A simple habit that saves my evenings(alikhil.dev)
alikhil.dev
A simple habit that saves my evenings
https://alikhil.dev/posts/the-simple-habit-that-saves-my-evenings/
108 comments
> A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come back and finalize your work the next day.
Unfortunately, in between there's sleep, which is the great feelings eraser / emotional cache flusher. So all that'll happen is that said "feeling of incompleteness" will distract me for the rest of the evening, then disappear at night. Come morning, it won't be there, so I'll have to read the plan to hopefully induce that feeling again.
Unfortunately, in between there's sleep, which is the great feelings eraser / emotional cache flusher. So all that'll happen is that said "feeling of incompleteness" will distract me for the rest of the evening, then disappear at night. Come morning, it won't be there, so I'll have to read the plan to hopefully induce that feeling again.
I do the same thing as the author does. Moreover, I keep these notes more frequently, to the project's notebook with my other thoughts during the day.
When I return to the task, I get up to speed in ~10 minutes, and things way go smoother because a) I'll be rested, b) My brain would have processed the plan and came up with a refined version of it. When I read the plan I wrote, I automatically recall the refined version most of the time.
Then, I get to work and finish what I have started.
Interestingly, sleep doesn't erase my emotions, but pause them. I just continue from where I left.
When I return to the task, I get up to speed in ~10 minutes, and things way go smoother because a) I'll be rested, b) My brain would have processed the plan and came up with a refined version of it. When I read the plan I wrote, I automatically recall the refined version most of the time.
Then, I get to work and finish what I have started.
Interestingly, sleep doesn't erase my emotions, but pause them. I just continue from where I left.
sounds like you are more of a morning person,
as a non-morning person, it usually takes me about 4-6 hours to get up-to-speed. because there would be some unexpected twists and turns that will distract me from the task.
meanwhile, exact opposite. if i cannot "solve" an issue, if i just wait till the evening by going for a 100+km bicycle ride, i magically solve the problem in the evening (right about at dusk and after).
as a non-morning person, it usually takes me about 4-6 hours to get up-to-speed. because there would be some unexpected twists and turns that will distract me from the task.
meanwhile, exact opposite. if i cannot "solve" an issue, if i just wait till the evening by going for a 100+km bicycle ride, i magically solve the problem in the evening (right about at dusk and after).
That doesn't sound like you are a non-morning person, but that you have a very inefficient start of the day. Good news: you might be able to add as much as 20 hours of productivity to your week!
I’d love to hear how to start today efficiently. Please do share!
Sincerely, A true night owl.
Sincerely, A true night owl.
Go to bed not later than 11pm. Wake up not later than 6am. Try to avoid HN after waking up and get straight to work.
If you are productive as a night owl, you will be even more productive this way.
If you are productive as a night owl, you will be even more productive this way.
The problem is the falling asleep part for many night owls, insomnia is the issue.
Have you tried sports? Someone mentioned bicycling 100km which imho is quite exhausting and gives me a good night of sleep.
I do cycling, currently based in Luxembourg. I cycle (for fun & sports) about 10.000 (ten-thousand) kilometers per year. I also like 100+km rides, although I do that weekly mostly between mid-April to mid-September period...
I can easily sleep 10 hours, start at any time. It's not a problem of falling asleep, it's a problem of waking up :)
I can easily sleep 10 hours, start at any time. It's not a problem of falling asleep, it's a problem of waking up :)
If you get up at 6am, you will be tired at 11pm.
That's the thing about insomnia, it simply doesn't work the way you think, it can sometimes be an actual sleeping disorder.
Sure, this is not medical advice. In case you are not sick, this will work though.
That he doesn’t react to the suggestion of trying daily a few hours of cardio exercises instead preferring a few hours of insomnia, indeed tells me there are other issues in his/her life.
Ah yes, the tried and true “Have you tried not being a night owl?” method. Works every time.
I'm like GP too, I'm usually at my peak performance somewhere after dinner. Used to be a stereotypical night owl, but eventually life forced me to act like a morning person (small kids + partner who is a genuine, bona fide, textbook morning person slash productivity beast).
Close to a decade of that lifestyle, and my body didn't adjust. In my case, there's no insomnia - I indeed start feeling tired around 21:00 - 23:00. Just that my performance curve didn't shift accordingly; only thing that's changed is that I had to give up my most productive parts of day (afternoon, late night), because I'm too tired to do anything at that point.
I'm open to suggestions on how to fix that.
Close to a decade of that lifestyle, and my body didn't adjust. In my case, there's no insomnia - I indeed start feeling tired around 21:00 - 23:00. Just that my performance curve didn't shift accordingly; only thing that's changed is that I had to give up my most productive parts of day (afternoon, late night), because I'm too tired to do anything at that point.
I'm open to suggestions on how to fix that.
I don't get it, what do you do for 4 to 6 hours? I can understand an hour as sometimes I get coffee and relax into the work but 4 to 6 hours? That's like most of the workday already gone.
