Dead Men Write No Code

https://medium.com/@gavanw/dead-men-write-no-code-e9a7c5daf5d

by k__ • 10 years ago

260 88 10 years ago

tresil• 10 years ago

A very well written wake up call. It's pretty much exactly what I'm doing right now and I needed the motivation to make physical exertion a mandatory part of my daily life. Thanks for posting.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Thanks, as I've mentioned elsewhere - I am (possibly) alive right now because someone else took the time to write about this in their blog (the one I reached with Google). I feel obligated to help spread some additional awareness.

criddell• 10 years ago

Like almost everybody else here, I've been meaning to get more exercise. I got a couple of exercise apps on my phone. I have an app to track my daily progress and one that tries to keep me accountable. I've bought shoes and clothes. I bought a rack, a barbell, 280 lbs of plates, a bunch of dumbbells, and a bench. I installed a pullup bar in my house. I bought a standup paddleboard and a new bicycle. I've done everything except actually exercise.

Your post has motivated me to actually stop preparing and start working. Thank you.

leroy_masochist2• 10 years ago

Following the passage of Obamacare, insurance companies are required to cover blood labs as part of an annual preventative care visit. This is a great opportunity that far to many people pass up. You get a lot more insight out of those labs than you do from just blood pressure and resting heart rate -- especially if you track things year-to-year.

nugget• 10 years ago

Just a heads up that this may not be the case for everyone. I have an ACA plan and while the PCP visit was free, the blood test he ordered was not. There's still some confusion about exactly what's covered and what's not, and it sounds like it could change over time.

http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/03/08/does-the-aca-ac...

leroy_masochist2• 10 years ago

Sorry, to be clear -- an annual PCP visit may result in the doctor ordering a blood test that you have to partially pay for, depending on what the doctor thinks needs to be done following his/her examination of you.

Basic blood work of a preventative-care nature, such as HDL/LDL ratio, triglycerides, etc, is covered. Those are the metrics I was referring to in the parent comment.

corpus• 10 years ago

Very scary. Not only am I even MUCH more sedentary than this guy, and also 34 years old, according to 23andme I am at very very high risk for blood clotting.

tluyben24• 10 years ago

Do a checkup to see if you are doing as bad as you think and have your blood checked. Not more you can do besides getting a standing desk and realise you are a good while into your one life. You can take aspirin if your stomach can take it: half a day seems to benefit everyone with or without dispositions. Better in my very humble, previously hypochondriac and stressed person, opinion to live a nice life not thinkig about this crap and money and carreer too much but focus on family and friends and hobbies.

colindean• 10 years ago

I dropped 50 lbs 2014-2015. It's worked wonders for my confidence. I didn't really need the boost for dating since I'm in a long term relationship. It did come at a time when I transitioned to a new role within my company and needed a massive boost of confidence to get over imposter syndrome and pioneer my own destiny.

ezeql• 10 years ago

Been there. Cheers.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

I've fluctuated in the range of about 30 or 40 pounds in terms of my weight. It is much harder to motivate once you are in a relationship (that's just the way it goes). But it will go a long way towards making you feel better in other ways, both physically and mentally. And of course, it will help keep you alive. :)

tluyben24• 10 years ago

I had a TIA at 28 working like that. Some people need warning signs and I definitely did as I thought I was invincible. I recovered physically in a few months but the shock took years; dying never occured to me. I get more work done now than I did then, working 4 hours standing behind a computer while spending the rest of the day walking in nature and thinking and having conversations via Skype with my peers. I believed then fast typing and iterating for long stretches of time was a thing that speeds up work and could do it for 18 hours a day: it is nonsense. Programmers who believe that have a lot to learn. They might be dead or worse before that though.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Glad to hear you are ok. I am also an advocate of shorter work schedules - it was not my recent incident, but rather having a child that prompted this. Having a child reduced my available hours and made me optimize the time I did have to work - and I found out I was more productive when I used my time carefully, rather than allowing procrastination and working longer hours. To be clear, even with a child my hours were much longer than they should have been (12 hours a day, 7 days a week, vs 15 hour days)

tluyben24• 10 years ago

I think that is important to get out there: those long work hours and, while coding is a brain activity and logically can take place mostly in your brain much faster than you can ever type, advocating long hours behind a computer is not more productive. It really does not have to be. And that is important!

