5 ms·

Become a 10x Programmer by Managing Your Time Better

113 points by nickjj 10y ago

notliketherest 10y ago
I recently started using a website blocker for Mac called self control app https://selfcontrolapp.com https://selfcontrolapp.com to great success. I've increased my productivity 10x.
pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
seems more like a guide on how to not be a 0.1x Programmer. you're all idiots.
cgriswald 10y ago
Lately I find it difficult to enjoy playing games but I don’t think it’s because I grew up. I’m pretty sure that no one really grows up. In my case, whenever I try to crack open a game and play it, I feel guilty. This guilt stems from thinking “damn it Nick, you should be working on xyz instead of slaying monsters in Path of Exile – you didn’t do enough today!”. I was not enjoying gaming as much as I used to and had basically quit playing them entirely. The "I don't have time" excuse was present for me as well. I generally agree with him. Schedules are great for managing your time. But I think he missed another important aspect, especially when it comes to whether you "deserve" to play video games or whatever other way you reward yourself: A schedule can help you see just how much you accomplished. When I started writing down what I was going to do and checking off that I had done it, it helped me realize just how much I was actually getting done. It was more than my brain was crediting me with. Seeing it written down made the "guilt" of playing video games (in my case, severely reduced enjoyment) go away.
- nojvek 10y ago
  Biggest difference I found was having a fast Dev loop while programming. Using watchers to auto-build and run. Having a good ide with intellisense made a big difference. My brain could be engaged for hours on a problem. I still end up slacking if something takes more than 5 seconds. The brains on a whole level of train thought.
drawnwren 10y ago
I liked the general idea of this post, but for it to feel a little bit more impactful to me - it would have been great to expand on what you mean by 'schedule your days.' Maybe an example of how you are currently scheduling your life or even just a picture of a schedule that you have followed.
- nickjj 10y ago
  Hi (author here), I have a separate post on the "how to" aspect of it scheduled to be released later this week.
  - nickjj 10y ago
    On second thought, I've added a PDF to the bottom of the post which contains a detailed guide on how to create a schedule. Kind of wish I added this initially, but live and learn!
hellofunk 10y ago
Replace "programmer" with any other job title, advice still applies. Managing your time better is simply a key factor to success in any area.
M4v3R 10y ago
> It’s easy to fall into habits like slacking off with Youtube, HackerNews and other social platforms – but have you ever stepped back to think how destructive it is? > I call it the “social loop of death” where you make your rounds on various sites and before you know it, 3.5 hours have past and you haven’t gotten anything done. > You end up getting 60 minutes worth of actual work done in an 8 hour day. I feel like someone installed cameras in my home. This is exactly me. What's even worse, I know that I have this problem and nothing seems to help. Scheduling, website blocking, working out of home all failed after some brief time. Any other suggestions?
- swsieber 10y ago
  Change your browser? There is research (I'd have to find it) that says addictive behavior is strongly attached to your environment. The example I heard is that soldiers who got addicted to drugs overseas have a much better time at home if they quit before coming back - then the addiction is associated purely with where they served overseas, and not at all at home. We're talking an order of magnitude more successful. Sadly, I don't remember many details - so take the above with a grain of salt. I think the above was in relation to vietnam, but I'm not sure. Edit: You could probably do a lot with this - you could change your broswer theme, get a plugin that applies a theme to websites, switch up your desk layout, move your desk area, etc.
  - M4v3R 10y ago
    Unfortunately I'm a web developer and I have and frequently use all major browsers :).
- Raphmedia 10y ago
  I added 0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com 0.0.0.0 www.gizmodo.com 0.0.0.0 gizmodo.com 0.0.0.0 www.drudgereport.com 0.0.0.0 www.reddit.com 0.0.0.0 news.ycombinator.com 0.0.0.0 lobste.rs to my hostfiles. Sure, I can remove them if I want, but the extra effort keeps me from doing it. I left messenger.facebook.com open so that I can talk with people.
  - 10y ago
surrealvortex 10y ago