> That's like most of the workday already gone
if you don't work in the evenings, which he explicitly mentioned he does
probably he does things easy tasks, things that can be done on autopilot, gradually moving on to initial attempts at harder tasks?
if you don't work in the evenings, which he explicitly mentioned he does
probably he does things easy tasks, things that can be done on autopilot, gradually moving on to initial attempts at harder tasks?
So they're just in a state of quasi work for the entire day in the evenings too? If they spend 6 hours on easy tasks when do they have the time for the hard tasks unless they work something like 12 hour days?
it sounds like they have time to go on a 100+ km bike ride throughout during the day, which isn't work. just going off of what they wrote..
seems like they enjoy what they do and/or enjoy what they do, which is critical for non-morning people
seems like they enjoy what they do and/or enjoy what they do, which is critical for non-morning people
Brain don't work (comment written at 8AM my time).
I'm not a morning person either. Coffee doesn't really help. For me it not 4-6 hours, but 2 is common.
I'm not a morning person either. Coffee doesn't really help. For me it not 4-6 hours, but 2 is common.
I'm not a "very" morning person. I generally wake around 7am in the morning, and start my wind-down at 11:00 pm.
I generally plan my next morning and half day before I go to bed. This allows me to create a routine with some flexibility for the morning.
While I can, and like to work, at nights, I do it less and less. Increasing the efficiency of my work routine is a more rewarding process for me. Also, I'm more conscious about my biorhythm now, so I want to give my bods enough time to detox itself, esp around 1-3pm, when your brain "takes the chemical trash out".
I generally plan my next morning and half day before I go to bed. This allows me to create a routine with some flexibility for the morning.
While I can, and like to work, at nights, I do it less and less. Increasing the efficiency of my work routine is a more rewarding process for me. Also, I'm more conscious about my biorhythm now, so I want to give my bods enough time to detox itself, esp around 1-3pm, when your brain "takes the chemical trash out".
> Interestingly, sleep doesn't erase my emotions, but pause them. I just continue from where I left.
That is interesting for me. It's something I wish was the case for me, because I've been struggling with this a lot. I started referring to it as "lack of emotional continuity" or "emotional cache flush". It's like a context switch, but on emotional layer. I basically can't seem to hold on to my emotional state for extended duration, and in particular it gets reset at the day boundary (i.e. when I sleep). This affects both positive and negative emotional states.
Practical consequence of that is that I prefer "sprints" to "marathons" when dealing with tough problems, whether intellectual or emotional - it can take up to an hour for me to "work myself up" the right way to focus on a hard task, or to talk about some difficult personal topics, so I need to make the best of it.
I really, really wish there was a way to do the emotional equivalent of the "write down plans and thoughts at the end of day, read them again in the morning" trick.
That is interesting for me. It's something I wish was the case for me, because I've been struggling with this a lot. I started referring to it as "lack of emotional continuity" or "emotional cache flush". It's like a context switch, but on emotional layer. I basically can't seem to hold on to my emotional state for extended duration, and in particular it gets reset at the day boundary (i.e. when I sleep). This affects both positive and negative emotional states.
Practical consequence of that is that I prefer "sprints" to "marathons" when dealing with tough problems, whether intellectual or emotional - it can take up to an hour for me to "work myself up" the right way to focus on a hard task, or to talk about some difficult personal topics, so I need to make the best of it.
I really, really wish there was a way to do the emotional equivalent of the "write down plans and thoughts at the end of day, read them again in the morning" trick.
Curious. That's the complete opposite of me. My sleep is akin to MacBook's Power Nap. Everything stays put except some small background processes. My version also has good and bad sides (esp. dealing with hard events in life).
I understand how your emotions/body work and how upsetting the current "configuration" is, but maybe it's the way because your body is trying to process or overcome something in the grand scale.
Did you try meditation, esp. not the canned ones from the apps, but a proper practice with a proper instructor and mentor? A good practice generally help you to understand what makes you tick, or live a more balanced inner life, which may help you reducing in this "work up" time, or change the things which you doesn't like about yourself.
I understand how your emotions/body work and how upsetting the current "configuration" is, but maybe it's the way because your body is trying to process or overcome something in the grand scale.
Did you try meditation, esp. not the canned ones from the apps, but a proper practice with a proper instructor and mentor? A good practice generally help you to understand what makes you tick, or live a more balanced inner life, which may help you reducing in this "work up" time, or change the things which you doesn't like about yourself.
I will first offer you a cliche from a movie that I saw in my pre-adolescence in the '70s from a much older era, the title of which I do not recall:
The palest ink is better than the best memory.
How I obey this rule at the end of the day is to continue my code in the necessary points, interspersed with "blahs" if I am feeling verbose (and necessary means that nothing critical is left out, and nothing irrelevant is included in reminding tomorrow).
