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Get enough sleep every night that you wake up naturally before your alarm goes off. Drink enough water that your pee is clear. Merely not being chronically slee

Get enough sleep every night that you wake up naturally before your alarm goes off. Drink enough water that your pee is clear. Merely not being chronically sleep deprived or dehydrated greatly improves every aspect of productivity, learning capacity, and subjective experience. Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020. Take regular walks and use that time to think. There is something about a steady walk that seems to improve problem solving, especially for more abstract/creative things. When working, put the cell phone out of view and out of reach. It's too easy to subconsciously pick it up and start scrolling a feed before realizing focus had been broken.

znpy 6y ago
I agree on the multiple displays point. However, keep in mind that the 16:9 aspect ratio is better suited for movie watching and somehow the whole industry (except for Apple, and Dell also seems to have picked that up in its latest XPS line) uses that, even in professional settings. 16:10 is way better. 1920x1200 displays do exist and I recommend that. Used ones are a bit more expensive than used 1920x1080. I'll forever miss the 1400x1050 display that I had on my ThinkPad T42. It was awesome for displaying content vertically (think code and/or documents).
- yummypaint 6y ago
  Yeah, i miss the days of 4:3 displays on laptops. This reminds me one of my favorite things to do with 2x 1080p monitors is orient one of them vertically. It works great for documents and code.
  - rightbyte 6y ago
    4:3 is underrated. I was watching Star Trek the other day and realized it is easier to focus on a square screen. I wonder if the widescreen era was driven by some technical detail in ease of manufacturing.
    - spanhandler 6y ago
      AFAIK the "widescreen era" of computer monitors has been driven by TV screens & TV screen marketing (non-tech and non-screen-nerd people just knew "HD" and maybe "1080p" meant "good screen"), which were driven by the desire to watch movies at close to full-frame, which I'd guess were driven by the need/desire to have a wide viewing area for seating-layout reasons. Early cinema, though, often used aspect ratios much closer to 4:3 than later films (they're actually really nice to watch on iPads), so the later, wider format must have evolved for some reason.
      - rightbyte 6y ago
        I guess it is easier to build cinemas with wide rather then tall screens, since the roof is just so high. Maybe it is becouse widescreens have more inches diagonaly for the same area as 4:3 that there was a push for consumer TVs with widescreen?
- kxrm 6y ago
  Add to that list 3:2 displays. Surface devices have been using this ratio since Surface 3. [1] Now it's the only device that appeals to me because the ratio feels just right. I wish there were more options for ratios in the stand-alone display market. Rumor has it, Microsoft will be creating a line of Surface displays. [2] In my opinion 16:9 is unappealing for productive work. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_compar... [2] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surface-studio-monitor-2020-release-date-rumors https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surfa...
  - znpy 6y ago
    Yes indeed. I forgot about those.
- deeg 6y ago
  Help fight my ignorance: what makes 16:10 so much better? If you sat me down in front of two different monitors I doubt I could tell the difference.
  - e12e 6y ago
    I'm not so sure, I recently calculated the following: 16:9 16:10 16:10.66 (almost 3:2) 16:12 (4:3) I'm sure you can tell the difference between 16:12 (old TV) and 16:9 (widescreen).
  - znpy 6y ago
    Vertical screen real estate. Think about it: when you're writing code or working in a shell or reviewing a configuration file or working on a word document you'll probably use vertical space more than horizontal space.
    - ak217 6y ago
      Consider rotating your monitor to vertical instead. On the desktop, I always have one or both of my monitors vertical.
      - znpy 6y ago
        Can't do that on the laptop!
  - sp332 6y ago
    It's a bigger difference than it sounds, because the space taken by the taskbar and window chrome are fixed. So the extra pixels go directly to your vertical scroll area.
    - vladvasiliu 6y ago
      I also like hiding the dock and the menu bar on macos. On linux I like using a 4k display at 100%. I don't really care about window chrome, icons, etc. I care about text and mainly use a text editor, terminal and browser. They all allow me to set the text size. This way I get the best of both worlds: unobtrusive window chrome and legible text. This works great on a 24" display.
- pmontra 6y ago
  I visited a factory (kind of) a few days ago. I saw an old HP laptop (6xxx model) running Windows XP and controlling some machines. It's as wide as my laptop, the bezel not much larger and the display area definitely bigger because it was almost square. Too bad for the low screen resolution. I'd love that form factor again.
- heliodor 6y ago
  Works great when you spend a lot of time in a code editor with a file navigation pane on the left fourth of the screen. Keeps the code in the center so you don't have to look to the left all day.
badrabbit 6y ago
Getting better now but for me I am lucky if I get 2hrs sleep before a workday. I can lay in bed trying to sleep for 12 hours and it's just horrible, brain won't turn off. Pills do help,but either the dosage is too weak or strong enough to make you grogy or moody when you get up,defeating the whole purpose.
- joeberon 6y ago
  Have you tried mindfulness?
  - czbond 6y ago
    Or vigorous excercise - for me I have enough energy that if my body is not tired, I don't sleep.
- newsbinator 6y ago
  Probably not the problem in your case, but in my case taking a single Magnesium/Zinc pill about an hour before bed became the 75% solution.
  - 0-_-0 6y ago
    +1, Everyone should try ZMA first if they can't sleep. Then tryptophane or GABA or 5-HTP or melatonin.
- esperent 6y ago
  Have you tried diphenhydramine? It helps me a lot work occasional insomnia and I never feel groggy the next day. I also started taking 1mg melatonin an hour before I want to sleep. That works wonders for me. https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... ... and, umm, mindfulness, I guess.
  - newsbinator 6y ago
    For those people who feel groggy or nauseous/headachy in the morning after Melatonin, try taking 0.3mg. You might find it has the same effect with less pronounced side effects. (I am not a doctor)
scandox 6y ago
I think multiple monitors is not a universal thing. I can't concentrate with more than one monitor. Tiling wm works better for me. At every moment I am only focused on one thing.
- newsbinator 6y ago
  I'm the same. A company I worked for tried to buy me multiple large monitors of my choice, and couldn't understand how I can do front-end comfortably on a 13" MacBook Pro screen.
- ubercow13 6y ago
  Yeah, I would rather have software perform the task of switching my focus between windows than my neck.
- chris_st 6y ago
  I used two 24" monitors at work for years, and thought it was fantastic. But at home, I only have one 27" iMac, and it's more than enough... tried two for a while, and it just didn't help.
  - vladvasiliu 6y ago
