Coding outside of work. - Revisited
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So I started working on a project, one that future Mrs. Wiz is doing the frontend/visuals on. It is neither of the 2 previously mentioned projects. How do you pace yourself? I'm having trouble with going home and just coding for like 4 hours straight. It's fun, it's rewarding, but I'm afraid of burnout. 12-14 hours of coding a day seems like it could lean to burnout (I only sleep 5-6 hours). What do you guys do: 1) Schedule set blocks of time. 2) Set upper limits per day. 3) Only code on weekends.
I don't. A big caveat, however. I've been doing this for 25+ years. by now, having a life outside of work is much more important than geeking it up. I still very much enjoy the analytical, problem-solving aspect of development. I laid in bed for 3-4 hours last night thinking about something I'd developed and realized a couple of changes I needed to make for corner cases. But, the actual implementation is pretty boring. Whether I'm using .NET or MVC, C# code-behind or jquery on the client, it doesn't matter. The new technologies are fun to learn, but the actual coding part is meh. So, I guess my advice to you is to not take this second thing on as another job. As long as it's a hobby, you'll probably enjoy fooling around with it. Once you start setting deadlines, and feeling as if, "I have to get this feature done tonight", you'll start burning out.
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I slice any projects I have into small bits (Agile basics) and do bits as time allows. I try to keep it down to less than an hour at a time, which gives me time to incubate
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I try to keep my weekday home-coding to a minimum, but I often get a "Eureka" moment and have to give it a go immediately. So I heve fixed myself a rule which I find quite easy to follow: If I stay up until silly-o-clock coding on one evening, then no more coding for the next two days - even if it is just before the weekend.
That's not a bad idea. I did two nights in a row of late coding, and last night had to force myself away from the project (okay, I still discussed it and peaked at it, but no coding!) to enjoy the last warm night of the season and have some beers, got to bed early-ish.
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I don't. A big caveat, however. I've been doing this for 25+ years. by now, having a life outside of work is much more important than geeking it up. I still very much enjoy the analytical, problem-solving aspect of development. I laid in bed for 3-4 hours last night thinking about something I'd developed and realized a couple of changes I needed to make for corner cases. But, the actual implementation is pretty boring. Whether I'm using .NET or MVC, C# code-behind or jquery on the client, it doesn't matter. The new technologies are fun to learn, but the actual coding part is meh. So, I guess my advice to you is to not take this second thing on as another job. As long as it's a hobby, you'll probably enjoy fooling around with it. Once you start setting deadlines, and feeling as if, "I have to get this feature done tonight", you'll start burning out.
agolddog wrote:
Once you start setting deadlines, and feeling as if, "I have to get this feature done tonight", you'll start burning out.
I hadn't considered that, but I will. I made a deadline to finish up the first main feature this weekend, in hindsight, it's not time sensitive, it'll probably be another couple of weeks if I pace myself nicely (and enjoy the weather and Halloween).
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Hour chunks is pretty small. Maybe I need some time to scope out the rest of the work to be done so I can split it up that small.
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So I started working on a project, one that future Mrs. Wiz is doing the frontend/visuals on. It is neither of the 2 previously mentioned projects. How do you pace yourself? I'm having trouble with going home and just coding for like 4 hours straight. It's fun, it's rewarding, but I'm afraid of burnout. 12-14 hours of coding a day seems like it could lean to burnout (I only sleep 5-6 hours). What do you guys do: 1) Schedule set blocks of time. 2) Set upper limits per day. 3) Only code on weekends.
wizardzz wrote:
- Set upper limits per day.
This one, but first you should get to know yourself and determine how much is good enough for you. Make sure you have time for doing other things that you may enjoy, like having a relaxing meal while watching your favorite show and.... you know... Once you get that rest between your daily job and the side project, try to put uninterrupted work that can be more effective than taking breaks on a period that is already short. How many hours? Well, that would be entirely up to you to determine. Maybe three hours represent a good balance towards effectiveness and avoiding burnout. Please leave your weekend for other types of leisure, your brain needs to recycle even for stuff you enjoy doing. So in my opinion is: 1 - Maybe 4 hours is too much, try reducing it to 3. 2 - Don't code right after your daily job. Eat, relax, do something else that is fun. 3 - Code for n hours and adjust n until you feel comfortable. 4 - Make sure you get to enough time to relax before actually falling asleep. In any case, if that experiment does not work for you, try other things until you find what better suits you.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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So I started working on a project, one that future Mrs. Wiz is doing the frontend/visuals on. It is neither of the 2 previously mentioned projects. How do you pace yourself? I'm having trouble with going home and just coding for like 4 hours straight. It's fun, it's rewarding, but I'm afraid of burnout. 12-14 hours of coding a day seems like it could lean to burnout (I only sleep 5-6 hours). What do you guys do: 1) Schedule set blocks of time. 2) Set upper limits per day. 3) Only code on weekends.
