

Most coders have sleep problems, need 'hygiene and care' - db42
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/23/coders_insomnia_mental_hygiene/

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danielh
_The test subjects were 91 software engineers [...].

[...] no fewer than 20.9 per cent [...] and a further 35.2 per cent [...]_

Sorry, but I can't take a study serious that has less than 100 participants
and presents results with a place after the decimal point.

~~~
edge17
Not to mention some serious sampling bias. The reason for stress could be
cultural or geographic. To say it's because they're coders is silly.

~~~
tomg
"The test subjects were 91 software engineers working at a Mysore-based
development firm."

~~~
fictorial
I initially read "Mysore" as a strange spelling for "Missouri" and then
realized Mysore is a city in India.

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scrrr
_"Lifestyle management programmes which include sleep hygiene and care should
be incorporated as a policy matter in the IT industry."_

Yes, because adults need other adults to tell them when they should go to
sleep..

All you really need is management that knows a thing or two about software
engineering and a bit of a "don't worry, we'll fix it tomorrow, go
home"-attitude. If you're a manager and your team is constantly stressed out,
you should be fired immediately.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
I don't think it's entirely a management issue.

There are plenty of coders working normal hours then coding into the night on
personal projects and missing sleep as a result. It's almost become a macho
thing amongst developers - when was the last time you pulled an all-nighter,
how many hours have you put into project X.

~~~
maigret
When actually it should be the opposite... The less time you need to code a
project, the better coder you are.

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maigret
Ha! The key phrase is the following: "The test subjects were 91 software
engineers working at a Mysore-based development firm." It must suck to work
there...

~~~
steven_h
I don't know, I work at my university as a mobile software engineer and I have
trouble going to sleep at night as well.

It's hard to think about a million different problems a day and how to solve
them then just cut all that off at 10-11 or so each night.

It probably doesn't help that coding is my hobby as well as my profession, so
it really doesn't ever get turned off.

~~~
pmjordan
2 things that in combination completely eliminate sleep issues for me:

\- f.lux (time of day dependent display colour temperature)

\- physical exercise

If I drop either for more than a few days, I'm back in insomnia land. If I
exercised every single day, I'm sure I wouldn't need f.lux. Unfortunately,
exercise takes quite a bit of willpower in winter (no nearby gyms).

~~~
mtomczak
I wonder if there's correlation between below-average physical activity and
insomnia? I assume that a lot of coders---by necessity of their task and the
tools they use---spend most of a week sitting as opposed to, say, a mail
carrier or store clerk. Given that we're a species that evolved to leverage
mobility for our survival, it's not a stretch to imagine that our bodies
developed a dependency on lactic acid buildup and other "fatigue toxins" as
one of the signals that sleepytime is at hand.

Has anyone done this study? It seems like a pretty straightforward study to do
if some grad student out there is looking for a paper.

~~~
pmjordan
It's a recurring topic on HN. There seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence
for it.

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yayo
There is something magic in the mind when you work until late, it seems that
the lack of distractions really help, but if your body is not prepared, the
next day you loose al the time that you have saved triying just to be wake up.

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DjDarkman
> "Lifestyle management programmes which include sleep hygiene and care should
> be incorporated as a policy matter in the IT industry."

I really wonder how would they consider puling this off. :)

Most coders(like me) are by nature caffeine addicted and expose themselves to
insomnia just for the fun of getting some really cool job done. It's up to the
coders to find out for themselves where are their boundaries(biological), and
since most coders are probably intelligent people, I think they won't have
much difficulty with this. In other words: we need no nanny.

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ojbyrne
Today I got up at 3am. At least I get a lot done, there aren't too many
distractions at that time of day.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
I get up at 345am, seven days a week and haven't missed a day for months.
Productivity gain has been huge for me. No one bothers me for about six hours
after I get up, which is a long time....

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Pahalial
So let's summarize: 50 of the 91 coders who work for a given company have mild
to severe insomnia.

That really doesn't warrant the ridiculously vague and sensationalistic title
we ended up with.

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lhnz
Going to sleep at 3AM and waking up at 9AM for work. Yep. :/

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peterbotond
just to mention a few: \- natural light light bulbs \- walk outside during
daytime, under sunlight as weather permits \- only go to bed when sleepy

Drink water a lot. I sometimes not drink enough and get real bad headaches by
the end of the day.

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daimyoyo
So all I need to be a great programmer is just stop sleeping and bathing.
Thanks HN!

~~~
jcl
The headline is a little misleading. The word "hygiene" means more than just
"cleanliness", although the two are frequently used interchangeably. In this
case, it refers specifically to "sleep hygiene", which is a medical term for
sleep-related behaviors conducive to health (setting a regular sleep schedule,
getting enough sleep, not consuming food/caffeine/alcohol too close to
bedtime, etc.).

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_hygiene>

