tips needed; dealing with mental block while coding

[tleslie]

On Tue, 2007-03-27 at 10:20 -0400, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 26, 2007 at 11:20:05PM -0400, tleslie wrote:
> > My full time job, oh and I mean full time !is coding (well lately some
> > sysadm has creep'd in). 22 years! and counting.
> > 
> > Things I have done - to make programming fun and easy at all times:
> > 
> > 1) seating and feeling good while programing. If you are going to
> > program for say even only 8 hours a day, for say 40 years ... set aside
> > a  $.03 for each of those hours now, and buy, (as i have), a
> > $1600.00-$2500.00 super chair, i have essentially a lazy boy recliner
> > version of a programmers chair, and am programming in complete comfort
> > at about a 45 degree incline. Its such a nice chair that i WANT to be in
> > it.
> > 2) by same logic as above, set aside another $0.02 and buy a pair of
> > dual 22", 24" or 30" monitors so you have a proper programmers sized
> > desktop! ok, actually i need four 30 monitors to be comfortable, but I
> > am waiting for them to come down in price a bit and also have to
> > consider the card(s) and machine to drive them.
> 
> Those 30" sure do look nice.  Not sure I would even need more than one
> of those.
> 
> > 3) try to lose yourself in the programming, and thus program at times
> > you will not get interrupted. I find my best times to program are on
> > weekend and from midnight to 8am for that reason, however I can alter my
> > schedule and even alter my "holidays" to make up the time. 
> 
> I have a wife and friends to see on the weekends and evenings, and
> coworkers to see during the daytime. :)
> 
> > 4) listen to tunes ... for me I always have, as of late, Queensryche
> > blaring out of headphones at volumes that make a ipod at "10" seem like
> > a whisper .. ok i exaggerate :) but I am rocking to tunes!
> > 5) get paid well, not being happy about doing it is a sure way to become
> > dejected.
> 
> Enjoying what you are working on is probably more important that just
> being paid well.  Being paid well helps too if you don't enjoy it, but I
> don't think it will last very well.
> 
> > 6) use good programming tools that are efficient. I use slickedit, which
> > for a linux programmer is a dream. I try to do most programming in one
> > super language, i.e. Mono/C#, but at times I have to use C if for kernel
> > programming and such.
> 
> How can slickedit (whatever that is) possibly beat vim?

Vim and emacs are built into slcikedit!!! is that cool or what!!!
> 
> > 7) get 2000 calories of exercise everyday, ymmv but get some exercise
> > even if not 2000cal worth. try to get at least 20 min. of sweat
> > generating exercise at a minimum each day. sitting all day is bad for
> > circulation, even on a 2K$! If you bought a 4K$ massage chair that might
> > be a different story but again your better off with the exercise
> > regardless.
> 
> That is probably a very good idea.  Not necesarily easy to get into the
> habit though.
> 
> > 8) make sure you have an awsome keyboard, I use a split, humped ergo
> > with touch pad at thumbs, so no need to reach for the mouse (i.e. no
> > reason to be inefficent).
> 
> Needing a mouse at all for programming generally means you have
> something setup infficiently. :)
> 
> > 9) do all the things you were taught in school about modularizing your
> > programming tasks, and such. I use "View your mind" a mind mapping tool,
> > (http://www.insilmaril.de/vym/)  and export to html, and TaskJuggler  -
> > to keep things organized.
> 
> Making a list of small things that have to be done in the project so you
> can check them off seems nice.  If you think of something while working
> on something else, add it to the list rather than getting distracted by
> the new idea.
> 
> > Having said that, if i had to report to a office and punch a clock, sit
> > in a chair they provide for me, and on even a reasonably good system, I
> > probably wouldn't be a happy efficient programmer, at least not for a 40
> > + year tour.
> 
> --
> Len Sorensen
> --
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