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  3. What do you do in the witching hour? Anyone else have this issue?

What do you do in the witching hour? Anyone else have this issue?

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  • H honey the codewitch

    I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

    Real programmers use butterflies

    M Offline
    M Offline
    Member 9167057
    wrote on last edited by
    #18

    When I end up in a similar situation (albeit less "burned on coding" and more "brain still in overdrive from coding"), I grab my kindle. My girlfriend doesn't mind me reading at low brightness. When that doesn't help, I get up and do something explicitly passive, i.e. watching infotainment with headphones.

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    • H honey the codewitch

      I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

      Real programmers use butterflies

      D Offline
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      Derek Hunter
      wrote on last edited by
      #19

      You need to break this habit. I go to bed at 21:00 and get up at 05:30. I am much more productive.

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      • H honey the codewitch

        I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

        Real programmers use butterflies

        R Offline
        R Offline
        rob tillaart
        wrote on last edited by
        #20

        Some ideas: - watch stars, constellations, moon etc (you might buy a telescope or even build one) - study weather patterns and clouds by night - study the animal kingdom at night. - night photography (no success for me) - redo thought experiments, - train memory by reliving a past holiday (whatever) in as much detail as possible

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        • H honey the codewitch

          I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

          Real programmers use butterflies

          C Offline
          C Offline
          Cpichols
          wrote on last edited by
          #21

          Wireless headphones are a joy. I use mine for audiobooks, podcasts, and music. If I'm antsy enough to not want to lie in bed, tightly snuggled by hubby, I play Minecraft (very calming). If you want to actually sleep, I recommend a great podcast called 'Boring Stories for Bedtime' by Sharon Handy. Sweet dreams ... or not ;P

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          • H honey the codewitch

            I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

            Real programmers use butterflies

            S Offline
            S Offline
            Sasa Cetkovic
            wrote on last edited by
            #22

            Drugs are your friend

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            • H honey the codewitch

              I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

              Real programmers use butterflies

              M Offline
              M Offline
              MKJCP
              wrote on last edited by
              #23

              Yoga, meditate, read some classic tomes? Friends I have say that Mary Jane gummies ingested late in the evening help sleep. (This stuff is now legal in my neck of the woods). ;)

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              • H honey the codewitch

                I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

                Real programmers use butterflies

                H Offline
                H Offline
                Hooga Booga
                wrote on last edited by
                #24

                I have to stop coding after about 9pm. If I continue after that, I am up much of the night and wasted the next day.

                Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx

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                • H honey the codewitch

                  I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

                  Real programmers use butterflies

                  B Offline
                  B Offline
                  Bruce Patin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #25

                  - Meditate - Read - Watch movies with headphones - Scroll social media until I get to the end of the Internet My wife knits while doing the above. I would practice playing the piano, except they complain of my pounding on the keys even though the sound is off.

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                  • H Hooga Booga

                    I have to stop coding after about 9pm. If I continue after that, I am up much of the night and wasted the next day.

                    Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx

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                    D Offline
                    Dweeberly
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #26

                    Check with your doctor to make sure there isn't anything abnormal afoot. Perhaps you should lean into your tendency and try biphasic sleeping ( [^] ) If you want to become a "traditionalist sleeper" stop using screens ~1 hr before bed, minimize your exposure to the blue light part of the spectrum, and meditate ~ 15 mins before going to sleep. If your head still insists on waking you up after 3-4 hrs, try doing some non-stimulating things like, gentle stretching, warm bath, meditation to see if you can get to sleep again. People are different and this just might be your body's strong preference as to sleep. If you need to fill those strange quiet hours, consider taking up an art, like writing, drawing, painting, etc. it will encourage the non-logical side of your brain to come out an play.

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                    • H honey the codewitch

                      I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

                      Real programmers use butterflies

                      E Offline
                      E Offline
                      englebart
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #27

                      You could start porting some games to run on your hardware projects. E reader/backgammon. Chess checkers etc

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                      • E englebart

                        You could start porting some games to run on your hardware projects. E reader/backgammon. Chess checkers etc

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                        H Offline
                        honey the codewitch
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #28

                        Final Fantasy I :-D Edit: Actually I could probably build an NES emulator on one.

                        Real programmers use butterflies

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                        • H honey the codewitch

                          Final Fantasy I :-D Edit: Actually I could probably build an NES emulator on one.

                          Real programmers use butterflies

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                          englebart
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #29

                          I was thinking much smaller😊 I am not surprised that you would add a few orders of magnitude. You could also try writing a screen play or something along the lines of Halt and Catch Fire

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                          • E englebart

                            I was thinking much smaller😊 I am not surprised that you would add a few orders of magnitude. You could also try writing a screen play or something along the lines of Halt and Catch Fire

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                            H Offline
                            honey the codewitch
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #30

                            I liked that show. It reminded me of when I was a kid. Also I completely identify with Cameron. What a great character.