jhallenworld• 10 years ago

The simple truth is that if you are getting blood clots in your 30s (I am 34), there is something horribly wrong with your lifestyle

I'm not so sure... I tend to think the sedentary lifestyle is revealing some kind of predisposition for them (especially given Gavan's apparent level of fitness and activity).

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

There is a genetic trait called Factor V Leiden which will make you predisposed to blood clots (some tests can reveal if you have it). I am not sure if I have it but it can be a factor outside of diet and exercise. But you don't need my case as a warning - studies have linked sitting to death for at least several years now. How valid they are is up for question, but better safe than sorry. :)

cyphar• 10 years ago

but better safe than sorry. :)

While I agree that as a culture we need to prioritize our health a lot more, it's a dangerous attitude to claim that "it's better to be safe than sorry". Doing things out of fear and ignorance is not better than making well-educated decisions. In all fairness, there is plenty of evidence to support that apes (that's us) are not meant to sit all day.

FreedomToCreate• 10 years ago

I scary to think about. I currently spend my days in a start up incubator and a majority of people in there are on this same schedule. They sit for 8-10 hours a day and rarely exercise, all with the hope and sometime soon they will be back to living an active lifestyle (once they have money)

philovivero• 10 years ago

Let them know, and this is from a dude that's been doing it for some of the brightest stars in tech since the 1990's, that the money never comes. Tell them to take care of their health now.

sarciszewski• 10 years ago

I feel like sharing something. It's somewhat a tangent to this article (and isn't special enough to really share as a separate submission or anything) but still related.

For a while, I was working 40+ hours per week at my dayjob and making far less than the median programmer salary in my city. I was paid hourly (so holidays were the worst; no paid time off but not allowed to work), had no benefits, etc.

A lot of articles I read on HN at the time made me feel worse about my situation, because their words of encouragement ("value yourself! demand more! you can't help the people you love if you die!" etc) when filtered through my circumstances ("plead guily to a federal felony" -> immediate permanent disadvantage with any salary or benefits negotiation; you're lucky if anyone, anywhere will even believe they're legally allowed to hire you) made me question whether or not I even valued myself.

I decided that, if the posts on HN and Reddit decrying impostor syndrome and investing time in one's health were at all applicable to me, I clearly must not care if I live or die. So I started downing more and more energy drinks and spending more and more time on side-projects, hoping that one of them would finally become impressive enough to serve as a distraction to prospective employers.

That line of thinking only got derailed when I realized that employment is a sucker's game and consulting is the way to go. None of the messages intended to change my mind had a positive effect, they just made me sad.

All of the "take care of yourself" styled articles made me feel bad but never prompted positive change. The title "Dead Men Write No Code" made me remember the older posts I read and I sort of rolled my eyes expecting the same spiel I've heard a thousand times. I was pleasantly surprised to see a well-written, concise, and on-point warning about symptoms and their possible consequences.

If anyone reading this is in the same sort of situation I was in (working 40+ thankless hours per week and spending all your off-time trying to work on building your own company to get out of your own personal hell), I'm sorry to say I don't have any advice to offer. Every situation is different. Feel free to reach out to me, however, if you need someone to vent to. And if I do have any ideas, I'll let you know.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Thanks for sharing, I think this is totally relevant.

"working 40+ thankless hours per week and spending all your off-time trying to work on building your own company to get out of your own personal hell"

This was me circa 2006 to 2013. I now have what many would consider a dream job, and even I myself thought it to be one at first. But the truth is even the job you think you will enjoy the most might not end up that (I still am very grateful to be in my position in spite of current challenges though). The line that separates the super successful from the average person is ridiculously thin (hence all the talk of imposter syndrome, here on HN and elsewhere).

