4 ms·

I generally sleep 3am - 10am, but it varies. Midnight is about the earliest, and 7am if I'm still in the zone / peak concentration. I try to sleep 8 hours eve

I generally sleep 3am - 10am, but it varies. Midnight is about the earliest, and 7am if I'm still in the zone / peak concentration. I try to sleep 8 hours every night, so if I go to sleep at 7am I won't wake until 3pm. I'm a solo developer, mostly working on my own projects, but even when I work with remote clients I maintain what they call "vampire hours". Since I'm based in Australia, my weird productive hours naturally align with Berlin time. _asummers asked about socializing - being naturally nocturnal makes it easier to go to nightclubs & concerts, or invite friends to restaurants or a moonlite all-nite diner. It's great if you have insomniac friends! I also track my time/concentration using a program called Vitamin-R for Mac [1]. I've found my peak productive coding hours are 10pm - midnight. (4am - 7am is my actual 'peak', but I think that's because I only work those hours if I'm already in the zone.) [1] http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/ http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/

rubicon33 10y ago
I wish I had your life. My DREAM is to work on my own projects, in my peak productivity time, which is naturally from 10pm to around 3am. That's my dream, and one I strive to achieve before I'm old and tired. I'm 28 now. Working a 9-6 just isn't fun when it's a) not my project b) not my peak productivity time. If you don't mind me asking... Are you retired?
- vickychijwani 10y ago
  The trick is to work at a company where you can choose your working hours. I usually work 2 pm to 10 pm, and then tackle my personal projects / hobbies 11 pm to 4 am. Of course, things will change completely if / when I get married, but while I'm single and unburdened I can afford to maintain this lifestyle.
- klibertp 10y ago
  I have a similar schedule to the GP: I frequently start my day around noon, start working around 3 pm, get a break around 7 pm for a couple of hours (to interact with my SO, who is back from work then), then work well into the night. That schedule is only disturbed when there's an important meeting during the day. Funny thing is I don't even work 100% remotely (well, I sometimes visit the office...) - I just work for the company which couldn't care less about when I work as long as I deliver. So, while I'm not working on my own projects I still can choose when and how I work. It's been this way for 3-4 years and I just turned 30 a couple of weeks back. So what I want to say is that you don't need to be retired or be an entrepreneur to have a freedom to choose your working hours. It's actually a good thing for the company because my working hours overlap with working hours of people half a world away, for/with who we frequently work. So don't give up, search for opportunities and you'll sooner or later find a place where you can work according to your own schedule.
- mlvljr 10y ago
  Pal, 34 here, and this "till 3 am" thing, which so much fun to brag about in chats with colleagues is actually a bit dangerous to one's health (who'd have thought, huh, -- mommas were right!). So beware :)
- SyneRyder 10y ago
  I'm definitely not retired! I need the products I'm working on now to sell well. But I've been doing this long enough to know not every product is a hit. Best to treat it as just one revenue stream together with freelancing, remote work, investments etc. If you want to work on your own projects, start on something in your spare time & just put it out there. Keep your scope as small as you can (my first product was something I put together in 3 weeks). You'll make a ton of mistakes, but you'll learn how to avoid them next time too. Don't undercharge - I increased my prices 5x over the years! And start building an audience / mailing list as soon as you can, it's your best way of reaching customers but takes a long time to build. I'm happy to chat about this stuff with you (or anyone reading this) if you think I can help - email details in my profile. But if I'm honest, you'll earn more & have more stable income with the 9-to-6 job :)
mlvljr 10y ago
Wait, there are other beasts of the night doing other-end-of-the-earth schedules there? Highfive, sir!

rubicon33 10y ago

I wish I had your life. My DREAM is to work on my own projects, in my peak productivity time, which is naturally from 10pm to around 3am. That's my dream, and one I strive to achieve before I'm old and tired. I'm 28 now. Working a 9-6 just isn't fun when it's a) not my project b) not my peak productivity time. If you don't mind me asking... Are you retired?

vickychijwani 10y ago
The trick is to work at a company where you can choose your working hours. I usually work 2 pm to 10 pm, and then tackle my personal projects / hobbies 11 pm to 4 am. Of course, things will change completely if / when I get married, but while I'm single and unburdened I can afford to maintain this lifestyle.
klibertp 10y ago
I have a similar schedule to the GP: I frequently start my day around noon, start working around 3 pm, get a break around 7 pm for a couple of hours (to interact with my SO, who is back from work then), then work well into the night. That schedule is only disturbed when there's an important meeting during the day. Funny thing is I don't even work 100% remotely (well, I sometimes visit the office...) - I just work for the company which couldn't care less about when I work as long as I deliver. So, while I'm not working on my own projects I still can choose when and how I work. It's been this way for 3-4 years and I just turned 30 a couple of weeks back. So what I want to say is that you don't need to be retired or be an entrepreneur to have a freedom to choose your working hours. It's actually a good thing for the company because my working hours overlap with working hours of people half a world away, for/with who we frequently work. So don't give up, search for opportunities and you'll sooner or later find a place where you can work according to your own schedule.
mlvljr 10y ago
Pal, 34 here, and this "till 3 am" thing, which so much fun to brag about in chats with colleagues is actually a bit dangerous to one's health (who'd have thought, huh, -- mommas were right!). So beware :)
SyneRyder 10y ago
I'm definitely not retired! I need the products I'm working on now to sell well. But I've been doing this long enough to know not every product is a hit. Best to treat it as just one revenue stream together with freelancing, remote work, investments etc. If you want to work on your own projects, start on something in your spare time & just put it out there. Keep your scope as small as you can (my first product was something I put together in 3 weeks). You'll make a ton of mistakes, but you'll learn how to avoid them next time too. Don't undercharge - I increased my prices 5x over the years! And start building an audience / mailing list as soon as you can, it's your best way of reaching customers but takes a long time to build. I'm happy to chat about this stuff with you (or anyone reading this) if you think I can help - email details in my profile. But if I'm honest, you'll earn more & have more stable income with the 9-to-6 job :)

mlvljr 10y ago

Wait, there are other beasts of the night doing other-end-of-the-earth schedules there? Highfive, sir!