How I disobey this rule is to verbally say (out loud) the idea that comes to mind in odd moments, as they are prone, followed by "note this" (at which point everyone around you admires your incomprehensible spontaneous demeanor). This imposes a tag on the inspirational memory of perspective and involvement, and I find that I retain it until no longer needed.
This works for me.
The palest ink is better than the best memory.
How I obey this rule at the end of the day is to continue my code in the necessary points, interspersed with "blahs" if I am feeling verbose (and necessary means that nothing critical is left out, and nothing irrelevant is included in reminding tomorrow).
How I disobey this rule is to verbally say (out loud) the idea that comes to mind in odd moments, as they are prone, followed by "note this" (at which point everyone around you admires your incomprehensible spontaneous demeanor). This imposes a tag on the inspirational memory of perspective and involvement, and I find that I retain it until no longer needed.
This works for me.
> that said "feeling of incompleteness" will distract me for the rest of the evening
I find that it can even ruin an evening. I'll find myself trying to solve a problem in my head rather than being present with my family.
The only thing that works for me is waiting for clean breaks that happen mid-late afternoon. As soon as I reach a happy stopping point, I must stop and switch to shallow work for the rest of the afternoon. Then it's easy to leave my computer at the end of the day.
It's hard but after years of struggling with this, I found a sustainable way to balance work and life.
I also track my consistency with doing this so that I notice myself slipping back and correct it before it becomes a problem.
I find that it can even ruin an evening. I'll find myself trying to solve a problem in my head rather than being present with my family.
The only thing that works for me is waiting for clean breaks that happen mid-late afternoon. As soon as I reach a happy stopping point, I must stop and switch to shallow work for the rest of the afternoon. Then it's easy to leave my computer at the end of the day.
It's hard but after years of struggling with this, I found a sustainable way to balance work and life.
I also track my consistency with doing this so that I notice myself slipping back and correct it before it becomes a problem.
A good night of sleep induces its own feeling of well-being, excitement, awesomeness. I swear, I have terrible sleep and when I get an 85+ sleep score I'm a different person.
I have 3 small kids. Sleep is an achievement itself. I only get to experience at most two of "good", "night" and "sleep" :).
(Back before that, in some previous night, my body would still take 8-10 hours of sleep if I let it, and the more I did, the more tired I felt throughout the entire day.)
(Back before that, in some previous night, my body would still take 8-10 hours of sleep if I let it, and the more I did, the more tired I felt throughout the entire day.)
Sounds like the Hemingway method[0], with notes.
I do this all the time, quitting when I know what comes next, but noting it down so I don’t forget and become frustrated.
[0] https://bk2coady.medium.com/the-hemingway-method-fb56bf93836...
I do this all the time, quitting when I know what comes next, but noting it down so I don’t forget and become frustrated.
[0] https://bk2coady.medium.com/the-hemingway-method-fb56bf93836...
This is related to the zeigarnik effect which states that an activity that has been interrupted may be more readily recalled.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeigarnik_effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeigarnik_effect
It's weird how thoroughly people have internalized that tl;dr is supposed to be the default way to take in information now. Not only for themselves, but for others.
Introductory paragraphs and topic sentences have been an established part of writing for decades, regardless of article length.
It’s called a nut graf.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_graph
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_graph
Most of what I read these days can be captured— almost entirely— by a good tl;dr. Unless I’m reading for pleasure, I’d prefer to read content that is as direct and succinct as possible.
The problem with this approach, that I discovered is, normally what we assume as a filler can have a lot of information for other parts of our brain or life in general.
I have enlightened from many small details in articles, books and papers. While looks unimportant and irrelevant, these parts can knock down dominoes in one's subconscious, resulting in enlightenment or closure on another subject.
Even if that doesn't happen, I learn a couple of more things.
tl;dr: reading tl;drs only is akin to chewing caffeine powder instead of drinking coffee. bland, uninspiring and non-rewarding. What we assume as useless is generally is the spirit of the matter.
I have enlightened from many small details in articles, books and papers. While looks unimportant and irrelevant, these parts can knock down dominoes in one's subconscious, resulting in enlightenment or closure on another subject.
Even if that doesn't happen, I learn a couple of more things.
tl;dr: reading tl;drs only is akin to chewing caffeine powder instead of drinking coffee. bland, uninspiring and non-rewarding. What we assume as useless is generally is the spirit of the matter.
> tl;dr: reading tl;drs only is akin to chewing caffeine powder instead of drinking coffee. bland, uninspiring and non-rewarding. What we assume as useless is generally is the spirit of the matter.
Which is how I drink coffee.
Coffee is bitter, awful, and irritates bowel, wasting your time on extra toilet visits (of the longer kind). Adding milk makes things even worse (lactose ain't particularly light to deal with in adulthood). I wouldn't even touch this stuff, if not for it being the universally approved (socially and legally), ubiquitous wakefulness promoter (aka stimulant drug), and better alternatives are much harder to get (even prescribed, they're not meant to serve as coffee replacements). Caffeine powder (in tablets or otherwise) is how you get to "the spirit of the matter" while skipping all the misery and unpleasant side effects.