    I think the 27" is in a sweet spot. Big enough to be able to display several things (2 editor columns + docs + console for example) but not too big so that it's not visible all at once. Now if it would be possible to get a 27" 5k screen like the new imacs, that would be absolutely great. Same "actual resolution" as the older 27" but with much sharper text.
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    I use a 48" monitor that lets me have 4 to 8 zones pretty easily, usually the bottom two get the most attention but the top comes in handy when monitoring something or keeping up on stonks.
- ralphc 6y ago
  I like multiple monitors when you have two of the same size and vertical resolution next to each other at the same height. Having the mouse cursor jump I find to be distracting. On a laptop I usually stick to the one "monitor".
stepbeek 6y ago
Great advice! Addendum: if you feel shitty don't always presume it to be lifestyle related. Get blood tests and confirm.
- violetgarden 6y ago
  Good addendum! I didn’t think anything of being tired all the time. Even though it’s silly, the jokes about adult life being tiring and all the “but first, coffee” things really made me feel like being tired was just a normal byproduct of being grown up. Nope! I was just anemic to the point the doctor was recommending blood transfusions to me, so I could get back to normal. Oh my gosh! I don’t basically army crawl from the door to the couch when I get home because I am so tired anymore.
  - ccmcarey 6y ago
    Yep. Also simple vitamin deficiencies can cause massive energy/mood issues.
    - kundiis 6y ago
      Spot on. I experienced elevated stress and only when felt lightheaded, Dr suspected B12 deficiency.
  - dominotw 6y ago
    did you feel better after you fixed it?
    - violetgarden 6y ago
      Much much better! I have a lot more energy. There were times that I was so tired at work, I would go in the bathroom and lay my head on the toilet paper dispenser for a moment. I was just so desperate. I felt like I took Benadryl. Looking back, it’s obvious that isn’t normal behavior. But yes, now I can stay awake for a normal amount of time. Such an easy fix, but what a difference.
chrisseaton 6y ago
> Drink enough water that your pee is clear. A lot of doctors and health professionals will say that this is bad advice and that it encourages people to obsessively flush electrolytes and minerals out of their bodies.
- esperent 6y ago
  > A lot of doctors Which doctors, specifically?
  - spurgu 6y ago
    Read the books, read the manuals.
  - frereubu 6y ago
    Clear is not necessary. Here's a reference for you: a professor of urology in the NHS who says "If it’s yellow it’s quite concentrated, if it’s white or just white or pale then it’s fine." So, pale is fine, yellow is not. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036v9hq https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036v9hq
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Doctors I've spoken with. Do you want their names and phone numbers or something? What are you expecting me to say here?
    - edoceo 6y ago
      Some reference material would be good. Article? Research? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=too+much+water+electrolytes https://duckduckgo.com/?q=too+much+water+electrolytes These results seem to indicate one has to drink a lot - not just enough for clear pee
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        I don't know what their references are or what articles they've read. But it's not hard to find warnings: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/... > Drinking water is vital for your health, so make sure you drink enough fluids. But don't overdo it. Thirst and the color of your urine are usually the best indications of how much water you need. If you're not thirsty and your urine is pale yellow, you are likely getting enough water. You see it all the time - young people drinking eight litres of water over an hour or something stupid like that during arduous physical activity because they think they should 'drink until their pee is clear', then wondering they their legs don't work anymore.
leugim 6y ago
"Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020." No. My productivity is much better with just one monitor.
- zimpenfish 6y ago
  Same, at least thus far. It always ends with annoyance caused by fighting over window management and task switching which hampers productivity.
  - dkersten 6y ago
    I never understood why people struggle with window management, but then again, my primary setup is to use a tiling window manager where I either keep a single full screen window in a workspace or a very simple side by side split, or 1x2 split or 2x2 split as appropriate. Possibly one hovering window that I call up/hide on demand. And then I just keyboard shortcut between workspaces. For multi monitor, I dedicate some workspaces to each monitor (and occasionally move windows between then if needed, but it’s not so often). It’s easy to switch between workspaces because I dedicate them to specific tasks, eg 0 is messaging applications, 6 is my IDE, 7 is browser I use for development (dev tools open tiled beside the browser), 8 is terminals etc More monitors just mean some workspaces are switched between by moving my head instead of switching what’s on screen. For some tasks it’s easier for others it’s not. I do find a larger higher resolution monitor more useful than having two or three small ones, especially for my IDE where I have splits and such. I use a 34” 1440p currently but would love to go larger/higher resolution (but 4K at those sizes is out of my budget right now)
    - zimpenfish 6y ago
      > I either keep a single full screen window Pretty much what I do with my single screen. Probably down to being a contractor for a long time and never knowing from one day to the next if I even had a desk to sit at, never mind a monitor or two.
    - 6y ago
gameswithgo 6y ago
drinking water till pee is clear is total nonsense. drink when thirsty.
- dencodev 6y ago
  There are known benefits to drinking at least 2L a day, which is hard for most people who don't make any effort to drink even when not thirsty
- grugagag 6y ago
  Not sure about best pee color but I know for a fact that I am less hydrated because I don’t get thirsty often. I have to impose on myself to drink water otherwise I drink a glass of water a day.
- wogong 6y ago
  It is too late to drink when you feel thirsty.
- elbear 6y ago
  The problem is that it's very easy to get distracted or engrossed in work and not register in your consciousness the signal of thirst.
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    yeah that's me, I have workrave going in the background at at my hourly reminders to get up and move, I'll grab some water and stretch my legs. Colleagues always offering coffee in the breakroom :)
- 0-_-0 6y ago
  I can get quite dehydrated before I get thirsty. So now when I get a headache I drink a lot of water and it usually helps.
iamacyborg 6y ago
> Drink enough water that your pee is clear This would give my GCSE Chemistry teacher apoplexy. Clear is not a colour.
- tlarkworthy 6y ago
  "is" has nothing to do with colors, e.g. pee is hot.
- thesuperbigfrog 6y ago
  "clear" == "transparent" == "colorless" If your urine stream has much color, you are dehydrated or perhaps sick: https://media.healthdirect.org.au/images/inline/original/urine-colour-chart-v2-f6dbb5.png https://media.healthdirect.org.au/images/inline/original/uri...
  - iamacyborg 6y ago
    Clarity is to do with opacity, not colour. See also how diamonds are graded by colour and clarity.
    - Smaug123 6y ago
