
Disconnected - MatthewPhillips
http://paulrouget.com/e/taiwan2013/
======
edw519
I've noticed that many of us with a hacker mindset (myself included!) have
this innate need to optimize / maximize / minimize... For me, this often leads
to "all" or "nothing". I have to drink either 6 beers or no beers, eat 6
donuts or no donuts, code all night or not code at all. On one hand, I like it
this way. It gives me a chance to harness that energy to accomplish a lot in a
short period. On the other hand, sometimes I just wish I were more normal and
would love to find a happy medium.

OP is doing the same thing here. Going from (probably) overload to zero. I
wish him the best and I'm sure he'll learn a lot about himself.

Hopefully he, I, and a lot of others like us will learn to find a way to
thrive somewhere between all and nothing.

~~~
pc86
I never understood the all or nothing mentality, especially among developers.

Coding all night is the most pervasive example. I wake up before 6 AM every
day so I'm physically tired by 9 PM. Usually I'm mentally tired well before
dinner. Maybe "all night" is a euphemism for "a long time" and I'm over
thinking it but I consider it a productive day when I get 3 hours of work on a
side project done in addition to my day job.

That being said, I have no problem going home and spending time with my family
and not doing anything on my phone, computer, or even Xbox, so maybe it's just
me.

EDIT: I don't want to be that guy, but isn't it a fairly commonplace meme
among programmers to argue _against_ 8-10-12 hour coding sprints for their
employers because you can really "only" get 4-6 hours of good programming time
out of someone in a day?[0]

[0] Citation needed

~~~
adeaver
I regularly stay up until after mindnight doing stuff, and up at 6am. I simply
don't sleep that much. If I go to bed before that I tend to toss and turn and
don't get a lot of sleep anyway so I figure why not be productive.

Most nights I'm working on code or writing or gaming though I occasionally
will stay up and read a book.

I think you _can_ get more that 4-6 good hours of good work out of programmers
so long as you break it up. 12 hours is possible on occasion but not daily.
You will burn out and become brain fried, but if you break it up, say 4 code 1
doing something completely different 4 code 1 something different and 4 code
you can do it on a more regular basis.

And by 'something different' I mean engaging different parts of the brain.
Paint, write, clean house, yard work.. something that gets you away from and
disconnected from the computer and the work. Gaming might qualify but if your
on the computer or XBox your not really disconnecting from the tech.

~~~
lucaspiller
> 12 hours is possible on occasion but not daily. You will burn out and become
> brain fried, but if you break it up, say 4 code 1 doing something completely
> different 4 code 1 something different and 4 code you can do it on a more
> regular basis.

Before I had a real job I used to work in a supermarket. Other than that I'd
usually game or code and now and again watch TV. My favourite was Saturday
when I worked from 1pm to 10pm. I'd then come home and be up until 2 or 3am
gaming or coding. The next day I'd wake up around 8 or 9am and code some more.

For the past few years I've had a proper 9 - 5 (+) job. Here in the EU nobody
seems to work crazy 80 hours weeks, but I hardly ever get home before 6:30pm.
This year I've been trying to do One Game A Month [1], and really I just
haven't had the time or energy to do it. In the evening I hardly ever feel
like coding more, and at the weekend I can usually only get around 6 hours
before I've had enough. I would love to be able to spend as much time coding
on what I want as I did 5 years ago :)

[1] <http://www.onegameamonth.com/>

------
jgrahamc
In the middle of my doctorate I did something similar. I disappeared for 6
weeks on Amtrak. I took a stack of books with me and a list of places to see
in the US. I went _everywhere_. And I paid for the trip by writing some Lotus
1-2-3 code at the very start.

That trip was the only reason I managed to come back and finish.

