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Nice. How do you sustain this for 8 hours a day though? After 45 minutes my brain starts to sag.

by rr808 5y ago

MattGaiser 5y ago
Yep. If I have more than 2 hours of meetings in a day, I basically lose the entire day.
ehnto 5y ago
Yeah I could never be on a video call for that long. There is a subprocess in my brain that starts running at 95% when I'm on a video call, like a kind of performance anxiety. I can deal with longer voice calls, but I can't really work during a call so it's only useful for syncing up. A call longer than an hour has probably become inefficient in some dimension.
MiyamotoAkira 5y ago
Pair programming is quite intensive when done correctly. You build stamina with time. But even so, using the Pomodoro technique is the way forward. Someone driving for 20/25 minutes, then 5/10 rest, and switch the driver. Even so, I will still not do it 8 hours a day. Probably 6, to give you time to do other stuff, like investigations, admin, ...
usefulcat 5y ago
At one time in my career I pair programmed pretty much all day, every day for the better part of four years, with the same person. We started with an existing codebase, but even from the start most of the work we did was on new features. It is intense, but--at least in my experience--it was also very productive. You basically can't/don't ever slack off. And I learned a lot from the other developer (mainly about various tools). Things that theoretically I could have learned on my own but in practice I probably never would have. If I had it to do over again I would definitely choose to do it again.
- rr808 5y ago
  > You basically can't/don't ever slack off. I think this is the best part of PP, its a great way to avoid procrastination.
  - calsy 5y ago
    That’s what happens when someone looks over your shoulder.
  - kentrado 5y ago
    That's a good thing for the company. It's a horrible thing for the employee.
lkois 5y ago
He was quite diligent about taking regular and appropriate breaks. Partly in response to having worked through too many lunches prior. Brain sag still occurred though.

Nice. How do you sustain this for 8 hours a day though? After 45 minutes my brain starts to sag.

by rr808 5y ago

Nice. How do you sustain this for 8 hours a day though? After 45 minutes my brain starts to sag.

MattGaiser 5y ago

Yep. If I have more than 2 hours of meetings in a day, I basically lose the entire day.

ehnto 5y ago

Yeah I could never be on a video call for that long. There is a subprocess in my brain that starts running at 95% when I'm on a video call, like a kind of performance anxiety. I can deal with longer voice calls, but I can't really work during a call so it's only useful for syncing up. A call longer than an hour has probably become inefficient in some dimension.

MiyamotoAkira 5y ago

Pair programming is quite intensive when done correctly. You build stamina with time. But even so, using the Pomodoro technique is the way forward. Someone driving for 20/25 minutes, then 5/10 rest, and switch the driver. Even so, I will still not do it 8 hours a day. Probably 6, to give you time to do other stuff, like investigations, admin, ...

usefulcat 5y ago

At one time in my career I pair programmed pretty much all day, every day for the better part of four years, with the same person. We started with an existing codebase, but even from the start most of the work we did was on new features. It is intense, but--at least in my experience--it was also very productive. You basically can't/don't ever slack off. And I learned a lot from the other developer (mainly about various tools). Things that theoretically I could have learned on my own but in practice I probably never would have. If I had it to do over again I would definitely choose to do it again.

rr808 5y ago
> You basically can't/don't ever slack off. I think this is the best part of PP, its a great way to avoid procrastination.
- calsy 5y ago
  That’s what happens when someone looks over your shoulder.
- kentrado 5y ago
  That's a good thing for the company. It's a horrible thing for the employee.

lkois 5y ago

He was quite diligent about taking regular and appropriate breaks. Partly in response to having worked through too many lunches prior. Brain sag still occurred though.