      May I ask what you hoped to accomplish here? a) the parent comment didn't ever mention colour, and b) is there any possible ambiguity - even a fleeting moment of confusion - that any reader of the parent might have experienced?
      - iamacyborg 6y ago
        > "clear" == "transparent" == "colorless" Pretty clearly talks about colour. Yes, there's plenty of confusion, given "clear" is not a colour. Your urine can be perfectly clear while still being yellow.
jasode 6y ago
>Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. I used to believe this but not anymore. Way back in 2007, I spent $2500 for 2 Samsung 30" 2560x1600 monitors ($1250 each). I envisioned a massive productivity increase with scenarios such as: - email inbox one screen with main "task" window on another screen - video tutorial (e.g. Photoshop training) on one screen while following along on Photoshop on the main screen - debugger on one window with the code output on another screen Eliminating all the Alt-Tab window switching would be supposedly be gone. That was the theory. The problem is that I didn't realize that my eyes hated having these giant lightbulbs in my peripheral vision. It was uncomfortable enough that I often powered off 1 monitor which negated the point of multiple monitors. The other thing I didn't like was the extra heat 2 monitors would add to the room. I went back to 1 monitor and Alt-Tab is minimized if the single monitor is big enough (at least 27") to have multiple windows of reasonable size. For me to go back to multiple monitors, I'd need the "wing" screens to be color e-ink panels[0] so that they don't act as bright flashlights in my peripheral vision. I recognize the productivity benefits of multiple monitors -- especially for "dashboard" and monitoring[1] such as stock trading, devops IT corporate/cloud systems monitoring, SpaceX rocket launch monitoring, etc. Having your peripheral vision notice an abnormal activity is useful in those scenarios. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=e-ink+panel+&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=e-ink+panel+&tbm=isch [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=multiple+monitors+trading&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=multiple+monitors+trading&tb...
- WaltPurvis 6y ago
  I too don't like lots of bright windows/monitors in my peripheral vision. On macOS, a utility called HazeOver makes working with three monitors much nicer. https://hazeover.com/ https://hazeover.com/
  - e40 6y ago
    What if you routinely want to look at multiple windows? Can you easily choose which windows are not dimmed of the many on your desktop?
    - 6y ago
balfirevic 6y ago
> When working, put the cell phone out of view and out of reach. It's too easy to subconsciously pick it up and start scrolling a feed before realizing focus had been broken. Do people not use social networks on their computers? It's as easy for me (easier actually) to subconsciously open HN on a computer, unless it's blocked somehow.
- edoceo 6y ago
  I only social on my phone. So. Placing it by the door of my office, out of reach is effective for me.
- clinta 6y ago
  That struck me as odd too. I never pick up my phone when I have my computer in front of me. Everything my phone does, my computer can do better, including taking and making calls and texts via google voice.
  - kungtotte 6y ago
    I'd hazard to guess that most people have notifications turned on on their phones and typically not on their computer. Take Facebook as an example. Your phone will ding on FB updates or incoming messages on Messenger, even when the phone isn't actively being used. On a computer you need to have a browser open and have Facebook opened in a tab for it to give you any notifications. So it's easier to avoid on your desktop than on your phone.
- addled 6y ago
  Most of my computer time is spent on my work-issued laptop. I try to avoid anything social/personal on work machines.
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    this is why I ssh tunnel/VNC to my home PC. I suppose they could be key logging or screen capturing, but if they're doing that on my work laptop I don't want to be there anyway so I don't worry about it, but there is no browser history there at all.
manjalyc 6y ago
> Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. Maybe some people benefit from this but I’ve always found it distracting and in some cases a bit annoying. I’ve always preferred simply having multiple desktops and switching between them instantly with a keystroke which is great in most Linux DEs/WMs but a terrible experience in Windows. It’s gotten to a point where even though I have 2 displays, I just turn one off 99% of the time.
- fortran77 6y ago
  I can toggle between virtual desktops with a keystroke in Windows, too! I have mine set to CTRL-WINDOWS-arrow. Let me know what you're having trouble with and I can help you get Windows 10 set up the way you want.
  - _Microft 6y ago
    This either works out of the box or it is something that PowerToys added (which I have installed, so I do not know for sure). Also very useful: the windows-key shortcut overview that the PowerToys added (keep the windows-keypressed for a second or two to bring it up).
  - smoe 6y ago
    Could you give me some pointers how to setup virtual desktops and tiled windows that are completely keyboard controllable? I only use W10 as a secondary OS and never used windows as main since XP/2000. So far never got to dig deeper into this. It seems to me that out of the box a lot of the functionality is there, but there are also a lot of related third party (often paid) tools. What are some good combination of tools (third party, paid or not) and settings for a more keyboard centric i guess you could call it, setup of Windows? At the moment to me it feels a bit like, that I could do everything with just keyboard but I'm not meant to.
    - Woberto 6y ago
      WINDOWS+arrow will tile the current window and give the opportunity to tile other windows next to it
marban 6y ago
You should revisit your clear pee theory. Clear all the time means you've consumed way too much water and you're probably low on electrolytes.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago
  If you're eating food then you're fine. The US military tells everyone to drink water until your piss is clear. "Hydration charts"
  - brianwawok 6y ago
    The military has like an hour of exercise a day, no? If you are walking 10 feet to a car and driving to site in a cube all day, I don’t think you have the same hydration needs as someone physically exerting themselves.
    - PopeDotNinja 6y ago
      I think the point was that if you exercise a lot, eat enough, and drink yourself to clear pee, you still get enough electrolytes. So a less strenuous plan with enough food presumably also means one gets enough electrolytes.
      - marban 6y ago
        You'll still be low on Magnesium if you sweat and perform for 60min+ — which leads to stuff like restless legs and rather bad sleep.
  - torstenvl 6y ago
    The U.S. military does not have any uniform guidance on this. The Navy and Marine Corps official guidance is that urine should be lightly straw-colored. Hyponatremia is warned against just as strongly as dehydration.
- jordan801 6y ago
  The average sedentary individual is way more likely to be dehydrated. Physical exertion is going to deplete both hydration and salts, via sweat. I am a runner and a weight lifter and a former Sergeant in the army. Dehydration is overwhelmingly more frequent than electrolyte depletion. Even when there's no physical exertion involved.
