Distractions

I haven't been very productive in the past few weeks as I have been preparing to move and clear up longstanding issues. I was hoping to move after my product's release, but background stress stemming from my current living situation and increases in my living costs spurred me to leave earlier. (I was also hoping to save a move, because I'll likely move again to a more permanent location within months after release.)

I am simply not as productive when I have multiple concerns in my head. Perhaps, my tendency to program at night is not historically conditioned behavior but rather my body's real preference to work in environment of minimal distractions--of complete silence, when no other activity is possible.

The worst thing about moving is that, as a finicky developer, I need to acclimate myself to my new home--air quality, temperature, lighting, etc, just right--especially, since I work at home. An office building will typically have healthy and comfortable indoor environment that's already been heavily pre-tuned for working. I suspect that's why many people find that they are unable work at home. The oxygen level at work seems higher, even though I have made sure that air circulates frequently from the outside.

I also seem to be short on energy. Right now, I sustain myself with RockStar energy drinks, PowerBars energy bars, lots of water, and occasionally coffee. I almost moved away from energy bars because of concerns about corn syrup and its potential link to obesity and diabetes, but many of the energy bars have replaced corn syrup with healthier substitutes since the beginning of the year. Ephedra, an effective supplement which I used to buy, is now legal again, but in some stores can only be purchased in the pharmacy.

My first priority after release is to kick start my health routine. It's easier to reform habits after a major transition in life. I just bought a glucometer and a pedometer. My blood sugar level is elevated, and I suspect that in another decade or so, I could be at a high risk for diabetes, given my family history. I am also keeping watch on my other vitals.

In recognition of my decreased output, I postponed several features for future minor updates to focus on the core and delivering before the end of year; there's still surprising stuff (such as manipulating arbitrary functions) that I haven't demonstrated yet.

My main concern, right now, is that my product doesn't "hang" during a scan. Here, "hanging" really means "not performing quickly," since I do not have the capacity to test long-running scans. A "hang" is also a sure sign of a blow up, which I have tried not just to mitigate, but eliminate in many circumstances. The consequences of not exploring the full search space in my product is not severe, since I still have a partially simplified expression that can still serve as a value with equivalent properties.

Comments

[Patrick Smacchia]

I decided a few years ago to have a healthy life
and it is as easy as:

-buy fresh vegetables and fruits when at supermarket

-accept that you need at least 15mn cook a day

-enjoy sport, I do 4 hours jogging per week, I didn't like that first but now I'm completely addicted. I really do code better and then sleep better after a hard jogging. Icing on the cake: plenty of ideas come when running, I think because of the oxygen in the brain :o)

You don't need glucometer and a pedometer except if you have particular health problem. A solid pair of baskets is enought.

[Michael]

Have you considered hiring a personal assistant so you can focus on coding more? I'd pre-buy or pay a premium just to get this product in my hands...

[Wesner Moise]

You are already in good shape, Patrick... I'll follow your advice.

[garret]

still one man show?

how about leap to China?