Why?

[TylerH]

Why is it that it must be 2a in the morning or I must be really tired, in order to efficiently work on my kernel? I was up 22 hours the last time I really achieved anything. But I've had all day today, after a good night's sleep, and I have gotten anything done.

Anyone else have the same problem?

[Combuster]

I have problems with working on my OS too.

I blame minecraft.

[VolTeK]

In most cases it is very common for the programmer to work on his or her projects during the night or in a darker environment. As it usually can be quieter, more relaxing, and help with focus.

Mostly during the summer ill stay up until 5 in the morning and accomplish more work then i have in the afternoon.



This can also be in the morning as well.

[Darwin]

I blame minecraft.

I love Minecraft.

[TylerH]

In most cases it is very common for the programmer to work on his or her projects during the night or in a darker environment. As it usually can be quieter, more relaxing, and help with focus.

Mostly during the summer ill stay up until 5 in the morning and accomplish more work then i have in the afternoon.



This can also be in the morning as well.

I think that is part of it, along with the fact that forums are mostly inactive at night. I tend to cycle, thoughtlessly, from one to another, for no real reason. It's a huge waste of time, but I do it anyway.

[VolTeK]

I sometimes just play gta and drive around. Or watch OpenGL videos on youtube. I dont think of it as a waste of time, but motivation and time off from programming.

[TylerH]

I sometimes just play gta and drive around. Or watch OpenGL videos on youtube. I dont think of it as a waste of time, but motivation and time off from programming.

GTA IV? I love the graphics in that game! The way people actually fly/roll onto your hood/etc when you hit them with a car puts that game on a whole new level of fun.

[VolTeK]

Their implementation of Physx in gta 4 is a real work of art. My only problem was how you can jump out of a vehical, and hit a passing one head on with your character, and push the passing vehical back. In real life you would need more force. However, id like to get my hands on some Physx tutorials (ofcourse, when the time calls for it) for my long run needs. It looks very useful. They also did very well improving textures and many other techniques that are more modern.

I give it two, maybe three years. You will walk out of your house and think your playing GTA

[NickJohnson]

Why is it that it must be 2a in the morning or I must be really tired, in order to efficiently work on my kernel? I was up 22 hours the last time I really achieved anything. But I've had all day today, after a good night's sleep, and I have gotten anything done.

Anyone else have the same problem?

I think it's a similar problem to general procrastination. During the middle of the day, or when you think you will have time later, you don't do work because you could do it later. At 2 AM, however, you finally fail to convince yourself that you could do work later, and then start doing it.

My favorite solution to this is to construct (or just have) something more important to do, then slack off by programming. I find that the more homework I have, the more actively I write code. More generally, I just have to think of programming as play and not work: one way to do this is to define it relative to real work.

[TylerH]

I think it's a similar problem to general procrastination. During the middle of the day, or when you think you will have time later, you don't do work because you could do it later. At 2 AM, however, you finally fail to convince yourself that you could do work later, and then start doing it.

My favorite solution to this is to construct (or just have) something more important to do, then slack off by programming. I find that the more homework I have, the more actively I write code. More generally, I just have to think of programming as play and not work: one way to do this is to define it relative to real work.

I think the procrastination has been part of my problem today. I've had 3 of 5 pages to write all Spring Break, which ends tomorrow. I'm just now starting. (Actually, not yet, I had to check in on osdev one last time. Although, I doubt it'll be the last time.)

[VolTeK]

My fix would be scheduling when to do it, and doing it right on the time scheduled. If a couple minutes after or late to scheduling when to do the needed action, could lead to failure or more procrastination. This is personality dependent however.

[madeofstaples]

I don't promise I'll have enough time to fully engage in a discussion here, but some things in this thread might suggest medical conditions that should be treated so I feel obligated to reply:

Why is it that it must be 2a in the morning or I must be really tired, in order to efficiently work on my kernel? I was up 22 hours the last time I really achieved anything.

Well, there are a few things to consider here:

• Do you feel tired while you are able to work efficiently? or do you become drowsy followed by a period of alertness/concentration?
• Are you really working efficiently? That is, you don't find yourself making any silly mistakes, you are 'in the zone'?
• Were you up for 22 hours voluntarily (e.g., if you were determined to get some work done before resting), or were you unable to sleep and so decided to try working instead?
• Do you work where you sleep?
• Do you have a normal sleep phase, or are you able to maintain one? And do you have any sleep-related issues?