I suppose it really is a good analogy to most of long-form writing that isn't pure fiction or explicitly for entertainment.
Which is how I drink coffee.
Coffee is bitter, awful, and irritates bowel, wasting your time on extra toilet visits (of the longer kind). Adding milk makes things even worse (lactose ain't particularly light to deal with in adulthood). I wouldn't even touch this stuff, if not for it being the universally approved (socially and legally), ubiquitous wakefulness promoter (aka stimulant drug), and better alternatives are much harder to get (even prescribed, they're not meant to serve as coffee replacements). Caffeine powder (in tablets or otherwise) is how you get to "the spirit of the matter" while skipping all the misery and unpleasant side effects.
I suppose it really is a good analogy to most of long-form writing that isn't pure fiction or explicitly for entertainment.
I know that everybody has a different metabolism and respect your choices, but I'll kindly disagree and will not accept the blanket statements you did.
> Which is how I drink coffee.
You're not drinking coffee. You're using caffeine as a drug. Which is fine, but the similarity is akin to drinking Soylent and claiming you cooked and ate a particular dish for the lunch.
> Coffee is bitter, awful, and irritates bowel, wasting your time on extra toilet visits (of the longer kind).
Coffee is not awful, and not all coffee is bitter. Lighter roasts have a gentler taste profile (plus higher caffeine), and/or you can select less acidic beans. What I generally brew ends up pretty smooth. Either case, it doesn't irritate my bowels.
I'm not particularly critical of how coffee affects my bowel movements. It doesn't imprison me in a particular place in my home or office. Honestly, if you think spending 10 minutes for your body's needs as a waste of time, I think you have to review your lifestyle choices.
> Adding milk makes things even worse (lactose ain't particularly light to deal with in adulthood).
I'm drinking at least ~400ml milk (for the last 30+ years) and eat good amount of cheese every day. I don't believe this. Don't come with try and see, because I tried, and it changes nothing. My body doesn't care about it.
On the other hand, coffee's stimulant effects is secondary to why I drink coffee. I like its taste, it helps me to digest after lunch, and generally it's a good combination with a cookie or a bitter chocolate in the lunch break before starting the second half of the day. BTW, I drink a bit more than a single cup of coffee every day, because I regulate my intake amount and time, yet I get the benefits. Otherwise, I had periods which I drank 2L per day. So coffee tolerance can be tuned and can be kept in check.
The "spirit of the matter" is coffee as a whole, with all the taste, personal time and whatnot. Caffeine tablets capture a single aspect without any taste or finesse.
It's same for the long form writing. I'm in it not only for the tl;dr, but the story in itself. Funnily, I generally read these while drinking my coffee, so the enjoyment is squared.
We discussed the same thing for the last couple of days with colleagues. Distilling everything doesn't concentrate the contents. You have to lose something, and that something is not only filler for most of the time.
> Which is how I drink coffee.
You're not drinking coffee. You're using caffeine as a drug. Which is fine, but the similarity is akin to drinking Soylent and claiming you cooked and ate a particular dish for the lunch.
> Coffee is bitter, awful, and irritates bowel, wasting your time on extra toilet visits (of the longer kind).
Coffee is not awful, and not all coffee is bitter. Lighter roasts have a gentler taste profile (plus higher caffeine), and/or you can select less acidic beans. What I generally brew ends up pretty smooth. Either case, it doesn't irritate my bowels.
I'm not particularly critical of how coffee affects my bowel movements. It doesn't imprison me in a particular place in my home or office. Honestly, if you think spending 10 minutes for your body's needs as a waste of time, I think you have to review your lifestyle choices.
> Adding milk makes things even worse (lactose ain't particularly light to deal with in adulthood).
I'm drinking at least ~400ml milk (for the last 30+ years) and eat good amount of cheese every day. I don't believe this. Don't come with try and see, because I tried, and it changes nothing. My body doesn't care about it.
On the other hand, coffee's stimulant effects is secondary to why I drink coffee. I like its taste, it helps me to digest after lunch, and generally it's a good combination with a cookie or a bitter chocolate in the lunch break before starting the second half of the day. BTW, I drink a bit more than a single cup of coffee every day, because I regulate my intake amount and time, yet I get the benefits. Otherwise, I had periods which I drank 2L per day. So coffee tolerance can be tuned and can be kept in check.
The "spirit of the matter" is coffee as a whole, with all the taste, personal time and whatnot. Caffeine tablets capture a single aspect without any taste or finesse.
It's same for the long form writing. I'm in it not only for the tl;dr, but the story in itself. Funnily, I generally read these while drinking my coffee, so the enjoyment is squared.
We discussed the same thing for the last couple of days with colleagues. Distilling everything doesn't concentrate the contents. You have to lose something, and that something is not only filler for most of the time.
Sure but this is only important if the only thing you care about is absorbing just the information without any of the context around it. That context is often imoprtant.
