The Productivity Cycle
alexsexton.com
The Productivity Cycle
1–10 of 42 posts
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#2I am a big fan of these ideas. I've long since concluded that caffeine is a tool best used sparingly.
As for the macro productivity cycles, I totally agree that they exist and I very much think that burn out is essentially a case of ignoring those cycles. Sometimes you just need to ease off and coast the downtrend.
I'm hoping to, at some point in the near future, experiment with working/traveling across hemispheres in order to see if I can induce highs in productivity by abruptly placing myself in nicer weather. I have a hunch that your typical seasonal depression has a manic phase and I want to see if I can exploit that.
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#3I can’t help but lead with “ego” and “legacy” because the entire ability to create something from nothing (programming) and to get disproportionally rewarded for doing so (programming salaries) comes along with more than a touch of blind privilege.
#Fail
http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/software-engi...
Programmers are well-compensated compared to most people outside of the 1%, but this idea that we're this overpaid class of people is ludicrous. Look at the Bay Area: there's immense value being created entirely by some of the world's top programmers, most of whom can't even afford to buy a house there.
We make enough money that no one should pity us, but the general payoff we get is on the low side of fair, especially in VC-istan where the upside is mostly hogged while the downside risks (damaged careers, sudden firings, constant reorgs, rapid obsolescence of skills) are externalized to the engineers, who are almost trained to personalize their failures amid the dysfunctional institutional miasma (marginal, poorly-managed companies) the VCs have created.
Even if it were true, it would be against our interest to say that we're an overpaid, entitled class. The fact that it's not true makes it even more ridiculous when I hear people say it.
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#4I can’t help but lead with “ego” and “legacy” because the entire ability to create something from nothing (programming) and to get disproportionally rewarded for doing so (programming salaries) comes along with more than a touch of blind privilege. #Fail http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/software-engi... Programmers are well-compensated compared to most people outside of the 1%, but this idea that we're…
I don't know if I can properly distinguish the difference between programmers being overpaid and the rest of humanity being underpaid.
> Even if it were true, it would be against our interest to say that we're an overpaid, entitled class.
Not everything that's true or right has to be in our interest.
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#5"I’ll hop off my projects with deadlines and build something that I know probably won’t ever even get finished, but that I’m just excited to build."
That's sooo me... I always tell myself and my wife that these keep me sane.
PS: I don't drink coffee or mt dew though...
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#6I am a big fan of these ideas. I've long since concluded that caffeine is a tool best used sparingly. As for the macro productivity cycles, I totally agree that they exist and I very much think that burn out is essentially a case of ignoring those cycles. Sometimes you just need to ease off and coast the downtrend. I'm hoping to, at some point in the near future, experiment with working/traveling across hemispheres i…
Your hunch is popular enough that there are studies looking at SAD being a variant of bipolar disorders - see e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874241/
Of course, if you believe in the article's idea of cyclical productivity (and a constant total amount of productivity over long phases, no matter if you use stimulants or not), you might as well save yourself the trip and mope in front of the fireplace - your summer is going to be awesome ;)
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#7I just wish articles like this would lead with a tiny bit of research. The web is flooded with "here's how I think you can work better" articles, but very few go beyond personal anecdotes. As such, many of them are just not that useful.
Here are few things that would've been beneficial in giving a better foundation to this article - it would've been a much better starting point for actually taking action, for one thing.
BRAC/ultradian rhythm cover the basic idea of a cyclical nature of focus.
Basic neurological effects of caffeine and withdrawal cover the idea that caffeine is a zero-sum game.
The Hawthorne effect[1] covers the idea of "Macro-caffeine"
There are quite a few case studies[2] to support the idea that stress reduction improves productivity.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect [2] http://www.amazon.com/Preventing-Stress-Improving-Productivi...
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#8Intentionally inducing manic depressive swings seems like a bad idea. The first-order problem is that you're self-administering, causing changes to your mental state while you have to make decisions about your mental state. But even if you have a physician on standby trying to optimize your state you're still only human.
The theme in the post that resonated with me is that we're subject to waves in the day, the year, etc.. This jibes with my experience. We're only so effective at any given time, and certain times we're far more effective than others.
Rather than trying to create more of those times, I've come to the conclusion that I already get plenty of those times. I just don't always see it. Realizing this, life becomes more like surfing: sharpen awareness of opportunity, be ready when the opportunity comes, and then ride it to see where it takes you.
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#9The coolest thing about caffeine is that it does actually help with mental agility and various cognitive tasks. But surprisingly few cognitive tasks. It actually only increases your working memory and positively influences your ability to concentrate on a task. That's it.
More interestingly still, it doesn't have any cognitive effects at all unless you're sleep deprived. It also doesn't have any cognitive effects in the morning. So that coffee people drink in the morning to wake up, that's just a placebo (unless they slept less than 6 hours, then it helps a bit).
But it does have a bunch of physical effects. Like increased blood flow to the brain, which helps with various things regardless of the fact that blocking adenosine receptors is doing jack shit. It also increases your stamina and physical strength. Which can be useful. Also why a lot of sports bars and most flu medicine contain a bunch of caffeine.
I write about this a lot in my book about Why programmers work at night: https://leanpub.com/nightowls (shameless plug :))
Re: The Productivity Cycle
#10Enjoyed the read, but not so sure that "caffeine is a zero-sum game." - http://www.futurity.org/caffeine-stimulates-long-term-memory...