Pandabob 6y ago
The walking bit resonates a lot. Feels therapeutic to go for a walk and let my mind wander after a day of work.
MrQuincle 6y ago
Watch challenging clips or lectures. I had feedback on my thesis on nonparametric Bayesian methods and started two days ago watching lectures on topology and convergence. It somehow unlocked concepts that made it much easier to grog the feedback, even though it was not directly related.
- antman 6y ago
  Any lectures you would suggest?
  - MrQuincle 6y ago
    The topology one I mentioned is from Jack Nathan. I also liked the lectures on convex optimization by Stephen Boyd a lot. Steve Brunton on Fourier analysis. It's all very subjective of course. Andrew Ng would be mentioned by most and I've watch the series as well, but I find that suddenly I'm intrigued by a mathematical field via some connection I didn't make before. For example, I experiment with auto-encoders, then I read some papers on using the Wasserstein distance as a metric. Subsequently, I'm watching clips and lectures on optimal transport. The nice thing about math is that it's so self-motivating to me. The more I learn, the more I want to know. I don't know, maybe it's a type of addiction.
hamandcheese 6y ago
> Take regular walks and use that time to think. There is something about a steady walk that seems to improve problem solving, especially for more abstract/creative things. When I’m thinking really hard about something, I _have_ to pace back and forth. I’m not sure that walking will make me think harder, but I’m sure it can’t hurt.
tomduncalf 6y ago
Regular walks is such a big one for me. When I realised how often the solution to a problem I was trying to solve would come to me even if I just went for a ten minute walk round the block and thought about something else for a minute, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done it before! It’s now my default thing to do if I am struggling with a problem or just feeling slightly unfocused, even if it’s raining - I’m fortunate that my office pre-lockdown was on the ground floor, and my apartment has a large enough balcony that now I tend to pace up and down there rather than mess around locking up and going downstairs etc. I can see how having a lift to wait for etc. might make me less keen to do this all the time, but seriously, try it! (It’s good for you too :))
ThomPete 6y ago
or get big widescreen monitors they are great
RaceWon 6y ago
> Get enough sleep every... All good advice. You missed one though: get your ass into shape. You need to be doing strenuous exercise. The difference this will make in life can not be explained, it can only be experienced... just like The Matrix if you will.
- balfirevic 6y ago
  YMMV. It does nothing for me (in terms of how I feel during the day or the quality of my sleep), although I do it because I enjoy sports and having better cardio and being stronger helps (and I look better).
  - marnett 6y ago
    Does nothing compared to when? Were you previously obese?
    - balfirevic 6y ago
      Compared to when I was out of shape (much weaker and no cardio to speak of). But I was never obese, I was rather too thin.
  - mettamage 6y ago
    In my experience, one set of exercise is akin to 2 cups of coffee in terms of wakefulness/alertness. I'm sensitive to caffeine. So by that I mean 2 cups of coffee as someone who's sensitive to caffeine. Also, with 1 set of exercise you won't really start to sweat and you can do it every day.
    - balfirevic 6y ago
      What counts as "1 set of exercise"? I've never thought about exercising that way.
      - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
hardwaregeek 6y ago
Diet is another big factor. Try to eat more vegetables, less carbs and less meat. Especially mid-day. If you don't like vegetables, figure out how to cook them better.
- symlinkk 6y ago
  How exactly does that help? You’re saying a low calorie, low protein, low carb diet makes you feel better? Where are you getting your energy from then?
  - stevesimmons 6y ago
    You get more than enough energy from eating sensible, healthy food. Protein doesn't just have to come from large serves of meat! Here is how my partner and I ate for the last five months of working from home: * Eat more veggies and salad, more beans and legumes, some fruit. * Eat much less bread and pasta. Cut out most sugar and fruit juice. * Make 1/3 of your dinners vegetarian, and split the other 2/3 between chicken/turkey and fish. Eat little red meat. * Have dessert as a treat twice a week. * Evaluate portion sizes. You probably will be perfectly happy only eating 2/3 as much for your evening meal. * Realize that most snacking between meals is because you really want a small break from work, not because you are actually hungry. In combination with regular running, I have never felt fitter or been in better shape.
    - Eugeleo 6y ago
      I’d call this a “rational” diet; unfortunately, most of the diet plans I find on reputable sources are for “constrained” people (vegans, vegetarians, or people that are allergic to something). Being unconstrained, I’d assume I’d have an easier time finding a sensible diet that has all the nutrients and energy I need while being reasonably eco-friendly and wouldn’t break the bank, but that’s not my experience. Would you recommend any sources that I could use to build such a diet plan? Why do I ask for some reputable sources? My attempt to build a plan according to my “common sense” (similar to your advice actually: dropping most of red meat, eating more legumes etc) lead to me developing hypotension and iron-deficiency; of course I can adjust the diet now I know this, but I’d rather do it the proper way this time.
csdreamer7 6y ago
It gets old quickly. If you are following a coding tutorial; you need to alt-tab back and forth from browser, terminal, and editor. If you an have an issue you may do it ten times before finding an issue which breaks flow. Much better use of your time to stay focus and just glance at the second monitor. Same with research and an office suite.
georgewsinger 6y ago
> Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020. If this is your cup of tea, I recommend checking out VR Desktop style workflows (arguably a good way to experience "working in The Future™", with infinite screens, customizable environments, etc). Here is one for Linux that we've been working on for a few years: https://github.com/SimulaVR/Simula https://github.com/SimulaVR/Simula
m463 6y ago
caveat - multiple monitors are NOT ergonomic. You really want one monitor, properly positioned forward of you. You should have a keyboard at the appropriate height with a wrist rest to support and angle your wrists (also make it warm - not cold plastic or metal). Your seating should allow you to sit up or slightly reclined. Your head should be balanced on top of your neck, you shouldn't be hunched or twisted. laptops - well, let's just say NO laptop is osha approved.
- rriepe 6y ago
  This is assuming you're sitting in the exact same position all day long. With a laptop you don't have to assume that.
  - m463 6y ago
    > With a laptop you don't have to assume that. bed, right? If you are coding in bed, well... I just don't know the ergonomics of that situation. I don't know if this requires further study or a prompt curtailment of that line of thought.
    - rriepe 6y ago
      It's great. The key is to get one of those bendy-leg laptop stands. That solves all the ergonomic angle problems, keeps it from getting hot on the bed, and lets you use it a little table.

