7 ms·

my money's on him spending an hour or two every morning or evening, when the family are still in bed. I've learned recently how much more productive you can be

my money's on him spending an hour or two every morning or evening, when the family are still in bed. I've learned recently how much more productive you can be by spending small time consistently compared to large time inconsistently (ie starting new projects full of excitement).

tbrock 8y ago
It takes me an hour to even ramp up with all the context for anything of value... color me impressed.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  I'm fairly new to this process myself but I'm finding the trick is to keep your designs extremely clean and easy to mentally model using types you can reason about. Then your software's features can emerge as interactions between "systems". That way (along with many other benefits) there's less to remember as you start coding. I find this post from the other day explains the principle better than I can: https://danshumway.com/blog/design-is-implementation/ https://danshumway.com/blog/design-is-implementation/ [edit] not that that is necessarily how Fogleman does it. It just helps me.
- laumars 8y ago
  As someone who also does side projects with 2 young kids, all I can say is you get used to optimising your free time. You might be working through a problem while you sterilise bottles or other chores so that once you're sat down in front of your code editor, you can hit the ground running. A few tricks I've found: * Don't commit stuff to memory. Write notes, eg use githubs issue tracker. So you spend less time retracing your steps * Get used to working without spending half an hour restoring your environment. Whether that means you just Dev in a simple environment or use an IDE which supports workspaces, or you just sleep / hybenate your PC each night. Essentially you want to maximize your device time. To that end it also helps to rationalise your codes directory and class structure. It's a bit like working on projects with larger teams, because you cannot guarantee how much you'll remember (nor even how awake and switched on) when you next get dev time you then have to treat each next session as if you're handing over a project That all said, be flexible too. I break the above rules as often as I follow them. Sometimes I curse myself for it but sometimes it's just not practical to follow a process (time constraints or whatever).
ryandrake 8y ago
Having a daughter helped me to learn how to be productive in 15 minute chunks, rather than needing a block of hours to “get into the zone.” It’s a skill like any other—learning to work productively without the zone. This is probably also why open offices and a afternoon peppered with meetings doesn’t bother me. I don’t need 30 minutes of quiet just to ramp up and start working on something. Thanks, fatherhood!
- dman 8y ago
  Any tips on how to do this, as a new parent I am currently struggling to go from my mindset of needing to get "in the zone" and its been a very hard transition.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    I wish I could give you a formula. It’s mostly aimed at eliminating distractions and keeping problems fresh in your mind. Some things that help: No phone notifications, put it on mute or better yet leave it in another room. I turn my phone completely off when I get home from RealWork. Don’t open your web browser (no distractions). Bare, dedicated work desk. Headphones if in a loud environment. Keep your next problem in your head, even when away from work desk. Lots of “family time” stuff is low-mental-bandwidth. Play tag, make a pirate hat, stuff like that. I’ve always got one or two project problems I’m mulling over in a background process. Keep a pen and notebook on you to record insights while away from work desk. Sometimes I’ve got it solved while helping daughter brush her teeth and all I need to do is sit down and type it in.
    - dman 8y ago
      Thanks, this was very helpful.
  - tastyfreeze 8y ago
    Fake it until you make it. Just like any other training, you have to practice your goal of quick focus before it becomes habit. If you practice taking 30 minutes to get "in the zone" that is what your brain is going to expect. Having kids will help with fast context switching. Also, if you watch TV, stop. There is way more time to get things done if you don't watch TV.
swalsh 8y ago
My son get's up at 6am, i'd have to get up at 4am to get 2 hours of productivity in the morning.

tbrock 8y ago

It takes me an hour to even ramp up with all the context for anything of value... color me impressed.

beaconstudios 8y ago
I'm fairly new to this process myself but I'm finding the trick is to keep your designs extremely clean and easy to mentally model using types you can reason about. Then your software's features can emerge as interactions between "systems". That way (along with many other benefits) there's less to remember as you start coding. I find this post from the other day explains the principle better than I can: https://danshumway.com/blog/design-is-implementation/ https://danshumway.com/blog/design-is-implementation/ [edit] not that that is necessarily how Fogleman does it. It just helps me.
laumars 8y ago
As someone who also does side projects with 2 young kids, all I can say is you get used to optimising your free time. You might be working through a problem while you sterilise bottles or other chores so that once you're sat down in front of your code editor, you can hit the ground running. A few tricks I've found: * Don't commit stuff to memory. Write notes, eg use githubs issue tracker. So you spend less time retracing your steps * Get used to working without spending half an hour restoring your environment. Whether that means you just Dev in a simple environment or use an IDE which supports workspaces, or you just sleep / hybenate your PC each night. Essentially you want to maximize your device time. To that end it also helps to rationalise your codes directory and class structure. It's a bit like working on projects with larger teams, because you cannot guarantee how much you'll remember (nor even how awake and switched on) when you next get dev time you then have to treat each next session as if you're handing over a project That all said, be flexible too. I break the above rules as often as I follow them. Sometimes I curse myself for it but sometimes it's just not practical to follow a process (time constraints or whatever).

ryandrake 8y ago

Having a daughter helped me to learn how to be productive in 15 minute chunks, rather than needing a block of hours to “get into the zone.” It’s a skill like any other—learning to work productively without the zone. This is probably also why open offices and a afternoon peppered with meetings doesn’t bother me. I don’t need 30 minutes of quiet just to ramp up and start working on something. Thanks, fatherhood!

dman 8y ago
Any tips on how to do this, as a new parent I am currently struggling to go from my mindset of needing to get "in the zone" and its been a very hard transition.
- ryandrake 8y ago
  I wish I could give you a formula. It’s mostly aimed at eliminating distractions and keeping problems fresh in your mind. Some things that help: No phone notifications, put it on mute or better yet leave it in another room. I turn my phone completely off when I get home from RealWork. Don’t open your web browser (no distractions). Bare, dedicated work desk. Headphones if in a loud environment. Keep your next problem in your head, even when away from work desk. Lots of “family time” stuff is low-mental-bandwidth. Play tag, make a pirate hat, stuff like that. I’ve always got one or two project problems I’m mulling over in a background process. Keep a pen and notebook on you to record insights while away from work desk. Sometimes I’ve got it solved while helping daughter brush her teeth and all I need to do is sit down and type it in.
  - dman 8y ago
    Thanks, this was very helpful.
- tastyfreeze 8y ago
  Fake it until you make it. Just like any other training, you have to practice your goal of quick focus before it becomes habit. If you practice taking 30 minutes to get "in the zone" that is what your brain is going to expect. Having kids will help with fast context switching. Also, if you watch TV, stop. There is way more time to get things done if you don't watch TV.

swalsh 8y ago

My son get's up at 6am, i'd have to get up at 4am to get 2 hours of productivity in the morning.