[deleted]
You sound like you want your money back
OP discovered clocking out and going home, how innovative!
Next up: how to poop on company time.
Next up: how to poop on company time.
I wonder what the oldest reference is we can find to this practice. I bet it's very old. Oldest I know of is only the late 19th century, but I bet we could beat that by at least several hundred years. Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?
You need clock based wage labor for that. Which only really starts with the Industrial Revolution
Small aside someone might find interesting. Hopefully not offtopic. In Catalonia there used to be a thriving textile industry. Workers would work on a garment and fold it when it was time to go home, to unfold it the next day and resume work. That action (to fold) is in Catalan plegar. Still today people use that verb to mean being done with work today. "Quan plegues?" meaning when do you finish work, for example.
farmers plowing a field do similar even though the sun is their clock.
> Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?
Doubtful because the concept of clocking and clocking out is an artifact of the shift from mercantilism to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution where people sold their time in exchange for money.
Before that, in Elizabethan England, people were not free agents but subjects of British Empire. Merchants could control their destinies to some extent but did not exchange their labor so much as accumulated wealth through trade. They did not clock in and out.
So, there was not company time vs. personal time. There was just time and people conducted their bowel functions in outhouses and chamber pots befitting their stations.
Doubtful because the concept of clocking and clocking out is an artifact of the shift from mercantilism to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution where people sold their time in exchange for money.
Before that, in Elizabethan England, people were not free agents but subjects of British Empire. Merchants could control their destinies to some extent but did not exchange their labor so much as accumulated wealth through trade. They did not clock in and out.
So, there was not company time vs. personal time. There was just time and people conducted their bowel functions in outhouses and chamber pots befitting their stations.
The idea of avoiding work by taking a shit, though.
Like I could entirely see Julius Caesar’s Gallic Campaign including a bit about punishing some soldier because he always managed to need to shit during the hardest parts of setting up camp, or something like that.
Like I could entirely see Julius Caesar’s Gallic Campaign including a bit about punishing some soldier because he always managed to need to shit during the hardest parts of setting up camp, or something like that.
> The idea of avoiding work by taking a shit, though.
That's not why you poop on company time. Rather, because a) you get paid for it, b) the company pays for water and hygienic products you use up in the process.
That's not why you poop on company time. Rather, because a) you get paid for it, b) the company pays for water and hygienic products you use up in the process.
Solid question for r/askhistorians
What’s the 19th century reference?
I Found No Peace by Webb Miller, published 1936, which is an autobiographical work by a reporter and war correspondent. I actually got the dates slightly wrong, this would have been the first decade of the 20th, not the 1890s as I thought (he wasn't old enough in that decade for the episode in question to have fallen in the 19th century, it was probably in something like 1905-1908).
Page 13 in my copy (I had trouble finding the passage in the scan I found on Internet Archive, I think it's a later printing that is somewhat abridged). He's writing of working for the state highway department, making road cuts and shoveling gravel:
> Some deliberately delayed the physical calls of nature in the morning until after they came to work. That give them the opportunity of taking ten minutes off. The nonshirkers applied blunt Anglo-Saxon terms to that particular trick.
Given his supplying the term "shirk" in that sentence and the characterization of their label for it as "Anglo-Saxon", I think what he's getting at is they called them "shit shirkers", which is pretty funny.
Page 13 in my copy (I had trouble finding the passage in the scan I found on Internet Archive, I think it's a later printing that is somewhat abridged). He's writing of working for the state highway department, making road cuts and shoveling gravel:
> Some deliberately delayed the physical calls of nature in the morning until after they came to work. That give them the opportunity of taking ten minutes off. The nonshirkers applied blunt Anglo-Saxon terms to that particular trick.
Given his supplying the term "shirk" in that sentence and the characterization of their label for it as "Anglo-Saxon", I think what he's getting at is they called them "shit shirkers", which is pretty funny.
Manually /compacting your context. Got it.
when will humanity be free of having to force ourselves to do boring stuff.
“20 minutes more and I will finish it,” you think. Obviously, this is not the case; some edge cases and new issues will inevitably arise. You come to your senses only 2–3 hours later—tired, hungry, demotivated, and still struggling with your problem. You just wasted your evening, with nothing to show for it."
I feel personally attacked
I feel personally attacked
To add to that, leaving something in a very obviously broken unfinished state really helps to jump back into the flow the next morning, or whenever you come back.
I actually find it very hard to do this, to walk away with some code that isn't compiling or a test that isn't passing. It feels like leaving something unfinished.
When you return it's an easy jumping off point, with a tangible goal and helps bring you back into the context.
I actually find it very hard to do this, to walk away with some code that isn't compiling or a test that isn't passing. It feels like leaving something unfinished.
When you return it's an easy jumping off point, with a tangible goal and helps bring you back into the context.
That's a great trick. I often leave myself a TODO in a source code. But as a plain text, not as a syntactically valid comment. With this project won't compile and on the next day is obvious where I ended up.
