Stopping When the Going's Good - Knowing How to Tell Myself When to Rest as a Programmer

How cool is watching some cyber movie or show where someone has this suddenly clarity in their thought process suddenly unfold. That moment in the movie where the scene is set with darker shades and tones, then suddenly in an instant a flash of light brings back the life of all of the colours in that scene. A means of conveying the power that the individual whose mind has just been reinvigorated. And with it - this person just jumps on somecomputer and starts dishing out this sick code. Fingers are moving like lightning and you - as the viewer - are just in awe at their prowess as the scene changes to day from night and they've got their project sorted and the individual is happy, stable and just walks on out like a champ.

Yeah... that shit doesn't happen in real life. 

I hate the thought of staying up all night every night to get someone else's work done, even though I'm getting paid to get their work done. It's a circle that's hard to avoid without active planning and fighting against yourself. I would constantly battle through my tiredness because I love to code. I love making things, even if it's someone else's work. I love learning, even at the expense of my physical well being, I thought.

I came across a paper about the lack of sleep and how dangerous it is for the mind in every sense of the word. It's messed up what putting off that ever-so-slightly healthy meal for a pack of 2 minute ramen can be for you(still tasty though). I'm not just saying this in a way that's preaching, I'm wanting to discuss this from a wholely pragmatic point of view.

If you want to be a better programmer, stop eating shit and get yourself some solid rest. I had to say this to myself a huge number of times and I'm still not 100% there yet. I actively stay up until late at night. That's probably due to the way I've messed up my sleeping pattern during the time I worked night clubs for a living. 

Nutrients

I had to think of the correct methods to maximise my work output without going out of  my way. Because as we all know, a great programmer is a lazy programmer. I started off with my nutrients, I've always had a catalogue of things that I've eaten and not eaten over the week in terms of nutrition. It's habitual and not at all a forced practice as I've always been wanting to know what goes into my body(and out). I think about amino acids and all that stuff as they're crucial to maximising brain functionality and, well, living actually. But to make sure I'm on the right I got a blood test, low on Vit D and B12. Alrighty, no biggy, supplements for that. Seems as though most developers, engineers and anyone in an office really has these issues. I actually got these blood tests before even going vegan(this isn't where I'm going with this article), so it was good to know that even whilst eating meat I wasn't getting my intake and that I needed to change things. So see a doctor if you're feeling demotivated!

Exercise

Alright, that was my nutrients side of things sorted, now what? Exercise. I climb a lot, but that wasn't enough to maintain my health if I spend 10-14 hours a day sitting at my desk. So I started setting a timer on my phone for 45 mins at a time and I'd take a 5-15 min break. I had the timer on silent, so all it takes is for my screen to light and off I go. Didn't really matter what I was doing, so long as I was moving around. Be it a stretch, some yoga poses, nap, prod your housemate or take a piss. Just to go back to the yoga thing for a sec - if anyone thinks that it's too weird to take up some yoga or something similar, I highly recommend you have a crack at it before giving your opinion on the matter. I thought it was a joke until I tried it, and now I've learned to integrate it into my exercises before I do anything strenuous... like brushing my teeth.

You

Exercise. Check what's next? Well, this one's a new age one, but your mental well being. How are you feeling? Why are you feeling this way? What can you do to alleviate or improve how you're feeling?

Toxic masculinity is a horrible culture to have ever been, well, cultured. This affects either sex and everything in between. It's ok to feel down, or up for that matter. And you should be ok with checking in with yourself every once in a while to make sure the gears up in your mind are functioning at a level that you're ok with. 

I can't speak highly enough of meditation. It's really helped me solve some coding problems along the way. As you practice it and get into a routine of practicing meditation, you reap the benefits of meditation. 

These are the things that I ticked off my things to get sorted so that I could  maximise my performance. And to be honest - it's not a silver bullet. Sometimes I act like a stubborn idiot and have these inner conflicts playing in my head where I challenge the very rule I'd tell myself before I earned my rest. As though one part of my mind is a parent and the other is the rebellious child. It's annoying! But I can definitely say that I feel much better about doing my work that although might feel like less than before, is in fact more. 

Here's the logic:

Hardcore Industrial Era Work Methodology

You spend 10-14 hours sitting on your ass staring at the screen doing the usual codey codey stuff and whatnot, inferring all this knowledge and seeing it all swirling around as you start stroking your keys. You're going great! Come 1 hour and 15 minutes into it you're just staring at the screen. You're stagnant as you feel your butt falling asleep, but you're determined to solve this problem. There's an immedate dip in performance right there, lack of coffee? Ok, go get some to give you that boost to a level that you're comfortable with. 2-3 hours later the dip occurs again. You've barely moved. This time coffee doesn't work and now you've got a constant decline in performance until the next day. 

New Age I'm a Sensitive Woke Person Work Methodology

Spends 45 minutes per hours every hour doing work. Walks around, converses, exercises or rests for 15 minutes(maximum) at a time. The performance dip is caught at the 45 minute mark and the individual is recuperating and recovering their mental and physical health by taking a break. There's a consistency between rest and work that keeps the level of active performance level and a nice equilibrium is established. This routine means the individual won't be dipping in their performance at a rate like before, all while not hating their life. 

Reading this makes me want to plot a graph, but I wont. My point with what's stated above has to do with the troubles I went through upon learning about myself and my horrible work ethic at the time. People might think that it's admirable to be working so hard, but it's even more admirable to value your time and learn how to maximise it to the best of your abilities. I'm after active learning, active performance and an active mindset. If I feel as though I'm beginning to stagnate, then I make it well clear that I'm not going to sit around and wait for the immense amount of negativity. Which brings me to my final point - stand up for yourself. If you're feeling like you need some rest, you go and get that rest. It was so horrible to continuously push myself to make some other fuck head happy at the sacrifice of my well being. 

These are the things I did to ensure I got my rest, I wanted that colour back in my eyes so bad as I'd gotten sick of just staring at a screen knowing that I could do better, but couldn't perform to the potential that I knew I had. My point in this article was to let you - the reader - take in some of that information and self-reflect on your performance and ascertain as to whether you think you could make optimal improvements to yourself so that you could perform to your potential. I am writing this article with programmers in mind - but this would have to apply to anyone who's feeling like they've had a hard time achieving that active mindset they know that they have.

Before even getting started with building my company, I first thought about the core values that needed to go with it, and it sure as hell wasn't to do with what every other generation calls 'hard work'.