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“Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

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Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#91

Post by omarish »

We should be careful to not conflate intensity (at one's work) with being a one-dimensional human being. Intensity is generally a good thing. Being one-dimensional is not.

Regardless of whether you're just starting out and are the most intense programmer ever, or if you've been at it for 20+ years, there's immense value in understanding and being proficient at many things other than software.

Many big discoveries happen at the intersection of two fields. A lot of our latest breakthroughs in AI are based on our newfound understanding of the human mind. Same with computational genomics. Black Scholes for option pricing. The list goes on.

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#93

Post by markbnj »

Navarr wrote: post #74
rplst8 wrote: post #8

Generally, this is an easy stance for young, unmarried, and otherwise unattached people to approach their career. A warning to those that think this will enhance their opportunities later in life. It won't. Sure there are a few great employers out there that will reward you with loyalty (or massive sums of money) but that is the exception. After a life of nothing but work, no matter how much you love it at the time,…

I think the issue here is when people take that viewpoint as a career. I code for a career. I also code for a hobby. I code for fun. They're different. You can eat. sleep. code. repeat. without it being eat. sleep. work. repeat. And you can mean it lightheartedly/halfheartedly as well. "Eat, sleep, game, repeat." can be the same thing. Obviously taking it literally is unhealthy, but I don't think anyone is proposing…

I don't know if you're young, obviously, but this is a young, or at least unattached, person's point of view. I taught myself to program in the 80's when I was in my early 20's. In my later 20's and through my early 30's I did it for fun and profit, often working on a project 14 or more hours a day. By the time I got into my early 40's I had a wife, three young children, a house, a couple of pets, etc. to go along with the job. Suddenly, or perhaps not so suddenly, there were a great many demands on my 18 hours per day of waking time. Unless you're different from most people this is how it will likely proceed with you as well. So one way of looking at this mantra is "we want young, unattached people who will throw themselves into their work and not coincidentally do it for less money than a middle-aged person with a family."

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#94

Post by ryanSrich »

rplst8 wrote: post #58
javier2 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a literal ditch digging job, and I hated that even more. But I still find myself longing for such a thing. Maybe if I could just have 3-4 days per year? xD

My ideal would be a mix. One sprint of code. One sprint of building houses.

Buy a house. I love doing yard work on the weekends after 50+ hours of tech startup bombardment all week.

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#95

Post by uhtred »

hunvreus wrote: post #86
uhtred wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I mean I'd like to run a "lifestyle" type of business; something where I don't make a ton of money, but enough to get by (rather than a startup where I'm hoping to solve humanity's problems with a single app and make millions or billions from it). Actually the company I work for is the best company I've ever worked at! I think I just don't find satisfaction in the 9-5 corporate grind.

Yep, but even that mystical "lifestyle business" (otherwise known as "a business") is a lot of non-coding work. For a healthy dose of realism, I suggest you watch some of the MicroConf videos [1] (and definitely go there if you can). [1]: http://www.microconf.com/videos

I'd be OK doing non-coding work, if it was for my own business, I think. Might even enjoy it! Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check out some of those videos!

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#96

Post by sebringj »

It's Bullshit but... the exception to this is if you're consulting corp-to-corp hourly or doing you're own startup that's fine but otherwise it is exploitive culture propaganda praying on the naive. (overly dramatic, its just a fucking t-shirt). Also, "hump" should be added to this list prior to "sleep" and possibly inserted after "sleep" and after "code" as well to cancel out the long durations of solitary activity.

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#97

Post by smoyer »

I'm married and have four kids, though two have now left the nest. When I read this, I think about all the times I set aside my code to do something more important - interact with my kids, nurture my wife, and pursue hobbies outside the technology world (I run, bike and sail).

But ... you might be surprised to learn that I love that tee-shirt. I think there are many who are misguided enough to ignore balance in their lives completely (this shirt is not for them). For me, technology is my main hobby. I get paid for it at work (aren't I lucky), sometimes I get paid for it at home (I have a consultancy) but most of the time at home, I'm coding (or even building electronics) for fun. Other times, it's a project I'm playing with that I wouldn't otherwise get to do at work.

In any case, I'm not advocating living an unbalanced life. Nor am I describing a life of crunch-time (my home projects very rarely have deadlines). What I'm saying is that I truly love the time I spend on technology and identify with the shirt as a statement of that affection.

EDIT: It's a rainy Saturday morning here ... I got the lawn cut last night, my daughter is away playing viola at a concert and I'm kind of chilling with my wife and son. While we're siting in the living room watching the rain, I'm updating the Ansible scripts I use to keep my laptops, and workstations up-to-date [1].

I've got two hardware projects planned for next winter - I'm going to get my COSMAC ELF [2] running again (my first computer based on an RCA 1802) and I'm going to turn my old Sun E450 [3] into a TEC-based mini-fridge for my office (if anyone needs Sun E450 parts let me know).

[1] https://github.com/selesy/workstation

[2] http://www.cosmacelf.com/

[3] http://www.tech.proact.co.uk/i/sun_enterprise_450.jpg

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#98

Post by robbiemitchell »

javier2 wrote: post #46
xabotage wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I distinctly remember sitting in yet another dull sprint retrospective and thinking, "Boy, I wish I were a firefighter." Granted, that line of work comes with its own drawbacks and I would certainly get bored of it the same way I get bored of software (or else worn out from the demanding physical aspect), but some days I'm surprised to find myself wishing I could "dig ditches out in the sunshine" or something of the…

I have had a literal ditch digging job, and I hated that even more. But I still find myself longing for such a thing. Maybe if I could just have 3-4 days per year? xD

You might something like Habitat for Humanity.

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#99

Post by parennoob »

riebschlager wrote: post #36

I think the larger issue here is that few people are going to drop $25 for a t-shirt that says, "EAT. SLEEP. CODE. MAINTAIN A HEALTHY BALANCE OF BOTH PROGRAMMING AND NON-PROGRAMMING RELATED ACTIVITIES."

I created a Teespring shirt campaign to test that here. I think we definitely need a lot more counterpoints to these CODE ALL THE TIME movements.

https://teespring.com/eat-sleep-code-go-outside

Re: “Eat, sleep, code, repeat” is such bullshit

#100

Post by tamana »

dasil003 wrote: post #78
shrugger wrote: post #19

Yeah, fuck enthusiasm! /s I can understand that we might want to avoid the obsessive behaviors of some developers that could be considered unhealthy, but blaming a simple catch-phrase isn't going to get us anywhere. What if the shirt said, "Coding is rad" ? I say that all the time, and people just give me that look that says, "Ha, what a nerd" and it's fine for me because I can maintain my enthusiasm. Other people ne…

It's not the shirt that bothers me, it's the fact that Google tries to create this kind of work culture internally with perks designed to keep you at work longer, and then they sell this shirt so they can profit even more from the wider developer community's passion. I know that Google pays their developers well, and personally I am a bit of a workaholic myself devoting long hours to my company, but still there is so…

Ear, Code, Perk, Sleep, Repeat is quite a different story!
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