Ask HN: How do you spend your free time in office? - kamranahmed_se
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Alacart
I work as a freelancer from home, so my answer might be less interesting to
people at an office, but I've found that at home I'm mostly just doing the
things I wanted to do at the office when I worked in one, but felt
uncomfortable doing there. These include:

Taking short (15 - 30 mins max) naps if and when I need them, which pretty
dramatically helps me creatively problem solve.

Going for a long-ish walk outside. This is by far the absolute best thing I've
added to my days. I feel more energized after, I mentally and emotionally am
much happier, and physically it made me slightly fitter. Plus it helps relieve
some of the problems I know I'm developing sitting all day.

Podcasts. This one I only do when I'm taking a break, I can't focus and get
into a flow listening to other people talk about interesting topics. Awesome
for those walks though.

Chat with other developers and friends on slack or some other messenger.
Usually at some point during the day I'll have a 15 minute flurry of messages
with a developer friend about some side project or something we think is cool.

And finally, this one is half work half fun, but I'll research something I
think is cool or would be useful. Might be a service, framework, product,
methodology, anything at all. I probably spend an hour or so of my work day,
every other day, on researching something that's not an absolute necessity to
the work, but might benefit it. In some cases it's paid off big time. Mostly
though it just keeps me happy, interested, and hopefully a little sharper.

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swah
> Going for a long-ish walk outside.

Do you have a real objective on those walks (ie getting groceries, lunch) ?

I like walking with non-gym clothes but only when I'm actually doing something
in the way...

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Alacart
No, usually that lessens my enjoyment actually. The point for me is to get
outside and just enjoy being there, and being a little bit active, not to pack
another objective onto my to do list. I'll often make a small coffee and sip
that while I listen to a podcast, which could be a business or programming
podcast, something like freakonomics, or just entertainment like 'How did this
get made?'. On the way back I might stop and pick up a few groceries or
something though.

I can see how my way do the opposite for some people though, where the mental
pressure valve for them is released by getting something else on their to do
list done.

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t0mbstone
This question self-selects an audience that obviously uses their free time to
read hacker news

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garyfirestorm
In my free time, I try and automate things. This ensures smooth and fast
solutions during crunch time.

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sz4kerto
So you work in your free time. :)

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garyfirestorm
I work in an automotive company (one of the big three's) I specialize in Noise
and Vibrations. My job description involves testing, analyzing, and solving
problems. Everyone I work with has very little to no programming experience
(edit - programming is not a part of my job description). We* deal with huge
amount of data (coming from sensors and microphones) I like to build custom
tools (write software to process the data) so when I am really solving
problems, I am spending very little time/effort in data processing and more on
analyzing. (edit - a lot of people dont appreciate the things I do, they like
to spend hours on running calculations using a standard software that we have,
I see this as waste of time since it can be and should be automated)

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twobyfour
Why would you have free time in the office? Or to put it another way, why
would you be in the office during your free time?

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jetti
For me, free time is when I don't have the motivation to start something new
right then and there so I look something up or work on learning a new
framework/language. It can also be when I finish work and still have 30
minutes until my train. I don't want to start on something to get interrupted
but I also don't want to just sit at the train station waiting for my train.

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chubot
When I was working, I settled into a rhythm of being in the office for about 4
hours a day, with almost no free time. No YouTube, no social media, not even
checking personal e-mail accounts. I think I would check HN, but I would save
the articles to read later and not read them in the office.

It also helps to write down the major things you want to do before you get in
the office. When you get there, just start doing it rather than slowly warming
up. Also I find that test-driven development helps get rid of this "warm-up"
procrastination.

Not everyone can do this, but programmers can sometimes work themselves into
that position (e.g. work for a place long enough that people don't question
your hours.)

Though I would usually take a break for tea (with no computer) and
occasionally a nap... I think those are productive uses of time.

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EternalData
I'm going to go on a bit of a curve here, and say take a walk -- the motion
helps me think better and I think there have been studies to that effect.