I have a standing desk. So my monitor is visible to everyone in the area. Discourages me from doing anything other than work when I'm at work. It's not like someone is going to comment that I've been looking at Facebook at work, but it helps trick me into not doing anything unproductive.
- lj3 10y ago
  How do you stand people walking behind you all day? That would drive me nuts. Also, I work remotely, but I have been thinking about live streaming my desktop as a similar discouragement from slacking during work hours.
  - surrealvortex 10y ago
    You get used to working in a dense workspace after a while. I think companies mainly like dense workspaces because it costs less, while justifying it as increasing collaboration. I don't need much collaboration at my job. Working remotely takes a lot of discipline that I don't think I have. I do work from home once in a while, but it's a lot tougher to motivate yourself everyday.
- btbuildem 10y ago
  Another advantage of a standing desk is that.. you're standing, not relaxing. Once at my desk, I don't want to procrastinate - I'm here to work.
Jenkins2000 10y ago
I recently started scheduling my days using a paper and pen but this time with the 'bullet journal' system. I've tried many todo lists online that never stick and I've got stacks of notepads that I scribble notes in but never read again. With my bullet journal I now have a system for reviewing tasks that, so far, actually seems to work for me.
- whiteandnerdy 10y ago
  Thanks for the recommendation - I'm trying out bullet journalling in the workplace as a result. Feels like it's a good system thus far, although I'll have to wait until the honeymoon period dies off to really know.
hahamrfunnyguy 10y ago
tldr; a schedule helps you better manage your time.
616c 10y ago
I see others asking for advice. I am skeptical and embarassed to ask here, but I feel like many like-minded lurkers are here. So I think this follow-up on M4v3R's inquiry is worth a shot. I have multiple study interests. Many of them are beyond my comfort zone, by design and with intent, and I have no way of knowing when or if I can absorb them with a timetable. How do you schedule? I am currently enrolled in a few Coursera courses: Algorithms Crypto I Scala They all have deadlines. I am 1-3 weeks behind in each, respectively. I have been an off and on again convert to programming and open source. I desire to really get back to computing, after a kind of numbing support career. I love the machines, but I cannot force their theory to love me. I can watch lectures over and over and take notes. This takes time. But when it comes to assignments, I cannot connect the dots. Solutions: - Review the material AGAIN - Switch up assignments to reduce load; all of them are equally rigorous, so this backfires, it still takes time - I try reading supporting material (the Crypto101 book for Crytpo I for example, and it might be helping as of this week), but this takes time, and my choices can be invested wisely or unsound This is not to mention wanting to study for more infosec certs, building a lab to strengthen that effort, and move to working on personal projects in a more focused way by building VM and containers using all the cool kid tools, boosting career prospects and increasing discipline. I lost a lot of weight, and maintain with exercise (sometimes twice a day now) to stave off depression. I have lot of very dramatic personal drama with a relationship that consumes my spare cycles. Someone, give me advice! I burn out frequently, watching TV streaming when I can, and reading sites like this. This would not bother me so bad if NOT for HN. I procrastinate with you all, for sure, but this website exposes me to a very unique subset of computing culture and counterpoints I need as I live abroad with limited community engagement. You all fill me with rage and jealousy, as there are so many brilliant programmers exposing me to great people pushing the bounds of their curiosity. What if HN backfires? It pushes on me, but without that push, where the hell does the inspiration come from?
- effie 10y ago
  Don't schedule 100% of your time, schedule more like 60%. Much easier and more motivating to keep up with that, and you will have time for detox from the web dead loop - time for sports, reading a real book, meeting people etc.
gabrielcsapo 10y ago
fantastic. helped my girlfriend and I to really understand where the systemic problems of productivity stem from. So simple. Thanks Nick.
curried_haskell 10y ago
Stop. Fucking. Talking. About. 10x. Programmers. Seriously. Just stop. Fucking stop.
- grawlinson 10y ago
  a.k.a. rockstar developers. It's not doing anyone any favours, I agree.