znpy 6y ago

I agree on the multiple displays point. However, keep in mind that the 16:9 aspect ratio is better suited for movie watching and somehow the whole industry (except for Apple, and Dell also seems to have picked that up in its latest XPS line) uses that, even in professional settings. 16:10 is way better. 1920x1200 displays do exist and I recommend that. Used ones are a bit more expensive than used 1920x1080. I'll forever miss the 1400x1050 display that I had on my ThinkPad T42. It was awesome for displaying content vertically (think code and/or documents).

yummypaint 6y ago
Yeah, i miss the days of 4:3 displays on laptops. This reminds me one of my favorite things to do with 2x 1080p monitors is orient one of them vertically. It works great for documents and code.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  4:3 is underrated. I was watching Star Trek the other day and realized it is easier to focus on a square screen. I wonder if the widescreen era was driven by some technical detail in ease of manufacturing.
  - spanhandler 6y ago
    AFAIK the "widescreen era" of computer monitors has been driven by TV screens & TV screen marketing (non-tech and non-screen-nerd people just knew "HD" and maybe "1080p" meant "good screen"), which were driven by the desire to watch movies at close to full-frame, which I'd guess were driven by the need/desire to have a wide viewing area for seating-layout reasons. Early cinema, though, often used aspect ratios much closer to 4:3 than later films (they're actually really nice to watch on iPads), so the later, wider format must have evolved for some reason.
    - rightbyte 6y ago
      I guess it is easier to build cinemas with wide rather then tall screens, since the roof is just so high. Maybe it is becouse widescreens have more inches diagonaly for the same area as 4:3 that there was a push for consumer TVs with widescreen?
kxrm 6y ago
Add to that list 3:2 displays. Surface devices have been using this ratio since Surface 3. [1] Now it's the only device that appeals to me because the ratio feels just right. I wish there were more options for ratios in the stand-alone display market. Rumor has it, Microsoft will be creating a line of Surface displays. [2] In my opinion 16:9 is unappealing for productive work. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_compar... [2] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surface-studio-monitor-2020-release-date-rumors https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surfa...
- znpy 6y ago
  Yes indeed. I forgot about those.
deeg 6y ago
Help fight my ignorance: what makes 16:10 so much better? If you sat me down in front of two different monitors I doubt I could tell the difference.
- e12e 6y ago
  I'm not so sure, I recently calculated the following: 16:9 16:10 16:10.66 (almost 3:2) 16:12 (4:3) I'm sure you can tell the difference between 16:12 (old TV) and 16:9 (widescreen).
- znpy 6y ago
  Vertical screen real estate. Think about it: when you're writing code or working in a shell or reviewing a configuration file or working on a word document you'll probably use vertical space more than horizontal space.
  - ak217 6y ago
    Consider rotating your monitor to vertical instead. On the desktop, I always have one or both of my monitors vertical.
    - znpy 6y ago
      Can't do that on the laptop!
- sp332 6y ago
  It's a bigger difference than it sounds, because the space taken by the taskbar and window chrome are fixed. So the extra pixels go directly to your vertical scroll area.
  - vladvasiliu 6y ago
    I also like hiding the dock and the menu bar on macos. On linux I like using a 4k display at 100%. I don't really care about window chrome, icons, etc. I care about text and mainly use a text editor, terminal and browser. They all allow me to set the text size. This way I get the best of both worlds: unobtrusive window chrome and legible text. This works great on a 24" display.
pmontra 6y ago
I visited a factory (kind of) a few days ago. I saw an old HP laptop (6xxx model) running Windows XP and controlling some machines. It's as wide as my laptop, the bezel not much larger and the display area definitely bigger because it was almost square. Too bad for the low screen resolution. I'd love that form factor again.
heliodor 6y ago
Works great when you spend a lot of time in a code editor with a file navigation pane on the left fourth of the screen. Keeps the code in the center so you don't have to look to the left all day.

badrabbit 6y ago

Getting better now but for me I am lucky if I get 2hrs sleep before a workday. I can lay in bed trying to sleep for 12 hours and it's just horrible, brain won't turn off. Pills do help,but either the dosage is too weak or strong enough to make you grogy or moody when you get up,defeating the whole purpose.

joeberon 6y ago
Have you tried mindfulness?
- czbond 6y ago
  Or vigorous excercise - for me I have enough energy that if my body is not tired, I don't sleep.
newsbinator 6y ago
Probably not the problem in your case, but in my case taking a single Magnesium/Zinc pill about an hour before bed became the 75% solution.
- 0-_-0 6y ago
  +1, Everyone should try ZMA first if they can't sleep. Then tryptophane or GABA or 5-HTP or melatonin.
esperent 6y ago
Have you tried diphenhydramine? It helps me a lot work occasional insomnia and I never feel groggy the next day. I also started taking 1mg melatonin an hour before I want to sleep. That works wonders for me. https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... ... and, umm, mindfulness, I guess.
- newsbinator 6y ago
  For those people who feel groggy or nauseous/headachy in the morning after Melatonin, try taking 0.3mg. You might find it has the same effect with less pronounced side effects. (I am not a doctor)

scandox 6y ago

I think multiple monitors is not a universal thing. I can't concentrate with more than one monitor. Tiling wm works better for me. At every moment I am only focused on one thing.

newsbinator 6y ago
I'm the same. A company I worked for tried to buy me multiple large monitors of my choice, and couldn't understand how I can do front-end comfortably on a 13" MacBook Pro screen.
ubercow13 6y ago
Yeah, I would rather have software perform the task of switching my focus between windows than my neck.
chris_st 6y ago
I used two 24" monitors at work for years, and thought it was fantastic. But at home, I only have one 27" iMac, and it's more than enough... tried two for a while, and it just didn't help.
- vladvasiliu 6y ago
  I think the 27" is in a sweet spot. Big enough to be able to display several things (2 editor columns + docs + console for example) but not too big so that it's not visible all at once. Now if it would be possible to get a 27" 5k screen like the new imacs, that would be absolutely great. Same "actual resolution" as the older 27" but with much sharper text.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  I use a 48" monitor that lets me have 4 to 8 zones pretty easily, usually the bottom two get the most attention but the top comes in handy when monitoring something or keeping up on stonks.
ralphc 6y ago
I like multiple monitors when you have two of the same size and vertical resolution next to each other at the same height. Having the mouse cursor jump I find to be distracting. On a laptop I usually stick to the one "monitor".