I'll just delete what I wrote and forget about. It also doesn't work with python. Can someone make a todo app that forces you to see it? I feel like it's already done.
If you'll just delete it anyway, i don't think any amount of tooling would help you with that
That's actually a good idea.
I actually hate leaving something not compiling in the evening, it feels like things are unfinished, but it helps getting back into it. I tend to use this more when taking a break for an hour or two. But it is effective.
However leaving an intentionally broken comment sounds like a good way to get the sense of completion for the day, but have the compiler focus your attention on where you left off!
I actually hate leaving something not compiling in the evening, it feels like things are unfinished, but it helps getting back into it. I tend to use this more when taking a break for an hour or two. But it is effective.
However leaving an intentionally broken comment sounds like a good way to get the sense of completion for the day, but have the compiler focus your attention on where you left off!
Expand.
"park facing downhill"
During my previous jobs, i used to use a sort of "end of day review" to see both what i accomplished that day (which made me feel good when i completed things), plus also get allowed me to get ready for what i need to do the next day. I suppose its similar to the habit denoted in this piece; pretty cool!
At my current job, things are messier and shall we say not sustainable - culture is simply toxic. I actually can not do a review...because the moment someone sees that i am still logged on, i get bothered...Mostly this is from folks in other time zones (who don't care that its my end of day...like i said, its toxic here). So, i started doing the review offline, but saw that i needed to be logged on to review stuff...i started jumping through too many hoops to still access info as inputs for review and next-day prep...but appear to be offline...so, instead, nowadays, at a very strict time, i log off, and have abandoned my formal end of day review...I mean i still review my thoughts...but its not as structured, and i don't write anything down...and, i see the difference (sadly)...but, mostly, i just don't like my current job. ;-)
At my current job, things are messier and shall we say not sustainable - culture is simply toxic. I actually can not do a review...because the moment someone sees that i am still logged on, i get bothered...Mostly this is from folks in other time zones (who don't care that its my end of day...like i said, its toxic here). So, i started doing the review offline, but saw that i needed to be logged on to review stuff...i started jumping through too many hoops to still access info as inputs for review and next-day prep...but appear to be offline...so, instead, nowadays, at a very strict time, i log off, and have abandoned my formal end of day review...I mean i still review my thoughts...but its not as structured, and i don't write anything down...and, i see the difference (sadly)...but, mostly, i just don't like my current job. ;-)
Genuine question, why do you feel the need to respond to every message? I work in a place with teams on my project split across multiple time zones, and I reply to people when I'm able. If something is really on fire, I'll get a load of messages but generally that stuff should go to the team chat and not at me directly.
Of course, we all keep some 'favourites' we do the odd favour for, but if you can't find 15 minutes to work interrupted (and your review is work) then you really need to think about how you're working as you're making the problems worse.
Being the superhero feels good for the first decade, eventually you realise you're Brent from the Phoenix Project and you're really part of the problem.
Not a personal attack, mxuribe, just some crap I worked out over the years. YMMV.
Of course, we all keep some 'favourites' we do the odd favour for, but if you can't find 15 minutes to work interrupted (and your review is work) then you really need to think about how you're working as you're making the problems worse.
Being the superhero feels good for the first decade, eventually you realise you're Brent from the Phoenix Project and you're really part of the problem.
Not a personal attack, mxuribe, just some crap I worked out over the years. YMMV.
I appreciate your comments @cyberpunk!
> ...I work in a place with teams on my project split across multiple time zones, and I reply to people when I'm able...
I've worked in other places where i did just as you noted! But, here, at my current dayjob, the culture is vastly different in some ways compared to all the other companies that i've worked for (over the quarter century that i've sent being part of digital/technical teams across many medium and large enterprises).
Further, i wouldn't say that i'm trying to be a superhero, its merely that there's political pressure here to be "on"/activated all the time. I've been on global teams before, and as you noted, unless there is some massive issue, availability of members of the team is assumed to be within a reasonable range of hours per one's timezone...But, here, many enterprise cultural norms are thrown out the window. I kinda would assume that maybe some unique startup that is so new to the world might behave like this, but this company has been around a long time...and they seem to have lots of churn of their digital/tech teams....and although no company is perfect, this firm's issues i believe stems mostly from its toxic culture. So, for now, i'm doing my time, putting up with the annoyance for the time being, until it suits me to jump ship. Just not worth it for my peace of mind.
> ...I work in a place with teams on my project split across multiple time zones, and I reply to people when I'm able...
I've worked in other places where i did just as you noted! But, here, at my current dayjob, the culture is vastly different in some ways compared to all the other companies that i've worked for (over the quarter century that i've sent being part of digital/technical teams across many medium and large enterprises).
