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Comment by diminoten | Hacker News Reader

I just find these kinds of statements to be more self-justification than anything else.

"No one should ever work more than 40 hours a week!"

"Productivity beyond 4 hours a day is impossible!"

Why must I shackle myself to these seemingly arbitrary limitations that other people have? If I'm having fun coding something for 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I feel I can sustain this output, why do I have to limit myself?

Maybe I (or someone who's able to do this) can just work harder than you (or someone who can't do this). What's the big deal?

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As someone who's been there done that: throttling yourself a little bit is a lot more productive in the long-term.

I used to work to the point of exhaustion. Now I work to a clock I've come up with empirically. This means that instead of having bursts of super productivity followed by weeks/months of tiredness or simple "Meh, that's not interesting" I can trod along, putting one foot in front of the next, with a consistent pace. Day in, day out. You might outsprint me today, but I will be there when you're tired, and I will be walking at the same pace I am now.

I am an orc. I do not stop. I do not tire. I just go. Forever. At a constant pace. I will outplod you.

Persistence is humanity greatest natural asset next to intelligence. Use it. We are very bad sprinters.

Gimme one more upvote button, this is a GREAT thought.

It's definitely my way of thinking, since today has worked well, and I'm glad that someone applies it harder than me.

    I am an orc. I do not stop. I do not tire.

On a side note, you're probably thinking of the Uruk-hai, not the orcs. When the Uruk-hai have captured Merry and Pippin and are running towards Isengard, they boast that they can run both day and night - unlike orcs, who would prefer to hide during the day and move only at night.

I find the best way to accomplish this is a more scientific task breakdown. When a road block is encountered that would normally disrupt flow I stand back and analyze the subproblem with new desired outcomes.

The most time consuming and frustrating problems usually have some element of psychological aversion. Like involving a language, tool or subject matter that I either dislike or don't feel confident in solving. Break down the reasons for the aversion and jump right in!

Just last week I had an issue that I realized could be solved with some judicious GDB. I spent 3 hours just learning the tool, solved my problem and checked off a mental handicap.

Don't require "successful outcomes" all the time, slowly and methodically enjoy the journey and keep on eye on forward progress but don't demand it.

> Don't require "successful outcomes" all the time, slowly and methodically enjoy the journey and keep on eye on forward progress but don't demand it.

Which is exactly where most of these "I can code all day, I can code all day"[1] programmers fail. As soon as an obstacle comes, they crash and burn because they are too used to riding a wave of endorphins.

[1] reference to FPSDoug, in case anyone remembers him.

If I'm working on something interesting I can do 8, 10, even 12 hours of coding without being aware of the time passing; but that's not the point, we're talking of averages here.

Also, some people in 2 hours can obtain the same results of me doing 8 hours of work - that's about quality, so the "woking-harder" it's not a valid argument: the real problem is "working focused"

You want to play a word game? Fine. Substitute whatever words you'd use for "working focused" with every time I used the words "working hard".

The point stands. Maybe I (or someone) just works harder/more focused, for longer, than you (or someone else). Why should that person hold themselves to your standards and not theirs?

If you're able to pull it off, good for you. Rest of us, as this and numerous other discussions here on HN show, find it hard. Its a pretty big deal. You don't really have to complain about it. You're probably the exception, not the rule. :)

In fact, it would be more useful if you can tell us more about how you it.

Is it just an innate ability you've got or something you learnt to do? Do you have any hacks/system like the pomodoro technique?

Do you have off days?

How often do you get 'into the zone' a day? Because, if you can only last a couple of hours in the zone (like me), then to get 8 hours of productive work would take me 12-13 hours to accomodate breaks, food etc. Do you have the luxury of not having to check your mail too often?

If you work with other people, do you notice them working less/more than you?

I doubt I have anything new to add to the conversation.

The things that people say "don't work" or "can't be sustained" do work for me and can be sustained for me. To wit, things people say "do work" and "can be sustained" just don't work well for me.

For example, I'm able to jump back into "flow" quickly when someone knocks me out with a question or need, and I find it hard to put something down once I start working on it, until I've reached a satisfactory end point. I find taking intentional and small, frequent, breaks during the day is disruptive and hurts my productivity (though it's probably healthy for my back and eyes, I suppose).

It's just plain silly to walk around saying "40 hours" is the magic number, or "8 hours" is the maximum anyone can work productively. Averages may be around those values, but for individuals, any point along the line is possible.

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