3 ms·

"I must have a seemingly endless block of time at my disposal." For me this is the most critical part. It's not enough just not to be interrupted. I have to

by pg 15y ago

"I must have a seemingly endless block of time at my disposal." For me this is the most critical part. It's not enough just not to be interrupted. I have to feel like I couldn't be interrupted. That's the great thing about programming at night. If everyone else is asleep (except other people who don't want to be interrupted) they won't even think of interrupting you.

dustinupdyke 15y ago
For some reason, I always find Friday afternoons the most productive "office hours" time; I suspect because people are too busy thinking about their weekends, too busy wrapping things up, or some other reason I'm not aware of. Sometimes, I wind up working late on those days because I lose track of time and I actually don't mind. I find zone time related to my personal happiness, if I don't get into the zone, I become short fused and frustrated.
- crag 15y ago
  My most productive time is after midnight. The streets are quite, the house is asleep. Besides me, only my dog is awake, and she's only half awake, doing her job watching me. Lucky for me, I'm one of the principals of the company. So I can work till 4am and stroll into the office at noon. By the way, the music I zone out too is classical. I have playlist of symphonies and after each one I stretch out. when Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra, Tod und Verklärung" are (is) over I know it's time to stand up.
  - dredmorbius 15y ago
    Why don't you make that policy for the rest of your company? Or look at your workspace and figure out why the fuck people need to stay up until 4am to be productive, rather than being able to, you know, work, at work?
    - crag 15y ago
      I'm a night person. Always have been. As for the 2 programmers who work for me (the rest of the staff have to be there 9 to 5) they can work anywhere anytime. I care about results; meet your schedule- you can work from the beach if you want (I live in South Florida).
MattJ100 15y ago
I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this. Early mornings and late nights are both good... but during the typical work day I find it nigh on impossible to really be productive at the office. It reminds me of this talk by Jason Fried, which is so obvious but no conventional workplaces solve these issues: http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen...
- gtani 15y ago
  I'm criticlly dependent on these little ear plugs, only way to control your environment http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/mack%27s-ear-seals-dual-purpose-earplugs/ID=prod1707479-product http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/mack%27s-ear-seals-dual-pur...
  - MattJ100 15y ago
    The problem is the people who tap you on the shoulder, or worse... those who know they shouldn't disturb you so hang quietly around your desk until you give up and make eye contact or otherwise acknowledge that they're there. They succeed in disturbing you without actually disturbing you, it's great (for them).
5hoom 15y ago
This matches my own experience with productive nocturnal coding marathons. There's something very tranquil and calm about knowing the outside world is asleep. The dark has the effect of making it hard to see anything that isn't immediately in front of you, so when you're coding you don't see anything but the screen and the keyboard. It kind of gives you nothing else to think about other than the problem to be solved.
LVB 15y ago
My "extracurricular" coding is at home, surrounded by a family, and the potential distraction aspect of not getting into the "zone" is near and dear to me. While I'd like to have a perceived endless block of time, I've learned to live without that bit. But I've not learned to get into the zone with the threat of interruption. I can do "light" coding activity, but for something in-depth I usually have to bolt to the library or a cafe for an hour or two. Yes it is time bound, but I know that no one is going to step into the office for "just one thing"... (These jaunts only happen about once a week though, so the output on my hobby projects is pretty weak.)
xarien 15y ago
I picked up my nocturnal programming habit during my undergrad long ago and now that I'm a father, it's even more necessary to really take advantage of those night hours... It also gives me the chance to speak out loud to myself when brainstorming or a brief self-congratulatory dance without getting weird looks ;).

by pg 15y ago

dustinupdyke 15y ago

For some reason, I always find Friday afternoons the most productive "office hours" time; I suspect because people are too busy thinking about their weekends, too busy wrapping things up, or some other reason I'm not aware of. Sometimes, I wind up working late on those days because I lose track of time and I actually don't mind. I find zone time related to my personal happiness, if I don't get into the zone, I become short fused and frustrated.

crag 15y ago
My most productive time is after midnight. The streets are quite, the house is asleep. Besides me, only my dog is awake, and she's only half awake, doing her job watching me. Lucky for me, I'm one of the principals of the company. So I can work till 4am and stroll into the office at noon. By the way, the music I zone out too is classical. I have playlist of symphonies and after each one I stretch out. when Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra, Tod und Verklärung" are (is) over I know it's time to stand up.
- dredmorbius 15y ago
  Why don't you make that policy for the rest of your company? Or look at your workspace and figure out why the fuck people need to stay up until 4am to be productive, rather than being able to, you know, work, at work?
  - crag 15y ago
    I'm a night person. Always have been. As for the 2 programmers who work for me (the rest of the staff have to be there 9 to 5) they can work anywhere anytime. I care about results; meet your schedule- you can work from the beach if you want (I live in South Florida).

MattJ100 15y ago

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this. Early mornings and late nights are both good... but during the typical work day I find it nigh on impossible to really be productive at the office. It reminds me of this talk by Jason Fried, which is so obvious but no conventional workplaces solve these issues: http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen...

gtani 15y ago
I'm criticlly dependent on these little ear plugs, only way to control your environment http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/mack%27s-ear-seals-dual-purpose-earplugs/ID=prod1707479-product http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/mack%27s-ear-seals-dual-pur...
- MattJ100 15y ago
  The problem is the people who tap you on the shoulder, or worse... those who know they shouldn't disturb you so hang quietly around your desk until you give up and make eye contact or otherwise acknowledge that they're there. They succeed in disturbing you without actually disturbing you, it's great (for them).

5hoom 15y ago

This matches my own experience with productive nocturnal coding marathons. There's something very tranquil and calm about knowing the outside world is asleep. The dark has the effect of making it hard to see anything that isn't immediately in front of you, so when you're coding you don't see anything but the screen and the keyboard. It kind of gives you nothing else to think about other than the problem to be solved.

LVB 15y ago

My "extracurricular" coding is at home, surrounded by a family, and the potential distraction aspect of not getting into the "zone" is near and dear to me. While I'd like to have a perceived endless block of time, I've learned to live without that bit. But I've not learned to get into the zone with the threat of interruption. I can do "light" coding activity, but for something in-depth I usually have to bolt to the library or a cafe for an hour or two. Yes it is time bound, but I know that no one is going to step into the office for "just one thing"... (These jaunts only happen about once a week though, so the output on my hobby projects is pretty weak.)

xarien 15y ago

I picked up my nocturnal programming habit during my undergrad long ago and now that I'm a father, it's even more necessary to really take advantage of those night hours... It also gives me the chance to speak out loud to myself when brainstorming or a brief self-congratulatory dance without getting weird looks ;).