The few times I've done that, I have to do the work in the evenings. I need the weekends for chores, errands and to recharge for work. However, I generally don't work on side projects so much as occasionally dabble in side projects for the experience. For the kind of work we do, or at least, the way I do it, I do a lot of constant hard thinking. Sort of like taking an 8 hour long midterm every day. Going home and taking another midterm after dinner? No thanks.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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So I started working on a project, one that future Mrs. Wiz is doing the frontend/visuals on. It is neither of the 2 previously mentioned projects. How do you pace yourself? I'm having trouble with going home and just coding for like 4 hours straight. It's fun, it's rewarding, but I'm afraid of burnout. 12-14 hours of coding a day seems like it could lean to burnout (I only sleep 5-6 hours). What do you guys do: 1) Schedule set blocks of time. 2) Set upper limits per day. 3) Only code on weekends.
give yourself time DURing work =if= your boss is cool with it. get to work early, come home early, 20 minute nap, 30 minute treadmill. (treadmill time is spec thinkin time) code for 2 hrs max. wake up early on weekends. 10 hrs max. nap+treadmill to recharge. But if there's something higher prio, ^that^ stuff doesn't get prio. The above assumes your wife is cool with you being distant and that you have no kids or kids old enough to be cool with you being distant. It also assumes you don't have needy friends. It basically assumes you're a nerd. So, yeah. If you're a new dad or just getting married, those things are WAY higher prio that writing code. Don't miss out on life.
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give yourself time DURing work =if= your boss is cool with it. get to work early, come home early, 20 minute nap, 30 minute treadmill. (treadmill time is spec thinkin time) code for 2 hrs max. wake up early on weekends. 10 hrs max. nap+treadmill to recharge. But if there's something higher prio, ^that^ stuff doesn't get prio. The above assumes your wife is cool with you being distant and that you have no kids or kids old enough to be cool with you being distant. It also assumes you don't have needy friends. It basically assumes you're a nerd. So, yeah. If you're a new dad or just getting married, those things are WAY higher prio that writing code. Don't miss out on life.
No chance of doing this at work. My non compete would mean they own everything I did. I already work out at least one hour every day during lunch, so it would be after work only. I am about to get married actually, but the project is joint between us, with more of the work riding on me though. She does front end, java script, css, all that stuff. My only other big conflict is my comedy hobby/career, but that is actually related to the project so they are kind of symbiotic.
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No chance of doing this at work. My non compete would mean they own everything I did. I already work out at least one hour every day during lunch, so it would be after work only. I am about to get married actually, but the project is joint between us, with more of the work riding on me though. She does front end, java script, css, all that stuff. My only other big conflict is my comedy hobby/career, but that is actually related to the project so they are kind of symbiotic.
welllllll, then it sounds like you're already at optimal :) just listen to those "I've had enough" signals your brain gives ya... take breaks n such. but it sounds like the situations are already pretty tuned :thumbsup:
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So I started working on a project, one that future Mrs. Wiz is doing the frontend/visuals on. It is neither of the 2 previously mentioned projects. How do you pace yourself? I'm having trouble with going home and just coding for like 4 hours straight. It's fun, it's rewarding, but I'm afraid of burnout. 12-14 hours of coding a day seems like it could lean to burnout (I only sleep 5-6 hours). What do you guys do: 1) Schedule set blocks of time. 2) Set upper limits per day. 3) Only code on weekends.
I found a single thing that works: don't push yourself. You might get more code written in the beginning, but you won't write very good code, and that will turn you off, so eventually you'll give up on the project or be tempted to restart it. Think things through, use whatever best practices you consider to be best practices, rethink your approach, don't leave technical debt behind, and even if it will take ten years to complete, you might still find satisfaction in working on it. Finding satisfaction in what you do is a very strong motivator, and one that doesn't wear off.
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I found a single thing that works: don't push yourself. You might get more code written in the beginning, but you won't write very good code, and that will turn you off, so eventually you'll give up on the project or be tempted to restart it. Think things through, use whatever best practices you consider to be best practices, rethink your approach, don't leave technical debt behind, and even if it will take ten years to complete, you might still find satisfaction in working on it. Finding satisfaction in what you do is a very strong motivator, and one that doesn't wear off.
That is great advice. I think I found myself running into that at the time I posted this(writing tons of code, not following best practices, wanting to rewrite/refactor constantly). One of the exciting parts when I started was, "I get to do this my way, and decide how it's done without having to explain or debate my choices with anyone!" But now I realize those seemingly annoying things have the purpose and lead to better code.