Further, i wouldn't say that i'm trying to be a superhero, its merely that there's political pressure here to be "on"/activated all the time. I've been on global teams before, and as you noted, unless there is some massive issue, availability of members of the team is assumed to be within a reasonable range of hours per one's timezone...But, here, many enterprise cultural norms are thrown out the window. I kinda would assume that maybe some unique startup that is so new to the world might behave like this, but this company has been around a long time...and they seem to have lots of churn of their digital/tech teams....and although no company is perfect, this firm's issues i believe stems mostly from its toxic culture. So, for now, i'm doing my time, putting up with the annoyance for the time being, until it suits me to jump ship. Just not worth it for my peace of mind.
Does your chat client or whatever is making you visible logged on have an “away” mode?
Good idea, i'll give that a shot. Thx for the tip!
Another options (particularly if your org runs off MS outlook & Teams) - pencil in the review time as an appointment in your calendar, so your status shows as 'Busy' during that time. If that's not sufficient, you can even make it a Teams meeting with only yourself in it, so then your Teams status would show that you're in a call.
Yeah, i use this technique - both a simple blocking appointment as well as a fake meeting with only myself...but what has even happened a few times is that someone will see that i have an appointment or meeting near the end of the day, and they figure they can book a short meeting with me immediately after that block...I have a colleague at work who from about 6pm until the following day blocks his calendar with an "out of office" signal...so its 100% clear that he is off the clock and not available...but still people in this company (from other timezones mostly but sometimes also the same timezone) harass others regardless if a calendar os blcoked, etc...Like i said its simply toxic where i work in this way. But, i appreciate the idea, thanks!
Yeah well, what can I say ... totally resonates, except that for me, the "getting in the zone" part is most definitely not two hours, rather tends to stretch to 4am if not worse.
And the "write down everything and go home" is:
a) extremely frustrating
b) cant get anywhere near to dumping the amount of context that's flying in my head while I code/build. Most of it evaporates if I don't get to the end.
So ... agree with the problem, really not sure I agree with the solution.
And the "write down everything and go home" is:
a) extremely frustrating
b) cant get anywhere near to dumping the amount of context that's flying in my head while I code/build. Most of it evaporates if I don't get to the end.
So ... agree with the problem, really not sure I agree with the solution.
A mention of the Pomodoro technique is relevant. It encourages 100% focus on work for 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break where you are forbidden to work at all in any way. You're supposed to tell a joke, stretch, stare out the window, etc. But no meetings, no email, etc. At first I felt a strong resistance to the "stop work" part, often delaying until "one last thing" was done, but I tried it anyway. What surprised me was that without exception, my thoughts and actions were clearer when I took the break. It never really added a delay, and in fact sped me up considerably. I'm not entirely sure why, or whether its true for others, but that disciplined cadence of 25m 100% focus and 5m 0% focus is like magic.
Pomodoro is my secret weapon when the push comes to shove. I pulled out a couple of hard things in "deemed impossible" amount of time with it.
You can tune Pomodoro's work lengths. 25 minute is the sweet spot for me, but you can go 20 or 30 depending on how your mind works and endures.
Also, don't forget to take your long, 15 minute breaks after every 4th pomodoro.
You can tune Pomodoro's work lengths. 25 minute is the sweet spot for me, but you can go 20 or 30 depending on how your mind works and endures.
Also, don't forget to take your long, 15 minute breaks after every 4th pomodoro.
Except when all your login sessions time out and you spend 20 of each 25 minute working segment logging back in to things.
I do hope you're joking.
It's an enterprise joke and, as everyone knows, enterprise pain is no joke.
Cascades of timeouts and segmented sign-back-ins are almost a corporate ritual in ill-configured environments.
Cascades of timeouts and segmented sign-back-ins are almost a corporate ritual in ill-configured environments.
“Diffused thinking” is the official term for the magic behind Pomodoro technique, I believe.
I'd recommend one more step - after closing the laptop, bring a notebook and a pen with you.
People often get new ideas or unblocked somehow after stopping the work. If this happens, don't open the laptop again. Write it down.
People often get new ideas or unblocked somehow after stopping the work. If this happens, don't open the laptop again. Write it down.
> As a bonus, there is a chance that new, better ideas will come while you sleep or rest.
IMO this feature should not be underestimated. Happens to me semi-regularly.
IMO this feature should not be underestimated. Happens to me semi-regularly.
And then you wake up at 3:00am and start planning things to do the next working day. Do not recommend it.
This was a key plot device in almost every episode of House. Stepping away from the problem gives your brain time to work on the problem in the background.
For me, my real day starts after work is over. That is when the meaningful part happens. And if I am going to accomplish much that night, I need to arrive home knowing exactly what I need to start with, and do it.
This is similar to Paul Graham’s saying that the people who get things done wake up knowing the one thing they need to do.
Trouble with my evenings, though, is that my commute home and usage of the restroom have a way of draining all of my motivation and energy.
Jesus, what goes on in that restroom?