stepbeek 6y ago

Great advice! Addendum: if you feel shitty don't always presume it to be lifestyle related. Get blood tests and confirm.

violetgarden 6y ago
Good addendum! I didn’t think anything of being tired all the time. Even though it’s silly, the jokes about adult life being tiring and all the “but first, coffee” things really made me feel like being tired was just a normal byproduct of being grown up. Nope! I was just anemic to the point the doctor was recommending blood transfusions to me, so I could get back to normal. Oh my gosh! I don’t basically army crawl from the door to the couch when I get home because I am so tired anymore.
- ccmcarey 6y ago
  Yep. Also simple vitamin deficiencies can cause massive energy/mood issues.
  - kundiis 6y ago
    Spot on. I experienced elevated stress and only when felt lightheaded, Dr suspected B12 deficiency.
- dominotw 6y ago
  did you feel better after you fixed it?
  - violetgarden 6y ago
    Much much better! I have a lot more energy. There were times that I was so tired at work, I would go in the bathroom and lay my head on the toilet paper dispenser for a moment. I was just so desperate. I felt like I took Benadryl. Looking back, it’s obvious that isn’t normal behavior. But yes, now I can stay awake for a normal amount of time. Such an easy fix, but what a difference.

chrisseaton 6y ago

> Drink enough water that your pee is clear. A lot of doctors and health professionals will say that this is bad advice and that it encourages people to obsessively flush electrolytes and minerals out of their bodies.

esperent 6y ago
> A lot of doctors Which doctors, specifically?
- spurgu 6y ago
  Read the books, read the manuals.
- frereubu 6y ago
  Clear is not necessary. Here's a reference for you: a professor of urology in the NHS who says "If it’s yellow it’s quite concentrated, if it’s white or just white or pale then it’s fine." So, pale is fine, yellow is not. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036v9hq https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036v9hq
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Doctors I've spoken with. Do you want their names and phone numbers or something? What are you expecting me to say here?
  - edoceo 6y ago
    Some reference material would be good. Article? Research? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=too+much+water+electrolytes https://duckduckgo.com/?q=too+much+water+electrolytes These results seem to indicate one has to drink a lot - not just enough for clear pee
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      I don't know what their references are or what articles they've read. But it's not hard to find warnings: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/... > Drinking water is vital for your health, so make sure you drink enough fluids. But don't overdo it. Thirst and the color of your urine are usually the best indications of how much water you need. If you're not thirsty and your urine is pale yellow, you are likely getting enough water. You see it all the time - young people drinking eight litres of water over an hour or something stupid like that during arduous physical activity because they think they should 'drink until their pee is clear', then wondering they their legs don't work anymore.

leugim 6y ago

"Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020." No. My productivity is much better with just one monitor.

zimpenfish 6y ago
Same, at least thus far. It always ends with annoyance caused by fighting over window management and task switching which hampers productivity.
- dkersten 6y ago
  I never understood why people struggle with window management, but then again, my primary setup is to use a tiling window manager where I either keep a single full screen window in a workspace or a very simple side by side split, or 1x2 split or 2x2 split as appropriate. Possibly one hovering window that I call up/hide on demand. And then I just keyboard shortcut between workspaces. For multi monitor, I dedicate some workspaces to each monitor (and occasionally move windows between then if needed, but it’s not so often). It’s easy to switch between workspaces because I dedicate them to specific tasks, eg 0 is messaging applications, 6 is my IDE, 7 is browser I use for development (dev tools open tiled beside the browser), 8 is terminals etc More monitors just mean some workspaces are switched between by moving my head instead of switching what’s on screen. For some tasks it’s easier for others it’s not. I do find a larger higher resolution monitor more useful than having two or three small ones, especially for my IDE where I have splits and such. I use a 34” 1440p currently but would love to go larger/higher resolution (but 4K at those sizes is out of my budget right now)
  - zimpenfish 6y ago
    > I either keep a single full screen window Pretty much what I do with my single screen. Probably down to being a contractor for a long time and never knowing from one day to the next if I even had a desk to sit at, never mind a monitor or two.
  - 6y ago

gameswithgo 6y ago

drinking water till pee is clear is total nonsense. drink when thirsty.

dencodev 6y ago
There are known benefits to drinking at least 2L a day, which is hard for most people who don't make any effort to drink even when not thirsty
grugagag 6y ago
Not sure about best pee color but I know for a fact that I am less hydrated because I don’t get thirsty often. I have to impose on myself to drink water otherwise I drink a glass of water a day.
wogong 6y ago
It is too late to drink when you feel thirsty.
elbear 6y ago
The problem is that it's very easy to get distracted or engrossed in work and not register in your consciousness the signal of thirst.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  yeah that's me, I have workrave going in the background at at my hourly reminders to get up and move, I'll grab some water and stretch my legs. Colleagues always offering coffee in the breakroom :)
0-_-0 6y ago
I can get quite dehydrated before I get thirsty. So now when I get a headache I drink a lot of water and it usually helps.

iamacyborg 6y ago

> Drink enough water that your pee is clear This would give my GCSE Chemistry teacher apoplexy. Clear is not a colour.

tlarkworthy 6y ago
"is" has nothing to do with colors, e.g. pee is hot.
thesuperbigfrog 6y ago
"clear" == "transparent" == "colorless" If your urine stream has much color, you are dehydrated or perhaps sick: https://media.healthdirect.org.au/images/inline/original/urine-colour-chart-v2-f6dbb5.png https://media.healthdirect.org.au/images/inline/original/uri...
- iamacyborg 6y ago
  Clarity is to do with opacity, not colour. See also how diamonds are graded by colour and clarity.
  - Smaug123 6y ago
    May I ask what you hoped to accomplish here? a) the parent comment didn't ever mention colour, and b) is there any possible ambiguity - even a fleeting moment of confusion - that any reader of the parent might have experienced?
    - iamacyborg 6y ago
      > "clear" == "transparent" == "colorless" Pretty clearly talks about colour. Yes, there's plenty of confusion, given "clear" is not a colour. Your urine can be perfectly clear while still being yellow.

