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Not only that, I personally found out I was fooling myself. Sure I was working until 8PM-9PM many days but found that I wasn't getting much at all done in the

Not only that, I personally found out I was fooling myself. Sure I was working until 8PM-9PM many days but found that I wasn't getting much at all done in the mornings. I'd hit my productivity stride around 1-2 PM after lunch. Getting in and starting early, finishing up early/mid afternoon and then enjoying the evenings either working on my own thing or just spending time with the SO has significantly increased quality of life.

matt_wulfeck 9y ago
sometimes I work on a problem way too late. Get stuck and try all kinds of things. Then I go home, eat, spend time with my family. The next day I open up my computer and immediately find and solve he issue. It's very hard for me to put a problem down and simply not think about it for a period of time, but as I've matured I've realized how important that skill is.
- christophilus 9y ago
  I agree completely. It happens so consistently for me that you'd think letting a problem go would have gotten easier. It hasn't. The part of me that needs closure must be very strong and seems to function largely in the subconscious/below the rational level. It's a constant struggle to leave things behind and properly unwind at the end of the day.
- posixplz 9y ago
  I used to work the same way. Then, I discovered that if I drastically cut (and, in most cases, eliminated entirely) the amount of time I spent toiling after-hours on a given issue, I was able to achieve the same level of next-day success. You touched on the key here: sleeping on a problem, letting your brain solve it in the background, is really quite effective.
dasmoth 9y ago
Any tricks that helped you achieve this? For me, the appeal of non-standard hours is that it's dramatically easier to focus when my coworkers aren't around (and to some extent, this is true even when remote). Truth be told, the optimum for me would probably be to just write mornings off completely and have them as the "family time" slot.

matt_wulfeck 9y ago

sometimes I work on a problem way too late. Get stuck and try all kinds of things. Then I go home, eat, spend time with my family. The next day I open up my computer and immediately find and solve he issue. It's very hard for me to put a problem down and simply not think about it for a period of time, but as I've matured I've realized how important that skill is.

christophilus 9y ago
I agree completely. It happens so consistently for me that you'd think letting a problem go would have gotten easier. It hasn't. The part of me that needs closure must be very strong and seems to function largely in the subconscious/below the rational level. It's a constant struggle to leave things behind and properly unwind at the end of the day.
posixplz 9y ago
I used to work the same way. Then, I discovered that if I drastically cut (and, in most cases, eliminated entirely) the amount of time I spent toiling after-hours on a given issue, I was able to achieve the same level of next-day success. You touched on the key here: sleeping on a problem, letting your brain solve it in the background, is really quite effective.

dasmoth 9y ago

Any tricks that helped you achieve this? For me, the appeal of non-standard hours is that it's dramatically easier to focus when my coworkers aren't around (and to some extent, this is true even when remote). Truth be told, the optimum for me would probably be to just write mornings off completely and have them as the "family time" slot.