                            Real programmers use butterflies

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                            • D dandy72

                              I kinda wished I had that problem. I'm at a point in my life where no matter how much time I spend in bed, I'm pretty much always tired anyway. And I cannot simply stay in bed, say on weekends, for X amount of additional time, no matter how hard I try. "They" keep saying 8 hours a day as the standard recommendation for an adult...and while I can stay in bed for 8 hours, there's no way I ever get 8 hours of actual sleep during that time period. I think I got off on a tangent...what do I do with my time at midnight? During weekdays, I'm sleeping (or trying to). On weekends...I might still be playing some game or watching a movie...but if I'm still up at that time, it won't be for much longer anyway.

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                              sasadler
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #31

                              Back in my college days (middle 70's) I went to a friends birthday party. Being the innocent I was back then, I ate a number of brownies snacks they had until someone told me they had hash in them. I immediately went back to the dorm, went to bed (about 10pm) and woke up at 5pm the next day!!! Maybe a magic brownie or two may help you sleep!. On a more serious note, have you tried meditation? I can waste a good hour or more meditating.

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                              • S sasadler

                                Back in my college days (middle 70's) I went to a friends birthday party. Being the innocent I was back then, I ate a number of brownies snacks they had until someone told me they had hash in them. I immediately went back to the dorm, went to bed (about 10pm) and woke up at 5pm the next day!!! Maybe a magic brownie or two may help you sleep!. On a more serious note, have you tried meditation? I can waste a good hour or more meditating.

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                dandy72
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #32

                                sasadler wrote:

                                On a more serious note, have you tried meditation? I can waste a good hour or more meditating.

                                You're not selling it describing it as such...

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                                • H honey the codewitch

                                  I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

                                  Real programmers use butterflies

                                  T Offline
                                  T Offline
                                  thewazz
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #33

                                  Exercise that makes you sweat at least a bit helps you sleep longer and better. Or Netflix. Or 10-hour long YouTube "videos" of falling rain might help. (Just audio with a black screen.) Make it quieter than you think. In the dead of night, everything seems louder. Works.

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                                  • H honey the codewitch

                                    I'm sitting in a dark bedroom with my hubby sleeping behind me, unable to keep myself entertained because I'm burnt on coding. With rare exceptions, I only sleep for four hours at a time, tops. That means I'm up at weird hours pretty much every day. What the heck do you do with your time at midnight, assuming making noise isn't on the table? Maybe I need a whole new set of hobbies. Meh.

                                    Real programmers use butterflies

                                    K Offline
                                    K Offline
                                    klinkenbecker
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #34

                                    Been there done that - and it does not end well. In my case 10 years of 4 hour sleeps ended in hospital. 4 hours is _not_ normal. I'm not saying it's bad, just not normal. All the current research does indicate that it is also bad. If you are sleeping 4 hours and always tired, you have a problem that needs addressing. Coding can be an obsession (burnt out or not) - solving the puzzle consumes the mind. Obsession is a form of angst that can cause the brain to wake up before it is fully rested. In my case, I (mostly) solved the problem using the following; 1) Use the end of the day to 'unwind' - slow the brain down and quiet the conscious, forgo all drugs for this (particularly alcohol and tea/coffee). 2) Just prior to ending your work day consider one problem for the sub-conscious to work on. Then forget about it and go to step 1 (it is for sub conscious, not conscious mind). 3) Use all means possible to eliminate blue light during 'wind-down'. Close your dev system and physically relocate away from your work space (and leave your phone). 4) Using this regimen, after 12-14 hours work and 2-4 hrs wind-down, you should start to feel really tired. It may take a week or two to get in the zone. Using this regimen I can assure 6-8 hours good sleep. Any time I let coding angst intrude it drops to 4-5. It has completely inverted my work schedule - now I get ~4 good hours work in before breakfast, ~4 good hours after breakfast and another ~4 generally solid but sometimes interrupted by life after lunch. By then I'm getting organized for the end of day 'un-wind'. No calls or work after dinner and if anyone asks me about work during that time, I'm unavailable and can't remember anyway. Usually puts me in bed fast asleep ~9pm through 3-5am. If I wake up too early, I feel groggy and can't focus (burnt out). Basics, but often overlooked - make sure you are not too hot while asleep (most people are) and have a comfortable mattress. Outside stimulants like caffeine or alcohol can screw this up for a week or more before I can get back in the zone. Oh, and that sub-conscious problem; usually solved by the morning or at least moved along.

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