I don't have any good advice in this respect either, other than you have to find a way to be happy, whatever that entails. A common notion is that you need to get rich to live the life you want, but this is not necessarily true.

As for the felony, I suppose it depends what it is (I'm not asking you to disclose it). Some things might be harder for an employer to swallow than others. If your felony was hacking into the Pentagon, I'd put that directly on your resume.

hackaflocka• 10 years ago

Please learn about "body-weight workouts." Yoga is the original body-weight workout. But there are many others.

You don't need a gym to get a full workout. All I have is a doorway pull-up bar and a yoga mat. I get a full body-weight workout in less than 10 minutes spread over 1 minute breaks through the entire day. And I love long walks.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Yep, here is one such variant for those interested: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-mi...

krig• 10 years ago

I'm using this app daily. There's some annoying monetization stuff in there (They charge you if you miss more than 3 days of exercise per month - hmm. Now that I said it, I guess that's not a terrible idea per se), but the basic 7-minutes-per-day is enough for me at least. http://perigee.se/apps/seven/

chaostheory• 10 years ago

Treadmill desks are a relatively inexpensive option now.

* Treadmills designed for walking run about $1000

* Standing desks with accessories run from $300 - $500

UPDATE: forgot to add that you can probably make these tax deductible as well since it's being used for work

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

And I should add, for the person not ready to drop ~$2000 on their setup: I guarantee your healthcare bills will run much higher than that - you can't put a price on your life. Alternately you can hack a cheap solution, but if you have the money, a "real" setup is hard to beat.

gambiting• 10 years ago

Weirdly enough, coming from a country with public healthcare my first thought was "ha, my bills will be exactly zero!", but after 5 seconds I realised that it's not about the bill, it's about staying healthy :P Weird reaction on my part.

jawngee• 10 years ago

I was diagnosed with a DVT three weeks ago. The perfect storm of sedentary lifestyle (though I do work standing up about 66% of the day), overweight, smoking and falling asleep for 10 hours straight on a flight from Vietnam to NYC with my leg folded underneath me.

The only symptom was a charlie horse feeling in my left leg the next day. No swelling, no redness.

My clot was controversial though, apparently they weren't 100% sure it was a DVT or a clot in the muscle close to the deep vein. We are treating it like is a DVT though. I'll be on blood thinners (Xarelto) for the next 3 months. Already quit smoking, am walking twice daily.

The flight back to Vietnam was a little anxious though.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Yep, I should add in that flights are a very common catalyst for DVTs. So common that they often call it "economy class syndrome" (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15...) - my clot was possibly catalyzed by a flight but that is not yet conclusive. Needless to say, try to move around as much as possible on a flight (even it means wiggling your toes or legs), and stay healthy (you are much more likely to get a DVT from a flight if you are already unhealthy).

coned885• 10 years ago

If you're interested this paper has a very detailed look at how flights affect us

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21981017

I read it when I had access years ago.

coned885• 10 years ago

If there's a possibility that this came from a flight then you may want to add that to the story. When was the last flight you took prior to the 2 weeks of the pain starting?

sbank• 10 years ago

I try to get up every 1-2 hours and walk around and do some exercises when I'm on a long-haul flight. I'm that weird guy doing squats and other exercises at the back of the plane. If there is no room outside I use a bathroom. I also drink a lot of water, which causes me to get up anyway because I have to go to the bathroom more often.

dopeboy2• 10 years ago

Glad I'm not the only one who does that. I've found stairs (to first class) to be helpful for incline based exercises.

myztic2• 10 years ago

On a side note: A very cheap solution to mimic a standing desk:

Use your ironing board, mine does the job. It goes barely high enough, I put an additional book under the Notebook and now it's the right hight, enough room for Notebook, Lamp and a Book and it's next to my desk so I can easily switch back to it if I want.