113 points by nickjj 10y ago

I recently started using a website blocker for Mac called self control app https://selfcontrolapp.com https://selfcontrolapp.com to great success. I've increased my productivity 10x.

pg_is_a_butt 10y ago

seems more like a guide on how to not be a 0.1x Programmer. you're all idiots.

cgriswald 10y ago

Lately I find it difficult to enjoy playing games but I don’t think it’s because I grew up. I’m pretty sure that no one really grows up. In my case, whenever I try to crack open a game and play it, I feel guilty. This guilt stems from thinking “damn it Nick, you should be working on xyz instead of slaying monsters in Path of Exile – you didn’t do enough today!”. I was not enjoying gaming as much as I used to and had basically quit playing them entirely. The "I don't have time" excuse was present for me as well. I generally agree with him. Schedules are great for managing your time. But I think he missed another important aspect, especially when it comes to whether you "deserve" to play video games or whatever other way you reward yourself: A schedule can help you see just how much you accomplished. When I started writing down what I was going to do and checking off that I had done it, it helped me realize just how much I was actually getting done. It was more than my brain was crediting me with. Seeing it written down made the "guilt" of playing video games (in my case, severely reduced enjoyment) go away.

nojvek 10y ago
Biggest difference I found was having a fast Dev loop while programming. Using watchers to auto-build and run. Having a good ide with intellisense made a big difference. My brain could be engaged for hours on a problem. I still end up slacking if something takes more than 5 seconds. The brains on a whole level of train thought.

drawnwren 10y ago

I liked the general idea of this post, but for it to feel a little bit more impactful to me - it would have been great to expand on what you mean by 'schedule your days.' Maybe an example of how you are currently scheduling your life or even just a picture of a schedule that you have followed.

nickjj 10y ago
Hi (author here), I have a separate post on the "how to" aspect of it scheduled to be released later this week.
- nickjj 10y ago
  On second thought, I've added a PDF to the bottom of the post which contains a detailed guide on how to create a schedule. Kind of wish I added this initially, but live and learn!

hellofunk 10y ago

Replace "programmer" with any other job title, advice still applies. Managing your time better is simply a key factor to success in any area.

M4v3R 10y ago

> It’s easy to fall into habits like slacking off with Youtube, HackerNews and other social platforms – but have you ever stepped back to think how destructive it is? > I call it the “social loop of death” where you make your rounds on various sites and before you know it, 3.5 hours have past and you haven’t gotten anything done. > You end up getting 60 minutes worth of actual work done in an 8 hour day. I feel like someone installed cameras in my home. This is exactly me. What's even worse, I know that I have this problem and nothing seems to help. Scheduling, website blocking, working out of home all failed after some brief time. Any other suggestions?

swsieber 10y ago
Change your browser? There is research (I'd have to find it) that says addictive behavior is strongly attached to your environment. The example I heard is that soldiers who got addicted to drugs overseas have a much better time at home if they quit before coming back - then the addiction is associated purely with where they served overseas, and not at all at home. We're talking an order of magnitude more successful. Sadly, I don't remember many details - so take the above with a grain of salt. I think the above was in relation to vietnam, but I'm not sure. Edit: You could probably do a lot with this - you could change your broswer theme, get a plugin that applies a theme to websites, switch up your desk layout, move your desk area, etc.
- M4v3R 10y ago
  Unfortunately I'm a web developer and I have and frequently use all major browsers :).
Raphmedia 10y ago
I added 0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com 0.0.0.0 www.gizmodo.com 0.0.0.0 gizmodo.com 0.0.0.0 www.drudgereport.com 0.0.0.0 www.reddit.com 0.0.0.0 news.ycombinator.com 0.0.0.0 lobste.rs to my hostfiles. Sure, I can remove them if I want, but the extra effort keeps me from doing it. I left messenger.facebook.com open so that I can talk with people.
- 10y ago

surrealvortex 10y ago

I have a standing desk. So my monitor is visible to everyone in the area. Discourages me from doing anything other than work when I'm at work. It's not like someone is going to comment that I've been looking at Facebook at work, but it helps trick me into not doing anything unproductive.

