
Ask HN: How often do you pull an all-nighter? - TaylorGood
And do your friends&#x2F;family condemn you for &quot;being extreme&quot; ? – still seems a bit taboo for society since many in the workforce leave their work at the office.
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AnimalMuppet
Never. In 32 years as a professional developer I have _never_ pulled an all-
nighter.

The closest I came was telling a co-worker "I won't leave until I get this
done". I was there until 2 AM. At midnight, I was looking down at a printout
(yes, I'm old enough to have worked with those), and my glasses slipped off
and broke as they hit the edge of the table. I worked the last two hours
leaving nose prints on the screen (not literally, but close).

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KhalPanda
Never.

I think people that _frequently_ pull all nighters (i.e. those claiming to do
so multiple times per week) are probably missing the point that they'll get
more work done with ~6 100% productive hours per day, than 18+ hours at fastly
reduced productivity. It's not sustainable.

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danielvf
As a teen, I did lighting design at an outdoor amphitheater. The only time you
could see the lights was at night, so I worked through the night a few times
each year before new shows.

But as an adult, writing code, never. By this time in life, I’ve used up
whatever sleep reserves have. If I were to stay up for a night, I’d not be
able to function the next day.

Kids keep me up at night too much anyway. :)

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muzani
I've done it a few times.

1\. A project for a client that needed to be done "yesterday". It was a 3 day
1 night project that we charged double for because of the timeline.

2\. A multi-million 1 month project that we spent the final week working 100
hours/week. Project management got me a massage chair to sleep in at the
office, bought and delivered whatever food I wanted.

3\. When my daughter was less than 1 year old and I was freelancing. Days were
distracting so I worked nights.

4\. Bootstrapping my startup, regularly doing 100 hour weeks for a year. I was
burnt out for a year after selling the startup.

In summary, I only recommend it for urgent projects. It's productive for the
first 5 nights but after that, productivity drops drastically. Sleep debt is
even worse than technical debt.

~~~
dsacco
Productive for the first _five nights?!_

How the hell did you not crash after the second one? I’m pretty sure I begin
having auditory hallucinations after just _one_ all-nighter!

~~~
rl3
I really hope that was said in context of non-contiguous sleep deprivation.
120 hours continually awake is nuts.

I've done 96 hours before and I could only do borderline mindless tasks at 20%
efficiency, let alone programming.

It's possible to get a few hours each night, work literally every waking hour
and be productive for weeks on end (at great peril of course), but for most
developers I'd wager productivity is drastically reduced after 48 hours, and
almost completely gone by 72.

Recent science says sleep deprivation actually incurs brain damage, so it's
definitely never a good idea except for emergencies.

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goldenbeet
never. Sleep is important physically and mentally and I've never had a
legitimate reason to skip on sleep. (There are some cases where it would be
unavoidable, they're just rare) There are times where I'd like to stay up all
night to work on something I'm enjoying, but I force myself to stop and go to
bed.

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twobyfour
Once or twice a year when I get caught up in a really good book at bedtime.
Never for work.

~~~
asidiali
Same - but with binge watching a new series.

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metamodule
Only with high priority deadlines. I had an intense project last week that I
had spent days on. Last minute I wanted to change how the data was distributed
and rewrote it overnight. It paid off though, the team loved it. After
mentioning that I pulled an all-nighter, I got the rest of the day off. Would
not recommend otherwise!

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koolba
For work, never. If shit hits the proverbially fan and I had to do it because
something was broken then I'm sure I would. But other contingency planning and
dev practices has obviated the need for that.

For fun, every now and then. Not a regular thing but it's fun to pretend to be
in your early 20s.

~~~
mod
When I do it, it's not fun. I'm in my 30s and I'm actually a night-owl, but if
I have to get up--nope!

I actually just can't stay awake if I'm overly tired. I will fall asleep
anywhere, including driving. I don't commute but I try to avoid it anyway,
since I'll (involuntarily) sleep during work-hours to make up for what I lost.

------
richardknop
Never. I did it few times several years ago when I was working on a personal
side project and before that during university. But since I only have a day
job at the moment I leave my work at the office. There's always another day
you can continue where you left previously. No need to lose sleep.

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mod
I have never pulled nor considered a (professional) all-nighter.

No project I've worked on has been that important, though I can think of some
situations that would be.

I have left the office after 8pm (11-12 hour day) a handful of times, mostly
when I broke things late in the day, or when we were migrating something large
during off-peak hours.

I don't consider working late a valuable tool to have in my toolbox. I'd
rather deliver ahead-of-schedule, estimate more appropriately, and turn down
work that is overly high-pressure.

FWIW I'm an employed developer and my employer would never ask me or anyone
else to do this, in my estimation.

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PebblesHD
It's been quite busy in the office lately with changes and releases so it's
been 2-3 days a week, but the average is closer to 1 outside of busy periods.
Generally not so much of an issue with the family, as I'm only really annoying
the cat when i get home...

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twobyfour
Are most of the people here who say they do this frequently just staying up
until dawn and then crashing for the rest of the day? Or are you working
through the night plus the next full workday?

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scottmf
I had a few 36 hour workdays this year. People thought I was crazy for doing
so and they were right.

There’s very rarely any benefit in trying to work when you’d usually be
asleep.

It’s arrogant to believe one could work 16+ hours without any productivity
gains being significantly offset over the following days.

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chanfest22
not once since college. sleep is important :)

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sotojuan
For work? I quit working at 6pm. For fun? I've tried doing video game/movie
all nighters like I did when I was 13. At 23, I just can't any more for some
reason.

It's a lot easier for me to stay up all night if I am outside doing something,
but that is rare.

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jason_slack
I practice a polyphasic sleep cycle so I am often up a majority of the day and
night.

~~~
Kevin_S
How long? I tried once in college and it broke me after less than a week.

~~~
jason_slack
I just started my 3rd year.

~~~
Nilef
That's incredible. Have you done any writing on your lifestyle/how you
maintain it?

~~~
jason_slack
not really, but I'm happy to share if you have questions. E-mail in profile.

~~~
probinso
I would be interested as well

~~~
jason_slack
AMA. E-Mail in profile.

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kevinherron
I've never worked all night professionally. I may have done it once or twice
in college.

I'm honestly not sure I could stay up all night even if I wanted to at this
point (age 32, if that matters).

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probinso
I'm too old for that shit. I don't pull all nightdress for work anymore.
Companies shouldn't ask you to do this.

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irremediable
It is "extreme"; it's an extremely bad idea. It's unhealthy and unproductive.
For emergencies, some people have to do it, but ideally it shouldn't happen.

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e59d134d
I did a few times for the team. I got a lot of praise but tiny less than
inflation rate raise.

Never again and looking for new team now :)

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matchmike1313
Almost never. The only reason I have ever pulled an all-nighter is if a
serious bug has been found or a server has crashed.

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cm2012
Never. I almost never work after sunset.

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dilithiumhe3
Totally depends on what I'm doing, but if things are interesting 2-3 days a
week. Sometimes once.

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EADGBE
The last time I did it was at/for work and it was shortly before I quit.

Before that? I had to be maybe 14.

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koiz
1-2 times a week.

I rather finish what I'm doing and sleep after.

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kgraves
5 times a week. I rarely do it on weekends because that's when I need to catch
up on sleep, parents don't care as much.

~~~
neilsimp1
So you're awake for five days straight? That can't be healthy.

~~~
twobyfour
That doesn't seem physically possible without amphetamines

~~~
jason_slack
My teenage son can only stay up for 3 days straight without crashing pretty
hard.

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gt2
1-2 times per week.

