Nice to see that I'm not the only one
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It's my first day back and I'm really struggling to be productive. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html Michael :-)
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That describes me to a tee. I think the older you get, the more frequently you hit "the dead zone". "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I think the older you get, the more frequently you hit "the dead zone". I agree. The last couple of years have seen an increase in my amount of "dead zone" time. Oh well, only another 20 years until I hit my pension retirement age. Michael :-)
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It's my first day back and I'm really struggling to be productive. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html Michael :-)
As usual, the guy describes my life exactly. After 20 days off (less one day last week), it's damn tough to get my brain working again. -c
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It's my first day back and I'm really struggling to be productive. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html Michael :-)
Yes. That is me as well. I am feeling guilty all the time, because I feel that 80% of the time I get paid for doing nothing. When I think about it more though I realize that it is not necessarily true. I think about my work all the time. I mean in actuality, I do a lot of my work in my head, but because a lot of this time I do not actually produce any visible results (code) I feel guilty. I know that it seems to people that I do not do much of anything. Or maybe I just think that and people don't care one way or the other. And when I get rolling I cannot stop. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking "Oh! This is how I need to implement that feature/function/solution" or "This bug I was tracking down for 2 days is actually because of that line of code there..." or "I know why server is acting up it's because ... ". So if you take my sleeping time into account when I am on the roll I probably work 24 hours per day and that compensates somewhat for that 80% of the time when I am not typing anything... It is all very confusing. :)
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Yes. That is me as well. I am feeling guilty all the time, because I feel that 80% of the time I get paid for doing nothing. When I think about it more though I realize that it is not necessarily true. I think about my work all the time. I mean in actuality, I do a lot of my work in my head, but because a lot of this time I do not actually produce any visible results (code) I feel guilty. I know that it seems to people that I do not do much of anything. Or maybe I just think that and people don't care one way or the other. And when I get rolling I cannot stop. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking "Oh! This is how I need to implement that feature/function/solution" or "This bug I was tracking down for 2 days is actually because of that line of code there..." or "I know why server is acting up it's because ... ". So if you take my sleeping time into account when I am on the roll I probably work 24 hours per day and that compensates somewhat for that 80% of the time when I am not typing anything... It is all very confusing. :)
Konstantin, think there are enough people here that may sign to your words. As we used to say in Russian, "the programmer is not a trade, it is a diagnosis". Regards, Gennady
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It's my first day back and I'm really struggling to be productive. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html Michael :-)
I totally enjoyed that article. Thanks for sharing it. This phenonenom is why I always worked all night at least 3 nights a week. I could get a whole weeks worth of work done in one night with no interruptions and without the shut down/start up phase. Without admitting that I am getting older :-O I will say that it is tough for me to work all night consistently unless I have something very challenging or exciting to work on. (Once I let myself experience the wonders of bed, I have become addicted. Ha!) In any case, as someone else said, this "dead zone" stuff happens more with age or perhaps more with repeated disillusionment. As another idea though to increase the productive time, I have found that shutting down my email and other external electronic communications (including cell phone, etc.) until a certain point has been reached helps. I just need to make myself do that more often.
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Yes. That is me as well. I am feeling guilty all the time, because I feel that 80% of the time I get paid for doing nothing. When I think about it more though I realize that it is not necessarily true. I think about my work all the time. I mean in actuality, I do a lot of my work in my head, but because a lot of this time I do not actually produce any visible results (code) I feel guilty. I know that it seems to people that I do not do much of anything. Or maybe I just think that and people don't care one way or the other. And when I get rolling I cannot stop. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking "Oh! This is how I need to implement that feature/function/solution" or "This bug I was tracking down for 2 days is actually because of that line of code there..." or "I know why server is acting up it's because ... ". So if you take my sleeping time into account when I am on the roll I probably work 24 hours per day and that compensates somewhat for that 80% of the time when I am not typing anything... It is all very confusing. :)
Do you produce results? Do you meet your deadline and are your products well coded? If yes then that is all that is needed, IMHO. If you code for one hour a day and spend the rest looking at porn sites it does not matter, as long as you meet or better the results expected of you. A lot of bad managers get hung up on people who seem to do nothing yet always produce the goods. They think there is something wrong and often favour the "hard worker" who tries so, so hard and is always typing away but never seems to quite match the deadlines. Odd if you ask me... but then it is related to the whole "why are you dressed in shorts and a t-shirt at work, Paul?" thing. If you get your job done and don't stop others getting theirs done then you are worth it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa Do you Sonork? I do! 100.9903 Stormfront "The greatest thing you will ever learn is to love, and be loved in return" - Moulin Rouge
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That describes me to a tee. I think the older you get, the more frequently you hit "the dead zone". "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I think the older you get, the more frequently you hit "the dead zone". :eek: :omg: Uh oh! Lets see, almost 21 now and having a hard time coding for more than 3 weeks before running out of steam. Another 40-50 years and I'll be down to only 1 day before I need a break! :omg: :eek: Now hoping for an early retirement, James Sonork ID: 100.11138 - Hasaki
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I think the older you get, the more frequently you hit "the dead zone". :eek: :omg: Uh oh! Lets see, almost 21 now and having a hard time coding for more than 3 weeks before running out of steam. Another 40-50 years and I'll be down to only 1 day before I need a break! :omg: :eek: Now hoping for an early retirement, James Sonork ID: 100.11138 - Hasaki
The degradation curve geometrically increases as time drags on. My curve is about to fold over on itself (I'm pretty old though, so it's expected). By the time you're 45, you'll be looking for another career, too. Maybe being a movie theater usher... Yeah, that stimulates absolutely ZERO brain cells.... "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001
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It's my first day back and I'm really struggling to be productive. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html Michael :-)
Ok - that happens to everyone. Procrastination sucks... :) How many times did you spend a couple of weeks thinking (just THINKING!) on how to implement something and when your deadline comes, you do it in less than 4 hours with the worse code you've ever seen? :) Regards, Wanderley
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Konstantin, think there are enough people here that may sign to your words. As we used to say in Russian, "the programmer is not a trade, it is a diagnosis". Regards, Gennady
That's right - we are very sick people and nothing is going to save us now... :)