Reminds me of the quote (attributed to Abraham Lincoln by the meme culture), “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
I leave my work session at a `git add -p` invocation. Next morning I tab through that to get started. If I start at a clean terminal in the morning, it ends very badly - either I `cd dotfiles` and start tinkering and wasting time, or I start reading something online. As long as I start 15m before my teammates, I can get it past CI and up for review in the morning for them - same effect as if I had made the PR ready the previous evening.
Yeah, this seems adjacent to the imperative to "go home red," ie leave a failing unit test to guide you back in the morning.
Reminds me of Cal Newport's "Shutdown ritual" advice. Marathon sessions can lead to burnout. It's better to use time block planning to prioritize the most important tasks. A feature of time block planning is you have to stop working at the end of the aloted time.
"Sleep is a weapon, know when to use it" - Teacher. The Perisher [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_Command_Course
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_Command_Course
> Writing down the next steps helps to clear your mind after a workday. You write and forget about your work until the next morning.
Another reason, which may be obvious, is that the notes help ramp you back up that next day.
> take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task.
I suppose it varies by individual. Jot down helpful notes (maybe in the issue-tracking comments for the task) that are already easily in mind, but maybe don't think through the step-by-step so much that you get your brain further into that space. If your goal is indeed to have your evening free without being a zombie with your head still stuck in your work.
Another reason, which may be obvious, is that the notes help ramp you back up that next day.
> take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task.
I suppose it varies by individual. Jot down helpful notes (maybe in the issue-tracking comments for the task) that are already easily in mind, but maybe don't think through the step-by-step so much that you get your brain further into that space. If your goal is indeed to have your evening free without being a zombie with your head still stuck in your work.
I think in a similar way, though from a slightly different angle. For me, the value of stopping on time isn’t just about avoiding overtime — it’s also about not waiting for a clean break.
When I wrap things up too neatly, the next day feels like a cold start, and that makes it harder to dash into new work. But if I deliberately leave a task half-finished, then the next day I can just pick up where I left off and get moving much faster.
When I wrap things up too neatly, the next day feels like a cold start, and that makes it harder to dash into new work. But if I deliberately leave a task half-finished, then the next day I can just pick up where I left off and get moving much faster.
You've got good company. Hemingway famously said he always stopped writing for the day at a point where he knew where his story was going next.
Hemingway said to always leave some ink in the quill:
“I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well.”
Sure, write a step-by-step action plan and leave it for
a next fresh new 1M tokens context window.
a next fresh new 1M tokens context window.
> A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come bac
Yeah this is exactly it but I cannot relax or sleep or anything when I have a bad case of that "incomplete" feeling. So I try not to get too embedded in code at all these days (I'm old and dont work for crazy startups anymore). But got pretty coded up this week and was all grumpy last night in one of those "just 20 minutes more" situations (which yes kept me coding til about midnight).
Yeah this is exactly it but I cannot relax or sleep or anything when I have a bad case of that "incomplete" feeling. So I try not to get too embedded in code at all these days (I'm old and dont work for crazy startups anymore). But got pretty coded up this week and was all grumpy last night in one of those "just 20 minutes more" situations (which yes kept me coding til about midnight).
Go for a quick walk. I realized this after fighting something for a few hours, then figuring it out on the walk out the door to go home several times.
This funny 3min movie by John Medina suggests exercise while working https://youtube.com/watch?v=7Fxk6x2eqDo
When working on a project in Haskell that was a multi-day affair I’d leave with some type errors up.
When you come in the next morning you have a thread to pull on and pick up the work the next day.
When you come in the next morning you have a thread to pull on and pick up the work the next day.
It has long been recomended to leave an easy task for first thing so you can get into the flow again. If you solve all current problems it is hard to know how to start again
Wow — I really wasn’t expecting this much engagement. Thanks for all the thoughtful comments; many of them add real value and perspectives I hadn’t considered.
Nearly sixty years of coding under my belt here.
The OP proposes a valid and reasonable pattern.
Nonetheless, not all of us are so wise.
There are dozens of frustrating all-nighters and near all-nighters in my timeline.
And, dotted in and about, there are those several times when, half-asleep, you press the enter key, look up and gasp "OMG, it's working!"
The OP proposes a valid and reasonable pattern.
Nonetheless, not all of us are so wise.
There are dozens of frustrating all-nighters and near all-nighters in my timeline.
And, dotted in and about, there are those several times when, half-asleep, you press the enter key, look up and gasp "OMG, it's working!"
I've been doing this for a long time and find it's also a good way to get yourself out of ruts and tar pits; when a project gets really gnarly, you can end up spending most of your time just re-establishing context every day. Never thought of it as a permission structure for closing my Macbook at the end of the day!
If the problem is that you get interrupted all day, how does waiting for tomorrow help?
There's actually a name for this. It is called incubation.
Yes, 996 and other variants isn’t a smart way of working.
> Rather than trying to complete your task in 20 minutes, take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task. Then go home. Rest. A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come back and finalize your work the next day. Only you will be full of energy, together with a settled plan. No doubt you’ll accomplish your task before lunch.