Actually it does such a good job, that I don't think I'll buy a standing desk now, good that I don't iron my clothes anyway ;)

skrebbel2• 10 years ago

I find that when I stand in front of a laptop, either the keys are too high or the screen is too low, and I bend my back a lot. Of course the proportions are the same when sitting, but in a chair, my lower back is supported so it's not so bad. But when I stand, my posture is awful. How do you deal with this?

myztic2• 10 years ago

I have a Thinkpad T520 and can bend the display back all the way (~180 degrees), so that takes care of this problem. Also maybe consider a pair of running shoes for inside only? They help maintaining a good posture and standing might be more comfortable for you.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Get an extra mouse and keyboard. Even a cheap $15 mouse/keyboard are often more comfortable to use than a laptop trackpad and built-in keyboard (IMO at least)

Symbiote• 10 years ago

British workplace safety rules essentially prevent use of laptops for any sustained use. (These rules apply to employees working from home, adhering to them is a barrier to allowing working from home.)

"when using a laptop without additional equipment (laptop stand, full sized keyboard and mouse), it is advisable that its use is restricted to spells of 30-40 minutes with significant task breaks between

"A laptop should not be used where a standard DSE [Display Screen Equipment] workstation set up can be reasonably provided" [1]

If you can't buy a monitor you could get a laptop stand ("Bräda") from Ikea, to improve the angle of the display [2]. Or make one.

I don't know of any alternative to a separate keyboard and mouse.

[1] http://www.bradford.gov.uk/hands/documents/New%20Ways%20of%2...

[2] http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/wor...

CydeWeys• 10 years ago

Laptops are terrible ergonomically in all positions. Turn it into a desktop setting by adding either a separate screen or separate mouse/keyboard.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Some other solutions: use shoe boxes, coke cans, thick books, etc to prop up your monitor and keyboard. Alternatively, you can get a chair that encourages movement and circulation. At minimum, with no desk/chair changes, get up and walk around every 45 minutes (many apps will give you a timer for this purpose)

tajen• 10 years ago

IKEA has a $10 living room table that is available worldwide (I believe it is part of the Malm series). It is about 45cm high, which is exactly the distance between a desk and a standing desk.

skrebbel2• 10 years ago

That must be LACK.

quickpost• 10 years ago

I have rationalized it with the “wealth before health” attitude that seems to be prevalent in the startup world (even though wealth is not my primary motivator, you get the idea). “I just need to make it through this year, and then I can exercise” and “exercise will kill my productivity” are two lies I have been telling myself for the past several years. I have taken a similar attitude with my diet, which is far from great.

Wow. That describes my attitude for the last year or so to a "T". Pushing off "getting healthy" for the "more successful" me that lies ahead. No more of that. I definitely needed to read this article tonight - time to get back to a regular routine and try to live a more maintainable lifestyle!

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

A lot of people, myself included, wait for "trigger" circumstances. In fact, I've already done this three times in my life - usually spawned by moving to a new location and having a new job (in one case, it was leaving high school and entering college).

vok5• 10 years ago

One easy way to start is to exercise 3-4 times a week right after waking up. I do it for 20 minutes and I feel better. If I don't exercise enough, I feel guilty and also feel like crap after a few days as I do sit a lot (programming and video games)

matheweis• 10 years ago

I read this several years ago, and it has ever since resonated with me...

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

coned885• 10 years ago

There's a lot of good info here as well as some misinformation. As a fellow anxiety sufferer this is all too familiar.

In medicine there an idea of Virchow's_triad [0]. Either there's something wrong with your blood, the blood vessel walls became injured or there is abnormal blood flow.

In young people and even 34 is fairly young. Blood clots aren't all that common. Even in long haul air travel the risk is so much higher in the elderly, obese and those who have had recent surgery.