~~~
bennyg
That's awesome. I recently took an Amtrak from Tuscaloosa, AL to New Orleans,
LA for a weekend trip, and got some coding done along the way. Man was it
beautiful, and working in the snack-car was perfect. I thought about doing
something similar to what you just mentioned - but I need a little more money
and a lot more time to do it haha. What were the best trains that you took?
The Crescent line was pretty nice and looked like it stopped in some cool
places further North than my journey.

~~~
jgrahamc
I think the best was Houston to LA and sitting in the observation car across
AZ. But also going through the Rockies, across Alabama, and side trip to Grand
Canyon on an Amtrak bus.

Bear in mind this was 1990. No mobile phone, no laptop. Just rucksack, books,
an AT&T calling card for when I saw a pay phone to call home, 1-800-USA-RAIL
for reservations, and a copy of Let's Go.

I had one of these: [http://www.amtrak.com/take-the-trains-across-america-
with-us...](http://www.amtrak.com/take-the-trains-across-america-with-usa-
rail-pass)

------
tgrass
In 2000, I worked in Kennicott Alaska for three summers, four months at a
stretch. It is a town of about 100 people at the end of a sixty mile dirt road
in the center of the nation's largest national park. There was a payphone,
satellite, but there was a three to five second delay, making conversations
difficult. It was rarely used. I wrote many letters.

Now, I see friends who live there posting every so often on facebook. By
phone.

I miss those days, just a decade ago, when remote meant remote.

I take a weekend a month now and drive the 45 minutes out of town into the
higher desert of Southern Arizona and spend at least 24 hours offline. No cell
service, no electricity, and even the radio stations don't make it.

~~~
tomjen3
During that information/connection blackout, what do you do? Just sit there in
the car, looking at the stars?

~~~
tgrass
Ha, no. I camp. It's National Forest Service land, so you can throw up a tent
wherever you like. I sit down with a bottle of beer, throw a steak on the
fire, and read a book.

~~~
tomjen3
Ah that seems awesome.

------
csomar
Can you really go offline these days? I mean, beside my work (which obviously
happens to be online), here are things that I do on the Internet.

1\. Connect with my family. International calls are so expensive and I'm
accustomed to the video calls luxury that Skype gives for free.

2\. Buy Stuff. First, I get a wide range of choice; and second, it saves me
time.

3\. Pay bills. (Internet, Water, Electricity...)

4\. Entertainment. Watch movies, music, and TV series.

5\. Book an airline ticket and an hotel (just did it, so it came to my mind).
The alternative is to get in touch by phone with a travel agency that I'll
need to go to physically to pay.

6\. Withdraw money from an ATM.

The Internet is now too blended with our physical life. I think it's wrong to
try to fight it. It made our life easier and it's improving our life.

If you are being stressed, then it's because of the way you are handling your
work. 2 months won't cut it out. You need a radical change on how you work,
and not how to use the Internet. You can be stressed on an offline job too.

I know because I'm in the same boat, and I'm still figuring out how to change
it.

~~~
gk1
> Can you really go offline these days?

Sure, 4.5 billion people do it daily.

~~~
icebraining
Only for very restricted definitions of "online". 75% of the world population
has a cellphone.

~~~
jholman
Please. There are around a billion smartphones. Dumbphones do not count as
"online". At least, certainly not in the context of csomar's comment, and not
in the context of paulrouget's blog post.

~~~
icebraining
Why not? Between WAP and SMS, you can do a _lot_ of online stuff, like using
Twitter, sending emails, making bank transfers, getting Google Calendar
alerts, paying bills, book flight tickets and more. Especially in the
countries where people don't have smartphones or computers, this is extremely
common.

I think it doesn't make sense to exclude them just because they use a
different interface.

------
ilamont
Lived in Taiwan for six years. It's a very special place, whether you're
interested in immersing yourself in Chinese language/culture or starting
something new.

Like many Asian countries, it's also a very dynamic place -- the pace of
change really is quite amazing. I've blogged about this in the past (see
[http://www.ilamont.com/2009/08/taiwan-double-
takes-1993-2009...](http://www.ilamont.com/2009/08/taiwan-double-
takes-1993-2009.html) ) but it's great to be able to see it up close.

Good luck.

------
mtkd
Unfortunately you may find out you're one of those people that can't slow down
- all you do is swap one all-consuming obsession for another.

~~~
potatolicious
Power to him I say - trading one obsession for another can still provide the
cognitive reset and reinvigoration that he's looking for.

------
danso
I think one of my greatest regrets about being a developer is how difficult it
is to remain offline. Certain scenarios, such as maintaining uptime and being
aware of security releases, requires almost constant check-in. The best
resources and discussion on the profession can't be found in print. And the
nature of the work, well, is inextricable from being on a computer

~~~
Argorak
Thats why I have the hard rule of not being reachable on holidays and state
that upfront. I never take a computer with me and often go to places where
there is no reception at all - so I couldn't, even if I wanted.

