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Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

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Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#121

Post by tribesman »

pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #105

But how do I deal with the fact that I always feel that there are people out there who are a lot better than me and a lot younger. I feel I am already wasting time doing daily chores...I feel the act of 'eating' is complete waste of time. You are doing nothing..just eating.. There is this constant thing in the back of my mind, that I need to improve. I stopped watching movies, stopping playing Dota (had played it 200…

Wow so many people feel insecure to younger folks!

Now, i understand why tech companies have ageism.

Basically, you guys are reinforcing this thing that younger people are far better.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#122

Post by tribesman »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #116
pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #105

But how do I deal with the fact that I always feel that there are people out there who are a lot better than me and a lot younger. I feel I am already wasting time doing daily chores...I feel the act of 'eating' is complete waste of time. You are doing nothing..just eating.. There is this constant thing in the back of my mind, that I need to improve. I stopped watching movies, stopping playing Dota (had played it 200…

> There are 15 year old kids who know more than me currently, then I will ever learn/know. If the rest of your comment is true, this is probably false. Seriously, if you train constantly, a 15 year old hasn't had enough time to compete. So what's more likely is that you see people who have delved deeply into one thing deeper than you... But you know other things that they don't have a clue about.

>If the rest of your comment is true, this is probably false. Seriously, if you train constantly, a 15 year old hasn't had enough time to compete

Efforts are not everything.

Having resources and abilities also matter.

There can be 15 year olds who know far better than people who have spent years in a job.

Let's not pretend that it can't be possible.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#123

Post by tribesman »

jaggederest wrote: post #5

I've found that the most important thing is not engaging in marathon sessions, full stop. My code is better, I'm healthier, and I get more done per working minute. Take a break every hour or so, minimum ten minutes, and step away. Make coffee, ponder the infinite, pet your cat, listen to some Chicago or Slayer, whatever suits your preferences.

> My code is better, I'm healthier, and I get more done per working minute.

It's not about what you are. What market asks is, are you better than others who you can be replaced with? The ones who are ready to scarifice themselves, their health and deliver more code then you. Let's not pretend that his worries are unfounded.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#124

Post by brobdingnagians »

I have a timer app (RSIBreak) that forces me to take 20 second breaks every 10 minutes and 4 minute breaks every half hour; I usually get up and walk around or stretch a bit and look out the window for awhile. Works wonders for making me feel way better. I've improved my posture from doing it, as well as making my eyes feel way better after working a full day. I also use Redshift to tone down my screen; when I turn it off for certain things, my screen feels blue and bright in a weird way.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#125

Post by tribesman »

I started smoking Cannabis. It has helped me a lot after long programming session.

My mind used to keep racing. I tried everything from playing instrument to swimming but nothing helped.

I would get the flashback of the diagrams, communication, tickets and emails. I would continuously think about the data structure and algorithms, reaearch a lot of them and figure out which one would be most efficient for my employer. I would work out the complexity and implementation in my head. Once i got into accident when thinking about a bug.

But now it's solved after i started taking cannabis.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#126

Post by mariopt »

DEADBEEFC0FFEE wrote: post #108
mariopt wrote: post #4

We need to restrict the amount of hours we spend in front of computers per day and take weekends completely off. There are so many downsides: blue light that damages your vision, lack of exercise, depression and other disorders, missing out on social life, etc. There is a direct relation between productivity and having a life put together. Not taking care of ourselves (programmers) could have lead to disaster: mental…

What does ripping your soul mean?

If you get depressed, doctors will prescribe you antidepressants which is drug that is supposed to lift your mood and "fix" depression (lol).

Imagine the following: Your life is not great and you're not where you want to be, as a result you get sad/depressed. If you take a pill that makes you feel good, you're felling good about something that generally YOU would fell bad about but know you fell ok/good about it. This is nasty part of antidepressants: Who are you?

Some people get depressed for chemical reasons and in that case antidepressants can make wonders for them. When you work long hours, don't exercise, don't care much about have a social life, eat poorly, etc. What do you get? Depression.

In this case you might have a chemical imbalance BUT it is because you're not taking care of yourself. If you take a antidepressant it will mess you up even more. If you become addict to it, you'll loose a sense of you own self because the pill affects your emotions. Some people think that pooping a pill solves everything.

So, by saying "ripping your soul", I mean that you're entering a hole that is really really hard to get out. I've faced depression, did some psychotherapy and I made the rational decision (thank God) of not taking any pills. I knew people who took them in a daily basis and it's not a happy picture at all. You've to switch meds every X years, people tend to feel sorry about themselves, etc etc. Those people I know are completely fucked up, in the next 10/20 years they'll become zombies most likely.

In my opinion, sometimes people have a huge EGO that gets in the way of growing up and turn into pill to feed their mental picture of themselves and the world.

For me, depression was not nice but I took it as a wake up call. Throw psychotherapy I became aware of stuff that was bothering but I was not aware of it.

Unless you've some physical problem that brings depression, today's depression is a simple product of the Western capitalism, social media, etc. Sometimes you just have to face the your own problems and grow the hell up.

Throw pain, you grow.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#128

Post by nmca »

glangdale wrote: post #92

[ a pedantic corner of my mind insisted that the title should imply "deleting the code" as well ] I found that doing Brazilian Jujitsu really helps with this; two or three minutes into a session and all other concerns are gone and the relaxation afterwards is great - the world takes a while to come flooding back. I think TV and video games are a dodgy recommendation in that it's just more time in front of screens - i…

I'll happily second BJJ - any brief intense exercise that also grabs your attention is great for re-humaning.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#129

Post by QuantumDogg »

pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #105

But how do I deal with the fact that I always feel that there are people out there who are a lot better than me and a lot younger. I feel I am already wasting time doing daily chores...I feel the act of 'eating' is complete waste of time. You are doing nothing..just eating.. There is this constant thing in the back of my mind, that I need to improve. I stopped watching movies, stopping playing Dota (had played it 200…

Hah, it's like someone wrote this for me (Also had 2000+ hours of Dota).

Now after having too much stress, I have been experimenting with these thoughts: -Hey, I have x amount of time and I can't master all this y. I should plan what I want to master. -Well, how do I plan what to master. How about I try to set my next goal. -What kind of goal? Must start from the most important stuff first. Maybe something like what is the minimum needed to make me more fulfilled in life. -What are these things that make more fulfilled in life? For me they were mostly goals for attitude and social skills. There was only one goal that had to do with becoming better with technology and that was trying to find my thing in technology. Which was a bit of surprise for me ,considering what I have done with my time trying to master everything.

I am still experimenting with this, but I found that there isn't this constant damaging stress where I feel like I am on a timer.

Re: Reversing the effects of long programming sessions

#130

Post by Pica_soO »

rb808 wrote: post #69
burke wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> blue light that damages your vision Can anyone explain to me how looking at a computer screen is not several times less harmful than spending time outside from a lifetime-blue-light-exposure perspective? The sky is blue and natural light has a blue component in probably about the same proportion as white light from a screen. Maybe I'm wrong — and I'd like to find out if I am — but this whole blue light scare really…

A cloudless blue-sky day has a lot of blue as well. I haven't heard its bad for you, even if the warm sunset light is prettier.

Realistically- how much time do you, when walking a landscape, really actively look on the sky?

https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/bitstream/handle/20....

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0169204695...

Turns out, surprisingly little. And we perceive environments, where we can not see the sky at all (forests) as quite relaxing.

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