What I am trying to bring up here is there are other factors that could be at play other than stasis. Could Gavan have bumped his leg into something and not even noticed? Could he have a genetic component that leads to increased clotting? Usually in these cases there is a lot of follow up. Usually the person is put on blood thinners if there's a legitimate cause. Or maybe he really is just so unhealthy that he got a bloodclot all while walking 3 miles a day. I know if I emailed my doctor right now and asked her about this. She would get back to me and tell me that this is a very rare rare case. Usually just getting up to go get a drink every now and then or to go to the bathroom is enough to recalibrate pressure in your lower legs. Many people don't walk 3 miles a day, especially in suburbia. Some do though. I guess I am saying is a lot of people sit a lot. A lot of people don't walk 3 miles per day and something specific to Gavan's physiology may be at play here.

What we can do though is take this as a warning call and thank Gavan for sharing with us. It certainly woke me up a bit more.

* Drink a lot of water.

* Don't eat a lot of sugar.

* Stand when you can. If you have a standing desk. Great.

* Get up and take breaks when you can. Set a reminder. I get up every hour.

* At lunch get out and go for a walk.

* Try to hit the 10k steps per day.

There's also a tool we can use to access the likelihood of DVT. It's the very same tool Primary care doctors will use and it's called the Well's criteria. Here's a interactive calculator http://www.mdcalc.com/wells-criteria-for-dvt/

You should read up on it if interested. There's also the "Primary Care Rule for DVT" http://www.aafp.org/afp/2011/1215/p1417.html

Though for this one you need to have a D-Dimer taken which is a blood test.

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virchow's_triad

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

You are correct - there are so many factors to consider, and I am by no means an expert and would definitely accept being wrong in any given area. The general advice that I can give, that will probably keep a person healthier than not, is to exercise, eat well, and not sit for too long. This goes beyond just DVTs - this is advice for living long in general. :) Even outside of clots, sitting is shown to severely cut back the benefits of exercise (although like all studies, this should be taken with a grain of salt as well). 66 percent of studies are wrong, as they say. The reverse advice goes as well - you should not stand all the time either - this is shown to have adverse effects as well.

And as a minor additional note - my 1-3 miles of walking tends more often towards the low end of that range (especially when I am in a rush to get work done), although I do randomly take longer walks (sometimes as far as 5 miles).

coned885• 10 years ago

There's a lot and that's why seeing a doctor is so very important. I am actually having an anxiety attack right now after reading your post. You didn't cause it :) but it certainly did stir up some stuff with my anxiety.

For an anxiety sufferer like ourselves. It can be very hard. I have numbness in my left hand, an odd pain in my back and shortness of breadth. This could be a lot of things. Things I'd rather everybody not mention because I know them well. But if I went to the ER every time these things popped up well at one time in my life I'd live there. The probability suggests that I am fine. The probability suggests that after thousands of trials similar to this of which I ended up fine, I will likely be fine here. There's a chance I will not be but it's a chance I need to take.

Wish you the best :)

marmaduke• 10 years ago

I have rationalized it with the “wealth before health”

Good to have recognized this cultural jedi mind trick for what it is.

It seems to me that the ultimate investments are not in bank accounts but the health and well being of ourselves and those around us. This is built up out of a million near-invislbe things in daily life, that could never be bought later on.

dopeboy2• 10 years ago

I made a new years resolution to run one mile every day. It's very quick (~10 minutes), it jump starts the day, and it keeps me active. Not counting sick days, I've missed two days thus far.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

Good work, keep it up :)

sjclemmy• 10 years ago

Interesting idea. I've tried to exercise most of my life, and running is a favourite - however, my legs/knees can't take the impact any more and I'm much more into cycling. I really want to exercise after I get up in the morning, but don't think I have the time. I might give this a go. Thanks!

suneilp• 10 years ago

For my fellow hypochondriacs, DVT like symptoms in the leg can also be caused by issues with the glutes or piriformis (piriformis syndrome).

