<story><title>Reversing the effects of long programming sessions</title><url>https://www.poppastring.com/blog/ReversingTheEffectsOfLongProgrammingSessions.aspx</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wainstead</author><text>All true, but neither should we deny ourselves a long session of &amp;quot;flow&amp;quot; if it makes us happy.</text></item><item><author>mariopt</author><text>We need to restrict the amount of hours we spend in front of computers per day and take weekends completely off. There are so many downsides: blue light that damages your vision, lack of exercise, depression and other disorders, missing out on social life, etc.&lt;p&gt;There is a direct relation between productivity and having a life put together. Not taking care of ourselves (programmers) could have lead to disaster: mental disorders, burnout, leaving a well payed job, etc.&lt;p&gt;Lately I&amp;#x27;ve stop giving a damn about deadlines like I used to. Money is nice but mental health does not has a price. The moment you enter the rabbit hole of antidepressants you&amp;#x27;re already ripping your soul.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hinkley</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m finding that &amp;#x27;flow&amp;#x27; is a significant contributor to NIH Syndrome.&lt;p&gt;You can&amp;#x27;t flow while integrating a third party library anywhere near as easily as you can flow by rewriting half of it (badly) from scratch.&lt;p&gt;Flow is a rush.  Anything that is a rush can be indulged in to the point of self- (or other-) harm.</text></comment>
<story><title>Reversing the effects of long programming sessions</title><url>https://www.poppastring.com/blog/ReversingTheEffectsOfLongProgrammingSessions.aspx</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wainstead</author><text>All true, but neither should we deny ourselves a long session of &amp;quot;flow&amp;quot; if it makes us happy.</text></item><item><author>mariopt</author><text>We need to restrict the amount of hours we spend in front of computers per day and take weekends completely off. There are so many downsides: blue light that damages your vision, lack of exercise, depression and other disorders, missing out on social life, etc.&lt;p&gt;There is a direct relation between productivity and having a life put together. Not taking care of ourselves (programmers) could have lead to disaster: mental disorders, burnout, leaving a well payed job, etc.&lt;p&gt;Lately I&amp;#x27;ve stop giving a damn about deadlines like I used to. Money is nice but mental health does not has a price. The moment you enter the rabbit hole of antidepressants you&amp;#x27;re already ripping your soul.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>maxxxxx</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s why it would be good to get paid by hour. When I was freelancer when things flowed I sometimes worked 24+ hours straight through or had several 16 hours days. But then I had other days when I got nothing done and took off. In a salaried position the company takes the long &amp;quot;flow&amp;quot; session for free but still expects you to be there the next day.</text></comment>