lj3 10y ago
How do you stand people walking behind you all day? That would drive me nuts. Also, I work remotely, but I have been thinking about live streaming my desktop as a similar discouragement from slacking during work hours.
- surrealvortex 10y ago
  You get used to working in a dense workspace after a while. I think companies mainly like dense workspaces because it costs less, while justifying it as increasing collaboration. I don't need much collaboration at my job. Working remotely takes a lot of discipline that I don't think I have. I do work from home once in a while, but it's a lot tougher to motivate yourself everyday.
btbuildem 10y ago
Another advantage of a standing desk is that.. you're standing, not relaxing. Once at my desk, I don't want to procrastinate - I'm here to work.

Jenkins2000 10y ago

I recently started scheduling my days using a paper and pen but this time with the 'bullet journal' system. I've tried many todo lists online that never stick and I've got stacks of notepads that I scribble notes in but never read again. With my bullet journal I now have a system for reviewing tasks that, so far, actually seems to work for me.

whiteandnerdy 10y ago
Thanks for the recommendation - I'm trying out bullet journalling in the workplace as a result. Feels like it's a good system thus far, although I'll have to wait until the honeymoon period dies off to really know.

hahamrfunnyguy 10y ago

tldr; a schedule helps you better manage your time.

616c 10y ago

I see others asking for advice. I am skeptical and embarassed to ask here, but I feel like many like-minded lurkers are here. So I think this follow-up on M4v3R's inquiry is worth a shot. I have multiple study interests. Many of them are beyond my comfort zone, by design and with intent, and I have no way of knowing when or if I can absorb them with a timetable. How do you schedule? I am currently enrolled in a few Coursera courses: Algorithms Crypto I Scala They all have deadlines. I am 1-3 weeks behind in each, respectively. I have been an off and on again convert to programming and open source. I desire to really get back to computing, after a kind of numbing support career. I love the machines, but I cannot force their theory to love me. I can watch lectures over and over and take notes. This takes time. But when it comes to assignments, I cannot connect the dots. Solutions: - Review the material AGAIN - Switch up assignments to reduce load; all of them are equally rigorous, so this backfires, it still takes time - I try reading supporting material (the Crypto101 book for Crytpo I for example, and it might be helping as of this week), but this takes time, and my choices can be invested wisely or unsound This is not to mention wanting to study for more infosec certs, building a lab to strengthen that effort, and move to working on personal projects in a more focused way by building VM and containers using all the cool kid tools, boosting career prospects and increasing discipline. I lost a lot of weight, and maintain with exercise (sometimes twice a day now) to stave off depression. I have lot of very dramatic personal drama with a relationship that consumes my spare cycles. Someone, give me advice! I burn out frequently, watching TV streaming when I can, and reading sites like this. This would not bother me so bad if NOT for HN. I procrastinate with you all, for sure, but this website exposes me to a very unique subset of computing culture and counterpoints I need as I live abroad with limited community engagement. You all fill me with rage and jealousy, as there are so many brilliant programmers exposing me to great people pushing the bounds of their curiosity. What if HN backfires? It pushes on me, but without that push, where the hell does the inspiration come from?

effie 10y ago
Don't schedule 100% of your time, schedule more like 60%. Much easier and more motivating to keep up with that, and you will have time for detox from the web dead loop - time for sports, reading a real book, meeting people etc.

gabrielcsapo 10y ago

fantastic. helped my girlfriend and I to really understand where the systemic problems of productivity stem from. So simple. Thanks Nick.

curried_haskell 10y ago

Stop. Fucking. Talking. About. 10x. Programmers. Seriously. Just stop. Fucking stop.

grawlinson 10y ago
a.k.a. rockstar developers. It's not doing anyone any favours, I agree.