4 ms·

I use this concept of a "billable nap" ... it gets to the midafternoon and I'm deep in a programming problem, and my thought process gets far too fuzzy. So I c

I use this concept of a "billable nap" ... it gets to the midafternoon and I'm deep in a programming problem, and my thought process gets far too fuzzy. So I can either spend a couple of hours or more struggling through, or I can shut my eyes for a bit 20 minutes idelally, and then nail the problem down in a much shorter time than without the nap.

pmiller2 6y ago
That can be a pretty hard sell if you work in an office for a company that doesn't have dedicated nap pods. I've never really felt comfortable taking a nap at the office, myself.
- singingfish 6y ago
  yeah it's much easier to achieve as a remote worker in a different time zone. In my time zone, my nap time tends to coincide with things winding up for the day at the mothership.
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    Even in the same time zone, it would be relatively easy for me to disappear for 30 minutes after lunch. All I'd have to do is block it off on my calendar as "busy," and nobody would ever say anything, which is how it should be when you're an adult working with other adults.
I_AM_A_SMURF 6y ago
Yeah, my work pays me the same whether I work 40 or 60 hours, so I cut my day short whenever I know I'm not gonna be productive. Usually it saves me a few hour of struggling and the solution comes to me first thing in the morning. I'm also the top 5% committer in my company even though I almost never touch 35h/week (caveat: I don't advertise this behavior at work and I work from home). Companies would really do themselves a favor cutting the day short, 40h of coding/meetings/etc a week is way too much for a lot of people.
- singingfish 6y ago
  yeah totally. I'll rage against the 40 hour work week any time anyone will let me. Personally I think I've got around 5 good coding hours in me in a day - ideally around 7:30 to 12:30. Schedule meetings for when I'm useless after that please.
  - M5x7wI3CmbEem10 6y ago
    how do you find a company okay with this?
    - singingfish 6y ago
      well I mostly work remotely, and I have a reputation as someone who can get stuff done reliably. When I was last in an office full time, commuting on the train a few years ago I'd usually be the first in my team to arrive, and then first to leave - basically trying to do 7:30 to 4 but I'd generally be pretty useless for the last couple of hours of the day. Followed by a nap on the train.
      - M5x7wI3CmbEem10 6y ago
        not concerned about safety, napping on a train?
        singingfish 6y ago
        not at all. Sometimes the slow local services fill up with lowlife, but these city commuter trains are fine where I live.
        cutemonster 6y ago
        What could be dangerous with sleeping on a train? I always sleep on trains and buses, I even change when I go to sleep, so I'm tired when on the train, so I can fall asleep. M5x7wI3CmbEem10, I first thought you were worried about sleeping too long, getting off at the wrong station I suppose it's getting robbed? And that you live in a quite different part of the world than me :-/
soared 6y ago
"billable walks" are the same - nothing helps focus like walking around around downtown with noise cancelling headphones on and letting life buzz all around you.
- wffurr 6y ago
  Ah yes, The Before Times, back when we still worked downtown and there was life outside. A lot of places it’s easier to fit in a walk or short bike ride than a nap, and it’s just about as good for clearing the mind.
- singingfish 6y ago
  I found that hanging out the laundry was a great way to nail down a tricky problem I'd been struggling with.

pmiller2 6y ago

That can be a pretty hard sell if you work in an office for a company that doesn't have dedicated nap pods. I've never really felt comfortable taking a nap at the office, myself.

singingfish 6y ago
yeah it's much easier to achieve as a remote worker in a different time zone. In my time zone, my nap time tends to coincide with things winding up for the day at the mothership.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Even in the same time zone, it would be relatively easy for me to disappear for 30 minutes after lunch. All I'd have to do is block it off on my calendar as "busy," and nobody would ever say anything, which is how it should be when you're an adult working with other adults.

I_AM_A_SMURF 6y ago

Yeah, my work pays me the same whether I work 40 or 60 hours, so I cut my day short whenever I know I'm not gonna be productive. Usually it saves me a few hour of struggling and the solution comes to me first thing in the morning. I'm also the top 5% committer in my company even though I almost never touch 35h/week (caveat: I don't advertise this behavior at work and I work from home). Companies would really do themselves a favor cutting the day short, 40h of coding/meetings/etc a week is way too much for a lot of people.

singingfish 6y ago
yeah totally. I'll rage against the 40 hour work week any time anyone will let me. Personally I think I've got around 5 good coding hours in me in a day - ideally around 7:30 to 12:30. Schedule meetings for when I'm useless after that please.
- M5x7wI3CmbEem10 6y ago
  how do you find a company okay with this?
  - singingfish 6y ago
    well I mostly work remotely, and I have a reputation as someone who can get stuff done reliably. When I was last in an office full time, commuting on the train a few years ago I'd usually be the first in my team to arrive, and then first to leave - basically trying to do 7:30 to 4 but I'd generally be pretty useless for the last couple of hours of the day. Followed by a nap on the train.
    - M5x7wI3CmbEem10 6y ago
      not concerned about safety, napping on a train?
      - singingfish 6y ago
        not at all. Sometimes the slow local services fill up with lowlife, but these city commuter trains are fine where I live.
        cutemonster 6y ago
        What could be dangerous with sleeping on a train? I always sleep on trains and buses, I even change when I go to sleep, so I'm tired when on the train, so I can fall asleep. M5x7wI3CmbEem10, I first thought you were worried about sleeping too long, getting off at the wrong station I suppose it's getting robbed? And that you live in a quite different part of the world than me :-/

soared 6y ago

"billable walks" are the same - nothing helps focus like walking around around downtown with noise cancelling headphones on and letting life buzz all around you.

wffurr 6y ago
Ah yes, The Before Times, back when we still worked downtown and there was life outside. A lot of places it’s easier to fit in a walk or short bike ride than a nap, and it’s just about as good for clearing the mind.
singingfish 6y ago
I found that hanging out the laundry was a great way to nail down a tricky problem I'd been struggling with.