Clients have to cope with that, thats part of the game.

~~~
andyking
I _live_ in a rural valley with no mobile phone reception. If people call me
when I'm home, they get my voicemail. I do have an internet connection at
home, but it's not fast and I rarely use it.

I'm on a computer all day at work, and work hard - when I go home, I have
little inclination to then use a computer again, even if it's for leisure or
games.

------
obviouslygreen
I've spent a few weeks abroad (outside of the US) with the knowledge that I
might be exposed to work despite being on vacation (my domestic "vacations"
mostly mean working a little less and maybe being in a different place while
doing it).

The best experience was by far the first, when I had almost no contact with
clients/partners and actually did manage to spend almost all of my time being
half-lost and confused, entertaining the natives with my awful language
skills, and generally learning about what another place is like rather than
learning what it's like to do the same thing somewhere else.

Disconnecting is only half of it, but it's the most important half. Being
connected to all things Work means you're still in the same place, wherever
you might be geographically, and you can't possibly concentrate on the other
half -- actually immersing yourself in something different -- enough for it to
impact you as much as it otherwise could.

------
mmcnickle
Paul has been doing some fantastic work in the last few years, he definitely
deserves the break.

~~~
shwinnabego
I'm sure you didn't mean it this way, but for a third party to "justify"
anyone's break is less than necessary.

In my eyes a break need not be earned by doing great work. People need time
off. They need time to think, develop their interests, and do things beyond
what their job or career demands from them.

Ideally for all of us this time would come (many times, and often) before
retirement. If you haven't seen this TED talk, a brilliant furniture designer
talks about his 7 on, 1 off lifestyle and makes a call for us to rethink the
power of time off.

[http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time...](http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time_off.html)

~~~
andyking
But.. but.. then there'd be a _gap in your CV!_ Shock, horror.

------
mooreds
Having this kind of experience gives you a tremendous amount of perspective
that it is hard to get in any other way. I figure he'll either come back even
more passionately engaged in his development career, or take a right turn into
a different direction. Either way is fine, of course--the important part is
having the perspective and distance to choose wisely.

------
joonix
Everyone needs to do this regularly. You'll realize how pointless so much of
your internet time really is. I've quit forums/sites I was addicted to quite
easily by just getting away for a while then never checking those sites again
when I came back. Your brain needs a break, too.

------
fatihdonmez
lived in china for six months and almost disconnected, i can say that was
awesome experience. it has been 3 years since then and i noticed with your
post, i need it too. coding is challenge and fun but if you put a startup
pressure on it with high entrepreneurship spirit without any monetization, it
gives you nothing but consume your life. anyway have fun, I'll give a break at
the end of 2013.

------
criswell
I don't think I could pull it off. I admire it so much but I doubt I'm
interesting enough to spend two months alone. I'd definitely break.

------
kross
I'd like to recommend a good book for this kind of journey:

Total Freedom: The Essential Krishnamurti

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0060648805/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

~~~
shared4you
Non-mobile link: <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060648805/>

------
shell0x
Good decision. I have been in Taiwan before and want to move there in
December.

------
knowaveragejoe
I think this is great. I hope he writes a follow-up when he comes back.

------
jfb
Taiwan is a great place. I wish the OP luck.

------
at-fates-hands
What a smart guy to realize he needed to take a break and unplug. Too many
people just never understand you don't HAVE to run the rat race and never take
a break.

As a side note, after several epic burnouts myself, I re-discovered how
important meditation and relaxation skills are to avoiding burning out. It
doesn't take much time or somewhere special and it can have profound effects
on reducing your stress levels.

------
lifeisstillgood
I do my best to keep weekends family time - and I think I would be better off
keeping them disconnected too.

Maybe a day a week away from the world is a good idea, and with a family about
all I can hope for :-)

~~~
bobsy
I don't think complete disconnection is important. What is important is what
you are doing while you are connected during your personal time.

I used to have a hard time getting away from work. Now I don't check emails
and I avoid programming on the weekend. If the servers melt someone will phone
me. I used to find checking emails was stressful. Someone would report a small
issue and the little thing would nag at me to fix it. I found it hard to
relax.

One weekend I assumed the world wasn't going to end, I assumed my help
wouldn't be required. I kept my phone with me. Been enjoying completely work
free weekends ever since.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
It's like a Prophet come down from the mountain and said, you know you can
just leave work at 5 pm Friday and not go back till 9am Mon

------
sublimit
Who is this guy? Why does Hacker News care about some blog post on his
personal life?

~~~
paulrouget
must be weirdo

