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> a hacker who will stay up till 4:00 AM rather than go to bed leaving code with a bug in it. Question for other folks here: In your experience, does staying u

> a hacker who will stay up till 4:00 AM rather than go to bed leaving code with a bug in it. Question for other folks here: In your experience, does staying up until 4:00AM tend to lead to you being more or less productive in the long term?

AnimalMuppet 11y ago
Less, for a few days, if you do it once. Doing it regularly leads to lower productivity until you quit doing it.
robertelder 11y ago
I've had it go both ways before, but I noticed during university when I was forced to do such things that after you've had a couple weeks to rest, whatever you were working on before becomes crystal clear in a way that it wouldn't have been if you just relaxed and made steady progress. Probably something to do with the stress burns it into your brain.
dave2000 11y ago
More, because I can get 4 more hours done than if I go to bed at midnight and I am more motivated later and far less likely to be disturbed. I can't do it as much these days because I have a day job which gets in the way.
sbov 11y ago
If you've been working on a bug for an hour+ and it's 2AM it usually means it's time to put the keyboard down. For me, what usually happens is I go to sleep, wake up, and have it fixed in 5 minutes.
- stronglikedan 11y ago
  That was the only thing cigarettes were ever good for! Back when I smoked, if I was stuck on something, I would go have a cigarette. Most of the time I would have the answer (or at least a hint) when I came back in. Some say that nicotine temporarily increases brain function, so I just chalked it up to that.
  - rabidrat 11y ago
    Many of the advantages of smoking can be chalked up to breath control. Sometime, try standing up, walking around your desk, and pretending like you're smoking. Inhale just as you would a cigarette, but just plain air. It works remarkably well (for me anyway).
johngalt 11y ago
Both. There are two scenarios where I'm staying up until 4am. 1. My three bosses were harassing me all day about deadlines. At home I can't sleep because of the stress: "I'm not going to sleep until I fix this bug because we have a deadline." => useless and unproductive. Net negative productivity. 2. Quiet day at the office. Just had a decent meal with friends. Get home to a quiet house at 9pm. Flip the computer on not even planning to work. "Hmmm... wait a sec this is interesting. I wonder if I could... What time is it? Is that the sunrise?" => likely did something in one night that would take weeks/months in an office setting.

AnimalMuppet 11y ago

Less, for a few days, if you do it once. Doing it regularly leads to lower productivity until you quit doing it.

robertelder 11y ago

I've had it go both ways before, but I noticed during university when I was forced to do such things that after you've had a couple weeks to rest, whatever you were working on before becomes crystal clear in a way that it wouldn't have been if you just relaxed and made steady progress. Probably something to do with the stress burns it into your brain.

dave2000 11y ago

More, because I can get 4 more hours done than if I go to bed at midnight and I am more motivated later and far less likely to be disturbed. I can't do it as much these days because I have a day job which gets in the way.

sbov 11y ago

If you've been working on a bug for an hour+ and it's 2AM it usually means it's time to put the keyboard down. For me, what usually happens is I go to sleep, wake up, and have it fixed in 5 minutes.

stronglikedan 11y ago
That was the only thing cigarettes were ever good for! Back when I smoked, if I was stuck on something, I would go have a cigarette. Most of the time I would have the answer (or at least a hint) when I came back in. Some say that nicotine temporarily increases brain function, so I just chalked it up to that.
- rabidrat 11y ago
  Many of the advantages of smoking can be chalked up to breath control. Sometime, try standing up, walking around your desk, and pretending like you're smoking. Inhale just as you would a cigarette, but just plain air. It works remarkably well (for me anyway).

johngalt 11y ago

Both. There are two scenarios where I'm staying up until 4am. 1. My three bosses were harassing me all day about deadlines. At home I can't sleep because of the stress: "I'm not going to sleep until I fix this bug because we have a deadline." => useless and unproductive. Net negative productivity. 2. Quiet day at the office. Just had a decent meal with friends. Get home to a quiet house at 9pm. Flip the computer on not even planning to work. "Hmmm... wait a sec this is interesting. I wonder if I could... What time is it? Is that the sunrise?" => likely did something in one night that would take weeks/months in an office setting.