jasode 6y ago

>Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. I used to believe this but not anymore. Way back in 2007, I spent $2500 for 2 Samsung 30" 2560x1600 monitors ($1250 each). I envisioned a massive productivity increase with scenarios such as: - email inbox one screen with main "task" window on another screen - video tutorial (e.g. Photoshop training) on one screen while following along on Photoshop on the main screen - debugger on one window with the code output on another screen Eliminating all the Alt-Tab window switching would be supposedly be gone. That was the theory. The problem is that I didn't realize that my eyes hated having these giant lightbulbs in my peripheral vision. It was uncomfortable enough that I often powered off 1 monitor which negated the point of multiple monitors. The other thing I didn't like was the extra heat 2 monitors would add to the room. I went back to 1 monitor and Alt-Tab is minimized if the single monitor is big enough (at least 27") to have multiple windows of reasonable size. For me to go back to multiple monitors, I'd need the "wing" screens to be color e-ink panels[0] so that they don't act as bright flashlights in my peripheral vision. I recognize the productivity benefits of multiple monitors -- especially for "dashboard" and monitoring[1] such as stock trading, devops IT corporate/cloud systems monitoring, SpaceX rocket launch monitoring, etc. Having your peripheral vision notice an abnormal activity is useful in those scenarios. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=e-ink+panel+&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=e-ink+panel+&tbm=isch [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=multiple+monitors+trading&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=multiple+monitors+trading&tb...

WaltPurvis 6y ago
I too don't like lots of bright windows/monitors in my peripheral vision. On macOS, a utility called HazeOver makes working with three monitors much nicer. https://hazeover.com/ https://hazeover.com/
- e40 6y ago
  What if you routinely want to look at multiple windows? Can you easily choose which windows are not dimmed of the many on your desktop?
  - 6y ago

balfirevic 6y ago

> When working, put the cell phone out of view and out of reach. It's too easy to subconsciously pick it up and start scrolling a feed before realizing focus had been broken. Do people not use social networks on their computers? It's as easy for me (easier actually) to subconsciously open HN on a computer, unless it's blocked somehow.

edoceo 6y ago
I only social on my phone. So. Placing it by the door of my office, out of reach is effective for me.
clinta 6y ago
That struck me as odd too. I never pick up my phone when I have my computer in front of me. Everything my phone does, my computer can do better, including taking and making calls and texts via google voice.
- kungtotte 6y ago
  I'd hazard to guess that most people have notifications turned on on their phones and typically not on their computer. Take Facebook as an example. Your phone will ding on FB updates or incoming messages on Messenger, even when the phone isn't actively being used. On a computer you need to have a browser open and have Facebook opened in a tab for it to give you any notifications. So it's easier to avoid on your desktop than on your phone.
addled 6y ago
Most of my computer time is spent on my work-issued laptop. I try to avoid anything social/personal on work machines.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  this is why I ssh tunnel/VNC to my home PC. I suppose they could be key logging or screen capturing, but if they're doing that on my work laptop I don't want to be there anyway so I don't worry about it, but there is no browser history there at all.

manjalyc 6y ago

> Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. Maybe some people benefit from this but I’ve always found it distracting and in some cases a bit annoying. I’ve always preferred simply having multiple desktops and switching between them instantly with a keystroke which is great in most Linux DEs/WMs but a terrible experience in Windows. It’s gotten to a point where even though I have 2 displays, I just turn one off 99% of the time.

fortran77 6y ago
I can toggle between virtual desktops with a keystroke in Windows, too! I have mine set to CTRL-WINDOWS-arrow. Let me know what you're having trouble with and I can help you get Windows 10 set up the way you want.
- _Microft 6y ago
  This either works out of the box or it is something that PowerToys added (which I have installed, so I do not know for sure). Also very useful: the windows-key shortcut overview that the PowerToys added (keep the windows-keypressed for a second or two to bring it up).
- smoe 6y ago
  Could you give me some pointers how to setup virtual desktops and tiled windows that are completely keyboard controllable? I only use W10 as a secondary OS and never used windows as main since XP/2000. So far never got to dig deeper into this. It seems to me that out of the box a lot of the functionality is there, but there are also a lot of related third party (often paid) tools. What are some good combination of tools (third party, paid or not) and settings for a more keyboard centric i guess you could call it, setup of Windows? At the moment to me it feels a bit like, that I could do everything with just keyboard but I'm not meant to.
  - Woberto 6y ago
    WINDOWS+arrow will tile the current window and give the opportunity to tile other windows next to it

marban 6y ago

You should revisit your clear pee theory. Clear all the time means you've consumed way too much water and you're probably low on electrolytes.

2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago
If you're eating food then you're fine. The US military tells everyone to drink water until your piss is clear. "Hydration charts"
- brianwawok 6y ago
  The military has like an hour of exercise a day, no? If you are walking 10 feet to a car and driving to site in a cube all day, I don’t think you have the same hydration needs as someone physically exerting themselves.
  - PopeDotNinja 6y ago
    I think the point was that if you exercise a lot, eat enough, and drink yourself to clear pee, you still get enough electrolytes. So a less strenuous plan with enough food presumably also means one gets enough electrolytes.
    - marban 6y ago
      You'll still be low on Magnesium if you sweat and perform for 60min+ — which leads to stuff like restless legs and rather bad sleep.
- torstenvl 6y ago
  The U.S. military does not have any uniform guidance on this. The Navy and Marine Corps official guidance is that urine should be lightly straw-colored. Hyponatremia is warned against just as strongly as dehydration.
jordan801 6y ago
The average sedentary individual is way more likely to be dehydrated. Physical exertion is going to deplete both hydration and salts, via sweat. I am a runner and a weight lifter and a former Sergeant in the army. Dehydration is overwhelmingly more frequent than electrolyte depletion. Even when there's no physical exertion involved.

Pandabob 6y ago

The walking bit resonates a lot. Feels therapeutic to go for a walk and let my mind wander after a day of work.

