4 ms·

I'm curious how many programmers find themselves most productive at specific times of the day. Personally, I'm by far the most productive late at night, in 1am

by csallen 14y ago

I'm curious how many programmers find themselves most productive at specific times of the day. Personally, I'm by far the most productive late at night, in 1am - 4am territory. The primary reason is that there are fewer distractions. The news cycle has slowed, my FB news feed is all but dead, I'm not receiving any emails/calls/chats, my roommates are asleep, and it's too late to accomplish chores like shopping or doing laundry. I'm also less likely to desire switching to another task, having accomplished them all earlier in the day. In other words, when I get into the zone late at night, I'm more likely to stay in the zone. Another reason has to do with the pressure of a deadline. The later it gets, the stronger that nagging feeling is in the back of my mind telling me, "It's late. Go to bed." Nothing gets me working more efficiently than a rapidly approaching deadline. And, unlike most deadlines, I can continually push this one back: "1AM? Okay one more hour. 2AM? Shit, just one more hour." I can spend an almost indefinite amount of time in "deadline mode". Of course this only works if you don't have anything important to wake up for in the morning.

leftnode 14y ago
It's funny you call that late at night, I call it early in the morning. But I totally agree with you. I wake up daily at 3:10 and can get about 3 or 4 hours of good uninterrupted work done. It's also a great time to go to the gym because few else are there.
- GuiA 14y ago
  What time do you go to bed? Or are you in polyphasic sleep?
- jwm 14y ago
  How do you find this kind of routine meshes with the sleeping patterns of your social circle? I've always been interested in trying something like this, just to see what it's like.
- corin_ 14y ago
  There's a huge difference in the context between 3am "late at night" because you've stayed awake or 3am "early in the morning" because you just woke up. Some will hate one but not the other - personally I find them equally useful times for different reasons.
- reledi 14y ago
  What time do you usually go to sleep?
mattdeboard 14y ago
I always find that I'm most productive at work after 11am or so. At home, most productive after 9pm (about when my kid goes to sleep)
kellishaver 14y ago
My most productive hours are between midnight and 6am, then I usually nap 'til 10am or so and then grab another 2hrs from 9-11pm. I've tried more normal schedules, but this is what works best for me and where I sort of naturally end up if I don't try and force the issue of sleeping at night.
muratmutlu 14y ago
I'm the same, for exactly the reasons you say - it's the calm that helps, there's no temptation to be distracted because there's kinda nothing to do.
personlurking 14y ago
In the sense that you are bringing up productive time, or when you are at your best, I vote for the morning because of something that is probably personal to me. I see the mornings as a time of hope and possibility ('imagine all that you can get done today'). No one says to themselves, 'oh, I hope today is crappy'. Not a surprise then that I actually get more 'depressed' as the day goes on (ie, afternoon and onward) and it's not necessarily dependent on how much I've accomplished or not, but rather that the realm of what is possible has dwindled. Coffee is also my friend. I have between 1 and 1.5 cups per day but just getting up and feeling like Success Kid, per a mix of caffeine and hope, gets me going in the right direction.
chucknelson 14y ago
I've found that the time of day doesn't matter as much as the current state of the problem I'm trying to solve. If I've hit a groove and a path forward is in my head, productivity is through the roof. Otherwise I'm in thinking/experimental mode, and productivity (seems) like it has reached 0. True, I'm still learning and iterating, but...you know the feeling. Also, once you have a family and/or a "normal" job, it gets much harder to pick what times you are productive. 1am - 4am would be a touch choice in most jobs - have to be in at ~8am or so, right?

by csallen 14y ago

leftnode 14y ago

It's funny you call that late at night, I call it early in the morning. But I totally agree with you. I wake up daily at 3:10 and can get about 3 or 4 hours of good uninterrupted work done. It's also a great time to go to the gym because few else are there.

GuiA 14y ago
What time do you go to bed? Or are you in polyphasic sleep?
jwm 14y ago
How do you find this kind of routine meshes with the sleeping patterns of your social circle? I've always been interested in trying something like this, just to see what it's like.
corin_ 14y ago
There's a huge difference in the context between 3am "late at night" because you've stayed awake or 3am "early in the morning" because you just woke up. Some will hate one but not the other - personally I find them equally useful times for different reasons.
reledi 14y ago
What time do you usually go to sleep?

mattdeboard 14y ago

I always find that I'm most productive at work after 11am or so. At home, most productive after 9pm (about when my kid goes to sleep)

kellishaver 14y ago

My most productive hours are between midnight and 6am, then I usually nap 'til 10am or so and then grab another 2hrs from 9-11pm. I've tried more normal schedules, but this is what works best for me and where I sort of naturally end up if I don't try and force the issue of sleeping at night.

muratmutlu 14y ago

I'm the same, for exactly the reasons you say - it's the calm that helps, there's no temptation to be distracted because there's kinda nothing to do.

personlurking 14y ago

In the sense that you are bringing up productive time, or when you are at your best, I vote for the morning because of something that is probably personal to me. I see the mornings as a time of hope and possibility ('imagine all that you can get done today'). No one says to themselves, 'oh, I hope today is crappy'. Not a surprise then that I actually get more 'depressed' as the day goes on (ie, afternoon and onward) and it's not necessarily dependent on how much I've accomplished or not, but rather that the realm of what is possible has dwindled. Coffee is also my friend. I have between 1 and 1.5 cups per day but just getting up and feeling like Success Kid, per a mix of caffeine and hope, gets me going in the right direction.

chucknelson 14y ago

I've found that the time of day doesn't matter as much as the current state of the problem I'm trying to solve. If I've hit a groove and a path forward is in my head, productivity is through the roof. Otherwise I'm in thinking/experimental mode, and productivity (seems) like it has reached 0. True, I'm still learning and iterating, but...you know the feeling. Also, once you have a family and/or a "normal" job, it gets much harder to pick what times you are productive. 1am - 4am would be a touch choice in most jobs - have to be in at ~8am or so, right?