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Comment by shubhamjain | Hacker News Reader

The main problem is exhaustion. The queer thing about jobs out here is that in name "flexible timings" there is complete lack of schedule. Everyone comes around 11AM and stay till 7-7:30. I reach home by 8 and I am completely spent. Weekends are better but I don't feel I am progressing enough to have a good job.

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Been there. Shift your hours back to 9-5. Helps considerably. You don't lose the evening then. Gives you something to live for.

Moar this than I can upvote. Getting in early changes your entire day. Sure, you sleep less, but unless you have an acute medical condition you can get used to it within a week or so.

Yeah, but make sure you do sleep enough. I neglected sleep for years, sleeping for 2-4 hours a day - on average, with sometimes 2-3 days without sleep at all - and I though I was doing fine. When it finally caught up to me I had a major epilepsy episode at the office, which was not nice. I since started to value a solid 8-9 hours sleep much more than before. This "much" of sleep is probably not really needed, but right now I'd rather be safe than (even more) sorry. YMMV ofc, but just keep in mind the dangers when deciding to sleep less to do something else.

Similar experience. I did two days solid with a couple of naps and passed out on some stairs breaking three bones in my foot, 2 ribs and dislocated my shoulder. My brain just said "enough of this shit" and taught me a painful lesson that destroyed me for 3 months.

7 hours minimum now and no stimulants (alcohol, caffeine, masses of sugar etc) and lots of water. Made a bigger difference to me than an exercise regime.

I should have stated I go to bed at 9pm.

I completely disagree, for me, anyway. I was a child that chose to sleep instead of open Santa presents on Christmas. I am most definitely more productive when I can start my day late - enough that when working overnight, my mother noticed a positive difference in my happiness level. When possible, I test myself every few years to see if it has changed: Both ways I can get enough sleep, but timing my sleep to fit the correct time of day for me helps tremendously.

The only thing that might motivate me to wake earlier in this situation is to search for a job that didn't try to suck my brain away - very worthwhile.

Orrrrrrr wake up early and do some exercise and coding while your mind and body are still fresh.

Half of you probably just said, "yeah right!" but you might be surprised. I was a dedicated morning-hater until I got a little older (like into my 30s) and started sleeping better (sometimes).

Best part about working/exercising in the early morning hours is that nobody bothers you. No sales calls, social obligations, etc. (Edit: Unless you have kids and need to get them ready for school, of course...)

Or work for 2-3 hours every morning before work.

Arrange it so that the most optimal part of your day is for your personal projects. Your employer can have whatever energy and focus is remaining.

Why not do some coding on the job? It doesn't have to be a portfolio, but you can invest your time in learning up to date stuff and justify it as necessary research for your craft.

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