One of the big problems I have as a developer is being able to stop working. When I’m in the midst of a several day/week project, it’s hard to just stop and leave the rest for the morning (and after). It’s particularly hard to get my brain to stop thinking about the next steps I’ll be working on.
That’s one of the reasons I took up running. After a hard day’s coding I hit the road for 10-15 kilometers.
Clears out my mind and keeps me fit.
Since I work from home, I often work after dinner until I go to bed – I need an equivilent I can do in 10-15 minutes that doesn’t wake me up. 🙂
ah, i remember that feeling … when all the little pieces you built start to come together and actually work … and it’s like, *cool* and stuff.
I totally understand what you’re saying. I don’t work from home but am doing a fair amount of web development at work right now, and am the only one working on the project as far as the technical piece goes, so it’s hard to just stop and say, “Ok, I’ll write that piece tomorrow.” It’s even hard to say, “I’m not done with this feature I’m working on, but I can finish it tomorrow.”
maybe play monopoly with someone or play chess…(is there a computer version of monopoly?)
-paultwo
I totally agree. It is just one of those things. My gf jokes that there are invisible chains that link me to the computer at all times. It is hard to get away because you never know when that perfect idea for code will hit.
Well, you could always enter a task into Tasks and let yourself know what the last thing you were working on was, along with any reference materials you were looking at when you decided to stop … it’s called parking on a downhill slope by some. 😉
Remember, studies show that productivity flags after eight hours worked a day, and really falls off exponentially after ten hours. 🙂
I’ve generally got the tasks already – it’s more a matter of disengaging the brain. 🙂
Don’t you have a wife to hit you over the head with a rubber mallet? 😉