Most people would think after 22 hours of wakefulness (unintentional, typically, as in insomnia) that they are significantly less able to function than earlier in the day. These thoughts lead more to the manifestation of poorer functioning than the prolonged wakeful state itself. That is, at this point, it is usually more psychological than physiological to note poorer concentration, etc. Barring any particular predisposition (issues related to sleep), then you have probably simply learned to work more efficiently with the sum of environmental and possibly behavioral factors at 2am as opposed to these same factors during other times. That's only a speculation given the limited information so far, though.

But I've had all day today, after a good night's sleep, and I have gotten anything done.

Have you tried working elsewhere, a library, perhaps?

I think the procrastination has been part of my problem today. I've had 3 of 5 pages to write all Spring Break, which ends tomorrow. I'm just now starting.

Similar to what NickJohnson suggests, a common technique to help with procrastination is to convince yourself of false circumstances. It's difficult if you aren't really interested in the subject you are putting off, but if it is something interesting, you might pretend you are the teacher or teaching assistant and you are really writing an example, perhaps as a guide to use for grading other students. The reason this works is that it invokes other natural 'drives', in this case a social drive, since in your mind you are setting some standard for your fellow students. Another idea would be to pretend that your project/paper is really due a day or two before it actually is due. This is called "re-framing the situation", the idea is to create a frame of mind wherein you would not procrastinate.

[bewing]

Heh. It's more complicated than that for me. Some points:

1. As you get older, you need less sleep to achieve full wakefulness.
2. Also, you have more trouble remaining asleep.
3. Also, sleep is less fun, because of back pain, temperature issues, etc.

Over the years, I've found I have a pattern. During the day/evening, I like to work on the complex, mentally challenging programming issues. There are many brainless chores when it comes to coding, and I find them tedious during the day, to the point where I will procrastinate doing coding if tedious stuff is all I have to do.
Around midnight, I get drowsy, and I find it's a good idea to sleep then -- but it's not all that restful. I always wake up at or around 4am, and I know from experience that I can't get back to sleep for a couple of hours -- but I'm not fully alert either. I find that it's an excellent idea to get up and code -- but it's by far the best if it's tedious coding. I find I don't mind doing brainless code cleanup during the 4am to 6am timeperiod at all. I intentionally schedule tedious programming tasks for that time.
Then I go back to bed, and get some really good restful sleep during the morning.

But getting those tedious programming chores out of my way during a timeperiod when I'm happy to do them makes me much more productive.

[TylerH]

I don't promise I'll have enough time to fully engage in a discussion here, but some things in this thread might suggest medical conditions that should be treated so I feel obligated to reply:

Why is it that it must be 2a in the morning or I must be really tired, in order to efficiently work on my kernel? I was up 22 hours the last time I really achieved anything.

Well, there are a few things to consider here:

• Do you feel tired while you are able to work efficiently? or do you become drowsy followed by a period of alertness/concentration?
• Are you really working efficiently? That is, you don't find yourself making any silly mistakes, you are 'in the zone'?
• Were you up for 22 hours voluntarily (e.g., if you were determined to get some work done before resting), or were you unable to sleep and so decided to try working instead?
• Do you work where you sleep?
• Do you have a normal sleep phase, or are you able to maintain one? And do you have any sleep-related issues?

1. Kinda... a little drowsy. Similar to the state bewing descrided. No mistakes, that I noticed...
2. Voluntarily as in: I could have went to sleep, if I wanted to? Yes.
3. Yep, in my bedroom.
4. I'm able too, but I usually don't.

[eddyb]

I blame video games and youtube. Minecraft on youtube (*pistons*) is the worst of its kind...
Also online TV (I just watched the entire "Gold Rush Alaska" miniseries instead of doing anything serious)....
And anything that does .removeFocus()...
And it doesn't happen only for kernels or hardcore C++.... Even webdeving is affected....
Now as this sounds like a monologue, I feel like I should talk about how school interferes with motivation (for me, it's placed in the hours of the day when I'm most focused) and all that partially-conspiratorial-theories....
And it's almost midnight, Good Night XD.