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Ocerge
I go for half-hour walks once or twice per day, or read HN or something. My
/etc/hosts file is littered with filled-in rabbit holes like Reddit, Facebook,
Twitter, etc., but HN gets a pass for now.

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fapjacks
I work. Now, there are a couple of caveats here that are integral to what I've
said. First is that I _love_ programming. I actually go home at night -- well,
I work from home, but you know what I mean -- and I write code for side
projects or contribute to other open source projects. I also love my job and
the people I work with. I would not do this for a company that shit all over
me or didn't go the extra mile for employees. Having worked for startups my
entire life, I've never actually been in a work environment where the work ran
out -- there is always something to upgrade, refactor, or fix -- but I suppose
if it did, I'd use that time to research things related to work I see in the
future.

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Overtonwindow
I work from home, and free-time is not something I have, but it's an illusion
that plagues me, like an evil force begging me to step away from work and play
with the dog, take a nap, or read hckrnews.

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danirod
Researching ideas that previously came to my mind minutes before when I was
busier. I write down these kinds of ideas to save them for later and them I
put them out of my mind as I'm trying to do my work. Or, I just browse HN.

Usually I look at this through my phone as I'm walking somewhere. Taking a 4-5
minute break for a walk is important because sitting all day is not healthy.
Sometimes the walk has a purpose such as going to the coffee machine.
Sometimes it's just randomly moving around then go back to my seat.

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magic_beans
Apart from binge-read HN?I usually bring whatever I'm reading and sneak a few
pages whenever I'm waiting for feedback or getting a little stir-crazy.

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rajeshmr
Productivity doesn't happen to me at office, so i have conversations with
people on various topics of common interest - which further opens up avenues
for exploration.

I sometimes prefer asking the hard questions, which we usually take for
granted and try to get another perspective. Its fun and intellectually
engaging when you actually sit down with a person and have a conversation
rather than text!

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rajeshmr
> Productivity doesn't happen to me at office

what i meant here, is the "free time in office". I have struggled to learn
something new at office since i am always surrounded by people and thats not
how i learn. i like isolation when i am learning. Sorry i wasn't clear above.
I didn't clearly distinguish the difference between office work productivity
and free time productivity. (did i clarify ? :) )

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otterley
I keep a drum practice pad and drumsticks at my desk. When it's time for a
break, I take it to an office and practice for a little while.

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kody
I set goals for what I want to accomplish that evening and over the weekend.
My wife and I have a running shared todo list that we reorganize and
prioritize when we have free time. By the time we get home, we can start
getting things done instead of watching TV all night.

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mahesh_gkumar
I network. I will get coffee with folks (managers, ICs, Execs) who I randomly
bump into in meetings, code reviews, fire drills etc and find out what they
are working on, future job openings, collaboration opportunities, new product
ideas, etc.

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spike021
I try to take walks. I also check up on stuff that I enjoy as a hobby, such as
Youtube channel subscriptions for car videos and other interesting topics.

It gives my brain a bit of a break to think about other things for a little
while.

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codezero
I've been playing Kerbal Space Program at the end of the day at work lately.
It's fun as heck, and almost always becomes a team activity involving beer and
fun mishaps.

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soneca
Recently, playing [https://meatshields.com](https://meatshields.com) Two 10
minutes breaks during the day is enough to have fun.

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itomato
Asteroids, Ms. Pac Man, Ping pong, a walk outside, etc.

Just about everything else can be attributed to work-related socializing or
efficiency enhancement.

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kreeWall
Learning a new skill or doing research on something that could help me or my
company in the future.

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ghostbrainalpha
[http://codewars.com](http://codewars.com)

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abledon
Tittibhasana C - the insect pose

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catherinezng
I mostly read HN, the morning paper, go to the bathroom.

Would love to see more answers to this.

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sjs382
Reading HN, checking RSS feeds and talking in freenode #startups.

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rhizome31
I wish I had any.

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gagabity
YouTube

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fageyogurtspoon
crunchyroll.

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IshKebab
Ironic newsletter popup...

Edit: Ok it's actually talking about contrast. With ironic low-contrast
quotes.

