent wrote: post #32

I am a total convert to the "don't break the chain" idea. I started writing a book on game programming[1] about four years ago. At the time, I was working at EA, miserable, and highly motivated to have the book done so it could help pad my resume. I got a book deal (O'Reilly) then, when that fell through, another (Apress). I had a real writing schedule, and a very supportive wife, and I would work on it for hours at…

I've read a few of your chapters and I think you're doing a great job. Keep it up!

Yes I read one of your chapters as well, very well done and I'll be buying the book when it comes out.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#44

Post by steveklabnik »

kbelbina wrote: post #18
Lambdanaut wrote: post #8

That was a beautiful post. Currently I'm in the complete opposite modus operandi. I don't do a lick of side-project work during the week, and on weekends I take a modafinil(wakefullness promoting medication) and stay up nights on end to crack out as much as I can. I get an INSANE amount done on the weekends that I have the energy to pull this off, but it's horrible for my health. The rest of the week I have anxiety a…

Experiences with modafinil have been mostly positive? Any major draw backs?

I don't personally use modafinil, but you might be interested in reading http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil

Re: Write Code Every Day

#45

Post by Thiz »

Hey John, just quit KA.

Life is too short to waste it in things you don't love. Remember jQuery brought you fame, not because you were chasing fame itself but because your love for jQuery and programming.

Love for what you do comes first, money is just a secondary effect.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#46

Post by mksm »

swillis16 wrote: post #38
gdubs wrote: post #2

This "don't break the chain" approach has worked extremely well for me, particularly during busy periods of high stress. I first learned about it in my college writing classes, where you're supposed to write something, anything, meaningless jibberish even, every single morning. Recently I read about Seinfeld using this approach to great successs. Every day he works on material, and puts a big, fat, "X" on the calenda…

There's actually a site called http://dontbreakthechain.com/ which serves as a bit of motivation for getting personal development work done. I've had issues with remembering to check the site everyday even if the work gets done, but perhaps making it the homepage would help.

I use Lift for that (https://lift.do/). Works great for me

Re: Write Code Every Day

#47

Post by kyro »

Do everything you want to excel at everyday.

One big problem I've learned with not working consistently at any one task is that after dropping and returning to a project, I find myself being familiar enough with areas I last touched that I want to speed through them to reach a point where I begin working on new ideas and concepts. But in most cases, those areas I left off at were the very reasons I jumped ship, either because they were too difficult or mind-numbing to wade through, leaving them incomplete/unlearned, and resulting in me having to take a few steps back to fully refresh myself before I can continue building, which leads to a lot of frustration and feeling like I'm wasting a ton of time.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#48

Post by Arjuna »

munificent wrote: post #32

I am a total convert to the "don't break the chain" idea. I started writing a book on game programming[1] about four years ago. At the time, I was working at EA, miserable, and highly motivated to have the book done so it could help pad my resume. I got a book deal (O'Reilly) then, when that fell through, another (Apress). I had a real writing schedule, and a very supportive wife, and I would work on it for hours at…

Congratulations! This is a thing of great beauty. I would like to write an iOS-centric game development book; this is truly inspiring.

Just curious... what are your self-publishing plans (if you don't mind discussing them)? What software do you use for writing?

Re: Write Code Every Day

#49

Post by jsutton »

The pitfalls of context switching is mentioned often in this article. I have a "problem" where I'll work heavily on a side project for a few days, before getting bored and wanting to move onto another project. The result is that I have many unfinished side projects.

Is it better to focus on one project until completion, even if you aren't as into it anymore? What do other HNers do regarding multiple on-going side projects?

Re: Write Code Every Day

#50

Post by cschneid »

jeresig wrote: post #33
hawkharris wrote: post #30

Telling a programmer to write code every day is a bit like asking an aspiring carpenter to swing a hammer: it's a necessary component of improving your skills and building things, but it is also a narrow, technical task that has limited value in isolation. Having said that, programmers should spend at least as much time reading and thinking about code as they do writing it. You can write code for hours each day and d…

I'd agree with you if my primary desire were to improve my ability as a programmer. Unfortunately, at least at this time, it's not. My major concern is getting meaningful work done. I spend far too much time thinking and reading about technologies, techniques, and planning for the future - more time needs to be spent on actually implementing all the amazing stuff that you want to exist.

I agree. I have the habit of constantly learning, without producing. So I'll pick up side projects, suck the learning-marrow from their bones, and discard them without finishing.

I have so little to show in terms of actual work product, which I am attempting to fix with a similar "don't break the chain" approach.

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