MrQuincle 6y ago

Watch challenging clips or lectures. I had feedback on my thesis on nonparametric Bayesian methods and started two days ago watching lectures on topology and convergence. It somehow unlocked concepts that made it much easier to grog the feedback, even though it was not directly related.

antman 6y ago
Any lectures you would suggest?
- MrQuincle 6y ago
  The topology one I mentioned is from Jack Nathan. I also liked the lectures on convex optimization by Stephen Boyd a lot. Steve Brunton on Fourier analysis. It's all very subjective of course. Andrew Ng would be mentioned by most and I've watch the series as well, but I find that suddenly I'm intrigued by a mathematical field via some connection I didn't make before. For example, I experiment with auto-encoders, then I read some papers on using the Wasserstein distance as a metric. Subsequently, I'm watching clips and lectures on optimal transport. The nice thing about math is that it's so self-motivating to me. The more I learn, the more I want to know. I don't know, maybe it's a type of addiction.

hamandcheese 6y ago

> Take regular walks and use that time to think. There is something about a steady walk that seems to improve problem solving, especially for more abstract/creative things. When I’m thinking really hard about something, I _have_ to pace back and forth. I’m not sure that walking will make me think harder, but I’m sure it can’t hurt.

tomduncalf 6y ago

Regular walks is such a big one for me. When I realised how often the solution to a problem I was trying to solve would come to me even if I just went for a ten minute walk round the block and thought about something else for a minute, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done it before! It’s now my default thing to do if I am struggling with a problem or just feeling slightly unfocused, even if it’s raining - I’m fortunate that my office pre-lockdown was on the ground floor, and my apartment has a large enough balcony that now I tend to pace up and down there rather than mess around locking up and going downstairs etc. I can see how having a lift to wait for etc. might make me less keen to do this all the time, but seriously, try it! (It’s good for you too :))

ThomPete 6y ago

or get big widescreen monitors they are great

RaceWon 6y ago

> Get enough sleep every... All good advice. You missed one though: get your ass into shape. You need to be doing strenuous exercise. The difference this will make in life can not be explained, it can only be experienced... just like The Matrix if you will.

balfirevic 6y ago
YMMV. It does nothing for me (in terms of how I feel during the day or the quality of my sleep), although I do it because I enjoy sports and having better cardio and being stronger helps (and I look better).
- marnett 6y ago
  Does nothing compared to when? Were you previously obese?
  - balfirevic 6y ago
    Compared to when I was out of shape (much weaker and no cardio to speak of). But I was never obese, I was rather too thin.
- mettamage 6y ago
  In my experience, one set of exercise is akin to 2 cups of coffee in terms of wakefulness/alertness. I'm sensitive to caffeine. So by that I mean 2 cups of coffee as someone who's sensitive to caffeine. Also, with 1 set of exercise you won't really start to sweat and you can do it every day.
  - balfirevic 6y ago
    What counts as "1 set of exercise"? I've never thought about exercising that way.
    - chordalkeyboard 6y ago

hardwaregeek 6y ago

Diet is another big factor. Try to eat more vegetables, less carbs and less meat. Especially mid-day. If you don't like vegetables, figure out how to cook them better.

symlinkk 6y ago
How exactly does that help? You’re saying a low calorie, low protein, low carb diet makes you feel better? Where are you getting your energy from then?
- stevesimmons 6y ago
  You get more than enough energy from eating sensible, healthy food. Protein doesn't just have to come from large serves of meat! Here is how my partner and I ate for the last five months of working from home: * Eat more veggies and salad, more beans and legumes, some fruit. * Eat much less bread and pasta. Cut out most sugar and fruit juice. * Make 1/3 of your dinners vegetarian, and split the other 2/3 between chicken/turkey and fish. Eat little red meat. * Have dessert as a treat twice a week. * Evaluate portion sizes. You probably will be perfectly happy only eating 2/3 as much for your evening meal. * Realize that most snacking between meals is because you really want a small break from work, not because you are actually hungry. In combination with regular running, I have never felt fitter or been in better shape.
  - Eugeleo 6y ago
    I’d call this a “rational” diet; unfortunately, most of the diet plans I find on reputable sources are for “constrained” people (vegans, vegetarians, or people that are allergic to something). Being unconstrained, I’d assume I’d have an easier time finding a sensible diet that has all the nutrients and energy I need while being reasonably eco-friendly and wouldn’t break the bank, but that’s not my experience. Would you recommend any sources that I could use to build such a diet plan? Why do I ask for some reputable sources? My attempt to build a plan according to my “common sense” (similar to your advice actually: dropping most of red meat, eating more legumes etc) lead to me developing hypotension and iron-deficiency; of course I can adjust the diet now I know this, but I’d rather do it the proper way this time.

csdreamer7 6y ago

It gets old quickly. If you are following a coding tutorial; you need to alt-tab back and forth from browser, terminal, and editor. If you an have an issue you may do it ten times before finding an issue which breaks flow. Much better use of your time to stay focus and just glance at the second monitor. Same with research and an office suite.

georgewsinger 6y ago

> Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020. If this is your cup of tea, I recommend checking out VR Desktop style workflows (arguably a good way to experience "working in The Future™", with infinite screens, customizable environments, etc). Here is one for Linux that we've been working on for a few years: https://github.com/SimulaVR/Simula https://github.com/SimulaVR/Simula

m463 6y ago

caveat - multiple monitors are NOT ergonomic. You really want one monitor, properly positioned forward of you. You should have a keyboard at the appropriate height with a wrist rest to support and angle your wrists (also make it warm - not cold plastic or metal). Your seating should allow you to sit up or slightly reclined. Your head should be balanced on top of your neck, you shouldn't be hunched or twisted. laptops - well, let's just say NO laptop is osha approved.

rriepe 6y ago
This is assuming you're sitting in the exact same position all day long. With a laptop you don't have to assume that.
- m463 6y ago
  > With a laptop you don't have to assume that. bed, right? If you are coding in bed, well... I just don't know the ergonomics of that situation. I don't know if this requires further study or a prompt curtailment of that line of thought.
  - rriepe 6y ago
    It's great. The key is to get one of those bendy-leg laptop stands. That solves all the ergonomic angle problems, keeps it from getting hot on the bed, and lets you use it a little table.