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One of my main complaints about cs in university is that they didn't teach how to put their effort and energy into their projects in a healthy and sustainable w

One of my main complaints about cs in university is that they didn't teach how to put their effort and energy into their projects in a healthy and sustainable way. Many students ended up learning the 'magic binge' approach you're talking about. It depended on that seemingly random lightning bolt of inspiration combined with almost manic mental energy to work crazy hours to get it done. If you've ever worked through the night, met someone who _expects_ future crunch times (aka. binges), or put off working on something important because you just weren't feeling it right now, then you know what I'm talking about. The closest analogy I've found is writing. Experienced professional authors most commonly give out the advice to work on it consistently, every day, whether you're feeling it or not. I feel like that heavily applies to programming too. If you care about a project, for work or for your self, you've got to make it part of a routine. Pick your days and time that you're going to work on it, then sit down and work whether you're super excited and have 'flow' or not. I think that after a short amount of time each session, you'll find you are creating the inspiration rather than waiting for it to find you.

Alacart 9y ago
A few, more concrete, ideas about how you might reduce emotional Bing coding: Experiment with coffee. Most commonly I see bingers drinking a LOT of coffee, that's what fuels and in part causes the binge. If that's the case, try going to zero coffee and then every other day, try increasing your coffee intake just a little, with a rest day of no coffee in between, until you find out what actually works best for your productivity. You're looking for optimally consistent, not max output in one sitting. It's got to be consistently repeatable. Try meditating. I recommend the app headspace if you've never done it. Basically a large part of meditation is deliberate awareness of your thoughts and emotions, the goal being to better understand yourself and what makes you tick. If done consistently, it seems to help people guide their thoughts and emotions in a positive way, which can really help with something like programming. Exercise. We all know the benefits, a zillion studies have shown it helps you feel motivated, relaxed, improves mood, and think clearly. Seems helpful to me. Decide to take the pressure off of each work session, regardless of what's going on. Even if it's crunch time and the sky is falling, tell yourself this is not the be-all end-all, that you won't remember this in 5 years let alone 20, and to relax. Choose to be calm, and just focus on making the project a little bit better than when you started. Go for walks. I separated this out from exercise, because the best benefit of walking is that it takes very little thought, freeing up your brain and giving it space to run around. Sometimes I just let it go bananas, the equivalent of a dog zooming around a back yard. Other times, I'm just washing out everything else by listening to a podcast or an audio book. Or, just putting on music and letting myself feel more and think less. All of these are like a pressure release valve for your mind. Make a list. Follow that list strictly. Nothing is less emotional than a cold hard list. Not something I recommend all of the time, it can make your thinking rigid, but a very simple and effective tool when that's what you need.
- muzani 9y ago
  I've done all of these. Coffee - it consistently works, more so if combined with L-Theanine. Meditation - doesn't help. I've tried headspace, TM, many of the apps. Part of the problem is that it does chill me out, which makes me unproductive. The main benefit is after meetings, where I usually get pissed with coworkers. Exercise/walks - it feels good, makes me think better, but the data shows no change in productivity. I've been doing med-high intensity exercise for nearly a year. The list - really the only one that works. The only real problem is when something in the schedule forces me off. I've been modifying it heavily this last week. It's full of if-else statements now, lol. I might just end up putting it in an app to command me what to do, based on the daily situation.
muzani 9y ago
Speaking of writing, Tim Ferriss's Tools of Titans interviews writers heavily. A very consistent pattern is that they do work late at night or morning and often with some kind of music repetitively running or meditation. A lot of them also procrastinate heavily, some even making it a routine to procrastinate half the day, feel guilty, then use the guilt to channel energy into their work. Learning this made me question my disciplined attempts and wonder whether it's really possible to be productive without binging. It doesn't help that YC programmers are notorious for working really hard for really long hours.

Alacart 9y ago

A few, more concrete, ideas about how you might reduce emotional Bing coding: Experiment with coffee. Most commonly I see bingers drinking a LOT of coffee, that's what fuels and in part causes the binge. If that's the case, try going to zero coffee and then every other day, try increasing your coffee intake just a little, with a rest day of no coffee in between, until you find out what actually works best for your productivity. You're looking for optimally consistent, not max output in one sitting. It's got to be consistently repeatable. Try meditating. I recommend the app headspace if you've never done it. Basically a large part of meditation is deliberate awareness of your thoughts and emotions, the goal being to better understand yourself and what makes you tick. If done consistently, it seems to help people guide their thoughts and emotions in a positive way, which can really help with something like programming. Exercise. We all know the benefits, a zillion studies have shown it helps you feel motivated, relaxed, improves mood, and think clearly. Seems helpful to me. Decide to take the pressure off of each work session, regardless of what's going on. Even if it's crunch time and the sky is falling, tell yourself this is not the be-all end-all, that you won't remember this in 5 years let alone 20, and to relax. Choose to be calm, and just focus on making the project a little bit better than when you started. Go for walks. I separated this out from exercise, because the best benefit of walking is that it takes very little thought, freeing up your brain and giving it space to run around. Sometimes I just let it go bananas, the equivalent of a dog zooming around a back yard. Other times, I'm just washing out everything else by listening to a podcast or an audio book. Or, just putting on music and letting myself feel more and think less. All of these are like a pressure release valve for your mind. Make a list. Follow that list strictly. Nothing is less emotional than a cold hard list. Not something I recommend all of the time, it can make your thinking rigid, but a very simple and effective tool when that's what you need.

muzani 9y ago
I've done all of these. Coffee - it consistently works, more so if combined with L-Theanine. Meditation - doesn't help. I've tried headspace, TM, many of the apps. Part of the problem is that it does chill me out, which makes me unproductive. The main benefit is after meetings, where I usually get pissed with coworkers. Exercise/walks - it feels good, makes me think better, but the data shows no change in productivity. I've been doing med-high intensity exercise for nearly a year. The list - really the only one that works. The only real problem is when something in the schedule forces me off. I've been modifying it heavily this last week. It's full of if-else statements now, lol. I might just end up putting it in an app to command me what to do, based on the daily situation.

muzani 9y ago

Speaking of writing, Tim Ferriss's Tools of Titans interviews writers heavily. A very consistent pattern is that they do work late at night or morning and often with some kind of music repetitively running or meditation. A lot of them also procrastinate heavily, some even making it a routine to procrastinate half the day, feel guilty, then use the guilt to channel energy into their work. Learning this made me question my disciplined attempts and wonder whether it's really possible to be productive without binging. It doesn't help that YC programmers are notorious for working really hard for really long hours.