

Ask HN: Do you do anything special to stay up all night and work? - tchae

Without trying to start a thread to promote illicit drugs, I'm curious to know if anyone has good experience with any methods to help stay up late and work early into the mornings.<p>I've been doing a bit of chewing tobacco and I've found that the nicotine from that often helps me stay focused and energized enough to work late into the night.<p>I've also heard certain sleep schedules, exercise regimen, as well as eating schedules can help you work many hours.<p>Any suggestions? experiences? thoughts?
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fourk
If you're looking to optimize hours of wakefulness per 24 hour period, you
want to look into Polyphasic Sleep. Specifically, what is most popularly known
as the uberman sleep schedule.

If you're looking to work marathon hours, look into Adrafinil. It is legal to
import for personal use, and is metabolized by the body in the bloodstream
into Modafinil, which has been used in lieu of amphetamines by the military
for keeping fighter pilots alert on long missions without sleep.

Relevant Links: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrafinil>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil>

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Travis
I've seen loads of people who refer to polyphasic sleep as a solution to
staying awake more. It strikes me as something of a myth. HN and reddit both
talk about it a lot, so it was pretty easy to find a HN discussion to
reference: <http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=1464142>

More direct "myths and facts about polyphasic sleep" at
<http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm>

To me, polyphasic sleep seems like it might work for a few people, but it's
likely just overhyped. I tried it in college -- maybe I just didn't have the
willpower to push through, but after a month or so, I felt like a zombie.

You know what helps me stay up late and focused? All those stupid, boring
little things that your mom taught you. Eat good food -- think of it as fuel,
and armed with a little knowledge, you'll be well off. Get 30-60 minutes of
exercise (heart rate > 130) every day or two. Regular sleep schedule. All that
good stuff.

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cheald
I get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, then work until I run out of energy, then
go to bed and sleep until I'm recharged. This leads to ~29 hour days, if
uninterrupted by errands/social obligations, but it can be extremely
productive.

One of the first lessons that I learned when I went into full-time startup
mode was that I got a lot more done if I didn't work when I didn't have energy
or focus. Tired at 2PM? Go sleep. Can't seem to focus? Go for a run, or play a
video game for a half hour, or go read a book. Do something that doesn't
require focus and concentration, but which keeps your mind off of work. When
I'm at the computer and working, if I listen to my mind and body, I can
achieve insane productivity when I'm actually working. I tend to have more
productive time as a result, too, though sometimes it feels "wrong" to work
for a half hour then go take a two-hour break, but when I come back I blast
through problems in 10 minutes that would have taken those past two hours
otherwise.

The trick isn't to just throw more butt-in-chair time at the problem, but to
make sure that when you're working, you're productive. If you find yourself
playing Flash games, browsing Reddit compulsively, or checking your email for
the 15th time in 45 seconds, get up and go nap or refocus. When you come back,
you'll be recharged and it'll be far easier to get back into the groove.

I firmly believe that the 8-hour 9-5 workday is a terrible thing to do for
programmer productivity. If you have the flexibility in your schedule to allow
for it, learn to ignore what society has programmed into us as the "right"
work schedule and learn to work when you can be productive, and to not even
bother when you can't.

I drink a _lot_ of coffee, and its effects on my mental clarity are very easy
for me to observe, but I've learned to recognize when I'm going to be winding
down, and I stop drinking it ~4 hours before I expect to go to bed. If I
don't, I end up exhausted and wide awake in bed, which utterly sucks.

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runjake
No. Sleep is important to your well-being. If you want to sleep less, exercise
more.The time spent exercising will boost your productivity and mental
faculties.

There aren't any shortcuts, in spite of what Tim Ferris may try to tell you.

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dinedal
For me, the best motivation to stay up late working is the feeling of "I don't
understand why it doesn't work."

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driftsumi-e
A topic after my own heart. I think to perform well with minimal sleep is an
art form.

Identify where you do your best thinking and make it a habit. I find that a
good cup of coffee or a good workout bring out the best in my productivity.
With some luck, there's a late night coffeeshop nearby you can frequent. Being
around people alone can help keep your energy up.

The gym helps me decompress and gather thoughts - all the clutter of the
current project or the events of that day can be reflected on and next moves
can be put together. My regular gym has late hours so it's not unusual for me
to get a midnight workout in followed by some more work. I can almost feel my
brain sorting through the clutter from a workload as I work up a sweat. Best
part - it's a natural way to boost energy and it works.

More than anything, being predisposed to that type of lifestyle helps (i.e.
insomnia). I have instances where I'm dead tired but my mind is still racing -
these are cases where it's hard to make myself fall asleep.

To sum it up, find a system that suits you. There's a strong possibility that
that method requires you to be active (rather than passive) as you navigate
through your day. Integrate it into a routine so when those occasions pop-up
where you need to pull an all-nighter, the ramp-up isn't as dramatic.

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dstein
I usually find all-nighters to be counter-productive because it kills my
productivity the next day or two. If you get stuck on a problem late at night
you're almost always better off leaving it for the next day when your mind is
fresh.

That aside, I do work until midnight-ish fairly regularly. I'll often drink
Yerba Mate (a type of herbal tea) after supper and that can sometimes
kickstart a second-wind of creativity/productivity in the nighttime.

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booduh
Sleep is vital, and can also beneficial if you time it correctly.

1\. Super motivation. When I'm working on a project that has me pumped, then
time flies and I can keep going until I physically pass out.

2\. Brainwave Entrainment. Google it. I listen to a certain audio recording
for 30 minutes, and I'm refreshed for another 2-4 hours. Net gain.

As for the timing of sleep-- your subconscious is a very powerful tool. If,
just before going to bed, you ask yourself all the questions and todos that
are on your mind (write them down), then as you sleep you brain will work
overtime to consolidate your experiences and to derive solutions. When you
wake up (google Polyphasic Sleep to put the sleep method on steroids) and take
a walk or shower, you may find that you have a lot of new ideas or solutions
for the problems you were tackling.

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schn
I think you should sleep when you are sleepy. This means I only stay up late
when I'm too engrossed by work to feel sleepy.

If you want a short term boost... caffeine, drugs, whatever you need. But when
you take a loan you always pay more than upfront.

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kia
I think working late at night is not very good for you and your productivity.
It's better to work 8 hours at 100% capability then 16 hours at 50%. Try to go
to sleep early and do all the important stuff in the morning after sleep when
your head is fresh.

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calbear81
In college, I used to pull all nighters at the library and besides the usual
"drink Jolt" or drink massive amounts of coffee/tea, I did very well by biting
into a raw lemon. The sourness woke me up right away and chewing on the rind
gave a lasting bitterness that kept me awake.

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mathgladiator
I've done free-running. It's the only way to pull a 120 hour work week and not
go insane. I once did this for 3 months straight.

(1) You have to love what you are working on.

(2) Every ten hours of work, sleep for four hours.

By the way, this is terrible advice.

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nolite
I've been doing biphasic sleeping. Segments off parts of the day alot more,
and makes me break work down into 7 hr chunks... since that's all I can stay
awake for at once. That said, I'm alert as soon as I wake up.. and have very
little groggy time

