## Lights out
-First, we need to acknowledge that we can't be on all the time. You may know this intuitively and think "yes, of course" but knowing is not the same as doing. We need to have a periods where we are not programming and not thinking about programming. We need to have moments where we can turn off the programmer part of our being. These periods of not-programming are vital to our well-being and give us chances to explore the wider world and let our minds rest in-between programming sessions.
+First, we need to acknowledge that we can't be on all the time. We may know this intuitively and think "yes, of course" but knowing is not the same as doing. We need to have a periods where we are not programming and not thinking about programming. We should have moments where we can turn off the programmer part of our being. These periods of not-programming are vital to our well-being and give us chances to explore the wider world and let our minds rest in-between programming sessions.
-This can be tricky if we feel like we're falling behind in our learning. When are we supposed to learn all of the new things happening daily? When are we supposed to catch up on all of that technical debt you've been accruing over the years? When will we have time to learn the ins-and-outs of technologies that aren't part of our day-to-day work but are still interesting to us?
+This can be tricky if we feel like we're falling behind in our learning. When are we supposed to learn all of the new things happening daily? When are we supposed to catch up on all of that technical debt we've been accruing over the years? When will we have time to learn the ins-and-outs of technologies that aren't part of our day-to-day work but are still interesting to us?
-These feelings that we have (that there's more to do and that we need to spend every waking moment doing it lest we fall behind) isn't helped by programmers who look super productive. These are the programmers that think of a clever idea in the morning and have a working prototype in the afternoon (while still handling normal work routine). When we compare ourselves against these programmers we wonder if they ever take time away from the computer.
+These feelings that we have (that there's more to do and that we need to spend every waking moment doing it lest we fall behind) aren't helped when we compare ourselves to other programmers who appear super productive. These are the programmers who think of a clever idea in the morning and have a working prototype in the afternoon (while still handling normal work routine). When we compare ourselves against these programmers we wonder if they ever take time away from the computer.
-We can acknowledge that we have feelings of wanting to push ourselves to keep learning and doing. We can see ourselves when we think "just one more line of code before bed" or convince ourselves "I can read a few more articles or pages or [insert favorite way to consume more information here]". We can pause and see where these feelings and thoughts come from and understand why we're still pushing ourselves beyond exhaustion.
+We can acknowledge that we have feelings of wanting to push ourselves to keep learning and doing. We can notice our feelings when we think "just one more line of code before bed" or convince ourselves "I can read a few more articles or pages or [insert favorite way to consume more information here]". We can pause and notice where these feelings and thoughts come from and understand why we're still pushing ourselves beyond exhaustion.
These feelings usually stem from a sense of inadequacy. We feel like we're not measuring up to the ideals we have; whether these ideals are ones we've created or ones that are externally driven. These ideals come from analyzing other programmers (colleagues or folks we admire), and measuring our progress against their work. They also come from our own mythical idea of what the perfect programmer is.
-What we need to realize is that those ideas of what makes good and perfect programmers are fantasies. They're a composite of what we think a good and perfect programmer should be. They don't exist in the real world. True, we may see programmers out there that seem to wake up with a keyboard attached to their hands, spend the entire day coding, and go to sleep with dreams of more code formulating in their heads. But we need to realize that we're only seeing one side of their lives. We're not seeing the whole picture of who they are. We need to focus on our own bodies and minds and realize when they're tired and need rest. We can't make ourselves into other people, we need to work with who and what we are.
+What we need to realize is that those ideas of what makes good and perfect programmers are fantasies. They're a composite of what we think a good and perfect programmer should be. They don't exist in the real world. True, we may see programmers out there that seem to wake up with a keyboard attached to their hands, spend the entire day coding, and go to sleep with dreams of more code formulating in their heads. But we need to realize that we're only seeing one side of their lives. We're not seeing the whole picture of who they are. We need to focus on our own bodies and minds and realize when we are tired and need rest. We can't make ourselves into other people; we need to work with who and what we are.
Our bodies require down-time in order to be most effective. We need moments where we can step away from the keyboard and allow ourselves to wind down and relax. Our minds are not designed for constant work, especially at the levels that computer programming requires. The sooner we realize we should step back and take breaks throughout the day to recharge ourselves the happier (and more productive) we will be.
## Taking a break
-Taking a break is more than just flipping over to another application on our computer. My tendency while taking a break is to start checking my email or open up one of my various chat programs to catch up on what happened since I last opened it (usually since the last time I took a break). But this really isn't taking a break as it is trying to multi-task at my desk. Real breaks involve getting up from the computer. It doesn't have to be a large break; taking a break can be as simple as moving away from your work-space into another room or area. But you you need to stand up from your computer to get a "context switch", where your mind can feel like it isn't in the same place as it was earlier. Context Switching lets your mind completely switch out and flush out the context of the area you're in. It allows your mind to focus on new context and new input.
+Taking a break is more than just flipping over to another application on our computer. My tendency while taking a break is to start checking my email or open up one of my various chat programs to catch up on what happened since I last opened it (usually since the last time I took a break). But this really isn't taking a break as it is trying to multi-task at my desk. Real breaks involve getting up from the computer. It doesn't have to be a large break; taking a break can be as simple as moving away from your work-space into another room or area. But you you need to move away from your computer to get a "context switch", where your mind can feel like it isn't in the same place as it was earlier. Context Switching lets your mind completely switch out and flush out the context of the area you're in. It allows your mind to focus on new context and new input.
This can be tricky in an office where the underlying expectation is that one must be at their work space in order to be productive. And there are only so many "bio breaks" (breaks that are related to matters of human biology, also known as using the restroom) someone can take in such situations. How can you give yourself the context switch your mind needs in such situations?
If your workplace has a culture that allows you to step away from your desk and move around then that would be a great context switch. Adding a physical component (as much as you are able) to your context switch can help your mind to relax and recharge.
-You'll have to experiment with a few of these and see what works. At the bare minimum you'll want your mind to feel as though it doesn't have to be on all the time. You want your mind to have cool-down periods between coding sessions so it can flush the remnants of that session from your mental "cache" and into longer-term storage. Then when you get back to your coding session you'll be more likely to remember what was going on.
+You'll have to experiment with a few of these to determine what works. At the bare minimum you'll want your mind to feel as though it doesn't have to be on all the time. You want your mind to have cool-down periods between coding sessions so it can flush the remnants of that session from your mental "cache" and into longer-term storage. Then when you get back to your coding session you'll be more likely to remember what was going on.
You may also find when you go away from the computer for a while that you'll forget what you were previously doing. That's OK too. What I would recommend is keeping a journal or log of what you were thinking in as much detail as you need. Either write them on a physical piece of paper or use a text file to keep these notes so you'll have enough clues to allow you to pick up where you left off.
projects / themediocreprogrammer.git / commitdiff