Ask HN: Do you do anything special to stay up all night and work?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2045234

by tchae • 16 years ago

8 13 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Without trying to start a thread to promote illicit drugs, I'm curious to know if anyone has good experience with any methods to help stay up late and work early into the mornings.

I've been doing a bit of chewing tobacco and I've found that the nicotine from that often helps me stay focused and energized enough to work late into the night.

I've also heard certain sleep schedules, exercise regimen, as well as eating schedules can help you work many hours.

Any suggestions? experiences? thoughts?

kia• 16 years ago

I think working late at night is not very good for you and your productivity. It's better to work 8 hours at 100% capability then 16 hours at 50%. Try to go to sleep early and do all the important stuff in the morning after sleep when your head is fresh.

nolite• 16 years ago

I've been doing biphasic sleeping. Segments off parts of the day alot more, and makes me break work down into 7 hr chunks... since that's all I can stay awake for at once. That said, I'm alert as soon as I wake up.. and have very little groggy time

fourk• 16 years ago

If you're looking to optimize hours of wakefulness per 24 hour period, you want to look into Polyphasic Sleep. Specifically, what is most popularly known as the uberman sleep schedule.

If you're looking to work marathon hours, look into Adrafinil. It is legal to import for personal use, and is metabolized by the body in the bloodstream into Modafinil, which has been used in lieu of amphetamines by the military for keeping fighter pilots alert on long missions without sleep.

Relevant Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrafinil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil

Travis• 16 years ago

I've seen loads of people who refer to polyphasic sleep as a solution to staying awake more. It strikes me as something of a myth. HN and reddit both talk about it a lot, so it was pretty easy to find a HN discussion to reference: http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=1464142

More direct "myths and facts about polyphasic sleep" at http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm

To me, polyphasic sleep seems like it might work for a few people, but it's likely just overhyped. I tried it in college -- maybe I just didn't have the willpower to push through, but after a month or so, I felt like a zombie.

You know what helps me stay up late and focused? All those stupid, boring little things that your mom taught you. Eat good food -- think of it as fuel, and armed with a little knowledge, you'll be well off. Get 30-60 minutes of exercise (heart rate > 130) every day or two. Regular sleep schedule. All that good stuff.

schn• 16 years ago

I think you should sleep when you are sleepy. This means I only stay up late when I'm too engrossed by work to feel sleepy.

If you want a short term boost... caffeine, drugs, whatever you need. But when you take a loan you always pay more than upfront.

dinedal• 16 years ago

For me, the best motivation to stay up late working is the feeling of "I don't understand why it doesn't work."

dstein• 16 years ago

I usually find all-nighters to be counter-productive because it kills my productivity the next day or two. If you get stuck on a problem late at night you're almost always better off leaving it for the next day when your mind is fresh.

That aside, I do work until midnight-ish fairly regularly. I'll often drink Yerba Mate (a type of herbal tea) after supper and that can sometimes kickstart a second-wind of creativity/productivity in the nighttime.

mathgladiator• 16 years ago

I've done free-running. It's the only way to pull a 120 hour work week and not go insane. I once did this for 3 months straight.

(1) You have to love what you are working on.

(2) Every ten hours of work, sleep for four hours.

By the way, this is terrible advice.

runjake• 16 years ago

No. Sleep is important to your well-being. If you want to sleep less, exercise more.The time spent exercising will boost your productivity and mental faculties.

There aren't any shortcuts, in spite of what Tim Ferris may try to tell you.

cheald• 16 years ago

I get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, then work until I run out of energy, then go to bed and sleep until I'm recharged. This leads to ~29 hour days, if uninterrupted by errands/social obligations, but it can be extremely productive.

One of the first lessons that I learned when I went into full-time startup mode was that I got a lot more done if I didn't work when I didn't have energy or focus. Tired at 2PM? Go sleep. Can't seem to focus? Go for a run, or play a video game for a half hour, or go read a book. Do something that doesn't require focus and concentration, but which keeps your mind off of work. When I'm at the computer and working, if I listen to my mind and body, I can achieve insane productivity when I'm actually working. I tend to have more productive time as a result, too, though sometimes it feels "wrong" to work for a half hour then go take a two-hour break, but when I come back I blast through problems in 10 minutes that would have taken those past two hours otherwise.

The trick isn't to just throw more butt-in-chair time at the problem, but to make sure that when you're working, you're productive. If you find yourself playing Flash games, browsing Reddit compulsively, or checking your email for the 15th time in 45 seconds, get up and go nap or refocus. When you come back, you'll be recharged and it'll be far easier to get back into the groove.

I firmly believe that the 8-hour 9-5 workday is a terrible thing to do for programmer productivity. If you have the flexibility in your schedule to allow for it, learn to ignore what society has programmed into us as the "right" work schedule and learn to work when you can be productive, and to not even bother when you can't.

I drink a lot of coffee, and its effects on my mental clarity are very easy for me to observe, but I've learned to recognize when I'm going to be winding down, and I stop drinking it ~4 hours before I expect to go to bed. If I don't, I end up exhausted and wide awake in bed, which utterly sucks.

calbear81• 16 years ago

In college, I used to pull all nighters at the library and besides the usual "drink Jolt" or drink massive amounts of coffee/tea, I did very well by biting into a raw lemon. The sourness woke me up right away and chewing on the rind gave a lasting bitterness that kept me awake.

driftsumi-e• 16 years ago

A topic after my own heart. I think to perform well with minimal sleep is an art form.

Identify where you do your best thinking and make it a habit. I find that a good cup of coffee or a good workout bring out the best in my productivity. With some luck, there's a late night coffeeshop nearby you can frequent. Being around people alone can help keep your energy up.

The gym helps me decompress and gather thoughts - all the clutter of the current project or the events of that day can be reflected on and next moves can be put together. My regular gym has late hours so it's not unusual for me to get a midnight workout in followed by some more work. I can almost feel my brain sorting through the clutter from a workload as I work up a sweat. Best part - it's a natural way to boost energy and it works.

More than anything, being predisposed to that type of lifestyle helps (i.e. insomnia). I have instances where I'm dead tired but my mind is still racing - these are cases where it's hard to make myself fall asleep.

To sum it up, find a system that suits you. There's a strong possibility that that method requires you to be active (rather than passive) as you navigate through your day. Integrate it into a routine so when those occasions pop-up where you need to pull an all-nighter, the ramp-up isn't as dramatic.

booduh• 16 years ago

Sleep is vital, and can also beneficial if you time it correctly.

1. Super motivation. When I'm working on a project that has me pumped, then time flies and I can keep going until I physically pass out.

2. Brainwave Entrainment. Google it. I listen to a certain audio recording for 30 minutes, and I'm refreshed for another 2-4 hours. Net gain.

As for the timing of sleep-- your subconscious is a very powerful tool. If, just before going to bed, you ask yourself all the questions and todos that are on your mind (write them down), then as you sleep you brain will work overtime to consolidate your experiences and to derive solutions. When you wake up (google Polyphasic Sleep to put the sleep method on steroids) and take a walk or shower, you may find that you have a lot of new ideas or solutions for the problems you were tackling.

Ask HN: Do you do anything special to stay up all night and work?

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