Of course, I'm not saying to be not worried because I certainly was freaking out when I googled my DVT-like symptoms. However, many symptoms tends to lead you the the scariest medical conditions that have those symptoms.

Nonetheless, eat better and move your body more often.

wmt• 10 years ago

I’ve worked 80-hour weeks for the past decade (occasionally 100-hour weeks)

Wow. This if anything will screw you up. 12 hours of work + 8 hours of sleep per day 7 days a week leaves you with 4 hours for commuting, showering, making dinner, doing laundry, working out and relaxing.

Doing eighty hours per week can be wonderfully efficient - for a few weeks. After that you start to get sloppy, and soon you're performing worse than those doing a 40 hour week. Work a not a sprint, and not even a marathon, and more like running around the globe because you like to run.

Work shouldn't even be means to an end of becoming rich, and being rich without a respected job you're proud of is boring and hollow. Unlike prestige, once your income or wealth exceeds the limit where you have to stress about money, having more money won't make your life happier.

gavanwoolery19• 10 years ago

40 hours of solid, uninterrupted work is worth 80 hours of procrastination/interruption-filled work. You have to choose those hours carefully. I remember when I worked in an office, we would always go out to lunch at 12:00 and the resulting 3 hours would be destroyed for me by a food comma and the disorientation from leaving my desk for an hour.

tonyedgecombe• 10 years ago

That probably says more about what you ate for lunch than the time.

bitL• 10 years ago

20 hours of 100% focus a week >>> 80 hours

luch• 10 years ago

I happen to work at a place where I'm inclined not to do more than 40h/w, and working 50+h/w is simply not possible. The fact that you've so "little" time to code taught me and my colleagues to be brutally efficient and disciplined in the workplace.

cimbal2• 10 years ago

Regarding the food coma, i had great success just by not mixing proteins with carbohydrates (and not thinking that fats in general should be avoided). It's basically as simple as that - just stop eating combinations that make you tired. This is especially true for fast metabolizers that get higher blood sugar faster from the same meals that a slow metabolizer has no problems with.

thallukrish• 10 years ago

I work all days being a single person start-up and thinking, coding, iterating. But what I have seen is I do not work all the time. I keep doing other stuff like household chores, attending to family, going out etc. In short I do very focused work in short bursts, say an hour or two in a day 2 or 3 times. I sleep as well in between if I cannot concentrate. I have found it very difficult to be doing something at a stretch. In fact I shutdown and do thinking with a notebook, fall asleep, wake up and continue thinking where I left and find sometimes interesting and easy way to solve things. Then I go and code it. I have found I cannot fit my thought process in a well-defined time boundary of morning 9 - 5 like I was expected in a day job.

astrostl3• 10 years ago

Strokes are the leading cause of death in my family.

Grandfathered into "real" testing at 23andMe, I was unsurprised to learn that I have 2.9x the average risk of developing a venous throboembalism (VTE): deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE).

I'm only in my late 30s, but I have embarked on a number of lifestyle changes, mostly in the habit category. I use a standing desk at home. I'm sensitive about things like extended sitting, leg-crossing, not moving during flights flights. I use http://breaktimeapp.com when working to remind me to get up for a couple of minutes every 30 minutes.

It's more or less built into the way I behave, which I hope to help as I get older and the risk really accelerates.

dragons2• 10 years ago

I tested as 6x the average risk of developing DVT at 23andme (average risk is about 10%). I don't see pulmonary embolism listed in my report.

I'm "middle-aged" but so far haven't had this happen, despite some extra risk factors - I've been on the Pill for ~20 years and I do sit a lot (I'm a software developer). I'm not a frequent flyer, but I have flown many times and never had a problem. I naturally shift position pretty often when sitting, so I'm not sure if this helps. Or maybe whatever gene is responsible is just there, and hasn't turned on yet. How to stop it from turning on? I don't think anyone knows.

I was surprised to see that OP got a DVT when he walks 1-3 miles every day. That seems far better than what most people do (I try to walk about 2-3 mi per day). I don't see how switching to running could be more preventive.

astrostl3• 10 years ago

The F5, F2, and ABO risk variants are for developing VTEs, a DVT is a type of VTE, and a PE is a DVT that makes it to the lungs. If you have one or more of the variants, it's already "on."

I'm not a physician and don't even play one on the internet, but if I were a mid-aged woman I would consider an IUD (with or without hormones) as an effective alternative to the pill. Even hormonal IUDs have vastly lower dosages than the pill.

Like the "sitting epidemic," VTEs care more about sustained periods of immobility, regardless of fitness levels. Paradoxically, even though obesity is its own risk factor, seriously atheletic types are highly vulnerable too: higher fitness -> lower heartrate -> slower circulation -> clotting. Sports teams are known to wear compression stockings on flights to combat the issue.

If you're 6x, I'd highly recommend reading about lifestyle changes. Best wishes!

melling2• 10 years ago

Long hours of programming can lead to many problems. Repetitive stress injuries from keyboards and mice are common, for example. Read through some of the stories:

https://github.com/melling/ErgonomicNotes

We need a Programmer's Health Guide that include exercise, ergonomics, etc.

kvcrawford2• 10 years ago

I started working as a programmer when I was 18...at 23, I had my first visit to physical therapy, for emacs pinky and elbow tendonitis.

At 25 I went back to physical therapy, this time for chronic pain in my upper back. Therapy unraveled a whole slew of postural and motor pattern issues, and I've been at it for nearly 2 years now. Additionally, for the past 1.5 years I added workouts with a personal trainer specialized in corrective work.

I've learned a ton. Sitting and using your hands with shoulders internally rotated (typing, writing, etc.) for the majority of your time (from 1st grade through adulthood as a desk worker) is so terrible for you. The good news is that it's possible to completely reverse and become pain-free. The bad news is that it might take a huge amount of effort—but personally, I really enjoy it.

Ergonomics are critical, as well. I have both a Kinesis Advantage keyboard and a motorized sit-stand desk. Moving around (not just sitting, not just standing) is the key.

For some time now I've been meaning to write up a detailed case study of myself; essentially a how-to on how to become and stay healthy as a desk worker. It's good to read that at least 1 person might be interested in such a thing :P

melling2• 10 years ago

Maybe you could bullet point the things you've found helpful in the HN comments? Hopefully, you'll write a blog but at least people could still learn from you, even if you don't get around to a blog. I'd like to know what you've done with a trainer, for instance.

rawfan• 10 years ago

I was an this road, too. My way to change the daily routines was to stop using cars and public transport. Everywhere I go these days, I go by bike. With the one exception of client meetings where I need to wear a suit. This saved me tons of money, too.

The other change I did (also to fight me really bad day/night rhythm, was signing up for the local swimmers club. For a small yearly fee you can use the swimming hall before the opening hours. That forces me to get up early and doesn't hurt healthwise.

codecamper• 10 years ago

I had a CS professor die mid term. He was 50. http://wiki.yak.net/77 He was out for a jog.

Dennis Ritchie died at age 70. Heart problems & prostate.

Steve Jobs. Age 56. Pancreatic cancer.

Of course these are just a few. CS is a young field, but by now we should have enough statistics to begin to reveal how a (very) sedentary lifestyle affects lifespan.

tamana• 10 years ago

Was your professor sedentary? He died jogging.

Jobs dies from following quack pseusomedicine and ignoring the treatment he needed.

jonesb6• 10 years ago

I don't think Steve Jobs is a good example for this discussion.

Matrixik• 10 years ago

As always some of something is great does not mean more of it is better: "Run for your life! At a comfortable pace, and not too far: James O'Keefe at TEDxUMKC" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0

Dead Men Write No Code

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