Ask HN: How do you stay productive after work?

For me, exercise is key. If I get in 30+min of exercise after work it's like hitting the reset button on my energy and I can squeeze out another couple hours of productivity.

Same is the case with me. In work I don't get to code but my work involves around support. I love programming. Once I get back from home I always make sure I read tweets of smart people, read hackerne.ws, reddit, quora and mailing list.

As a result of this I get excited to find some thing interesting out of the above mentioned and start working on my own ideas.

Simple keep following and get updates about people whom consider smart and get to know what they are upto, this pushes you.

A good employer should allow you the freedom to read the articles and do actives that will enhance your skill set (e.g. The Google 20% time).

I have never asked if I can, but every job I have always read articles I have found. Some companies I have openly told my boss that is what I do and sometimes those articles have not been directly related to my job, yet still this has been thought of as ok.

So my advice is, do it at work, your employer should be pleased that you want to broaden your skill set, it can only benefit them in the end. Just don't do it to a capacity that has a negative impact on your deliverables.

For me it's simple I just hate to work in companies that are not mine, so when I get home at night my brain keeps telling me my life is going to be a nightmare if I don't do my stuff.

I just can't sleep without commiting some code, or looking for a solution for a problem I am having in my side project, I need to at least search for it.

If I stay too much time ( Girlfriend, family, sports etc..) like 5hrs or + away from my things I start day dreaming about problems I have to solve in periods I am alone but cannot get to a computer, and I feel a urge to get home soon.

Anyway it's my curse... I gotta have side projects otherwise live is meaningless( at least at this time of my life)

It's me and sometimes people get pissed at me but I am like that love me or hate me :D.

P.S: a LIGHT ( not running a 15kms) exercise really helps, it's like your body is ready for the next 24hrs at 9pm.

cycling

by not wasting my productivity at work...XD

It can definitely be difficult trying to make significant progress on a side project while working a full-time job. I usually try to plan out my day after work and get whatever chores done that would get in the way of me being able to come back, eat, and spend an hour or so relaxing before starting on my side project. I try to spend 1-2 hours of solid, focused time working on my side project (which is often difficult if I'm tired).

I too tend to work on side projects after work, and I usually do so at a coffee shop. I've tried to be productive at home, but always end up turning on the TV in the background or making dinner. Going straight to a coffee shop usually keeps me in the same state of mind that I was during work.

Downside, no dinner. :)

I'm lucky enough to work a job where I get real enjoyment out of the coding I do for a living, and a chance to self-teach and employ modern coding practices. So the best way for me to unwind is to go home and watch some tv shows, play some video games, work in the yard, and get caught up on whatever happens to interest me in the media at the moment.

While I may not be doing to much to build my skill set and repertoire on my personal time, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job of balancing 'living for today' and 'preparing for tomorrow'.

Might be not applicable for you, but I have never had has much productive as since I commute a lot.

I used to work 50-55h/w, and get home to do . . . nothing and see my fanstastic ideas TODO list growing and growing.

For some time, I relocated and now have to commute almost 3 hours a day (with 2 hours of train). Now I work only 45h/w, but still have less time at home than before .

Getting home at 8pm, I have to be really efficient to get things done at home (chores, washing machines, cooking) and spend some time with my girlfriend.

This showed me that I had to be as much efficient as possible during those 3 hours, not to literally lose my life.

I use the train time to code as much as possible on pet projects and my TODO list is melting down. I use the bus and walk time to read articles saved on my phone using Paper/Instagram.

This to say that I think that necessity can make you more productive. You don't have to start commuting :p, but perhaps put yourself in a close environement for some time a day could be good practice.

It's odd, but just do and you will be productive. Start with something small and watch it snowball. Before you know it you will get into it and not be able to break away.

This is true with just about anything. Most of the time exercise doesn't seem fun, but you get into it.

It's much easier to be a consumer than a producer. Avoid consumption and just produce. You will gain far more slogging through it yourself than reading about someone slogging through it.

I talk with users. That keeps me motivated to move things forward.

Reading is not being productive - or I'm being really productive without producing anything.

Anyway I read at work and at home, but I have trouble working on my own stuff sometimes.

Try monitoring your energy level. I ran this experiment on myself (http://madhadron.com/?p=254) with very useful results. I know that my energy level drops like a rock at 16h and doesn't really come back until about 20h. So I take care of stuff that doesn't require massive energy in that gap and try to protect my second energy burst of the day for getting other stuff done.

As for the articles you've emailed yourself, I find it quite often the case that I no longer have enthusiasm a few hours later to read something that seemed interesting at first glance. The best solution there is not to read it and find something better.

I also find that it helps to schedule a block of time for a particular project. For example, I'm typesetting a book for some friends of mine. On my calendar for yesterday evening was to put the chicken on to roast and then typeset while it roasted until other friends came over for dinner at 7. The broccoli and sweet potatos required some time, but not much focused attention, so I could keep the state of the typesetting in my head while I did prep work and then go back to it when things were cooking.

You also may be using up your capacity for certain kinds of thought (e.g., programming and mathematics) at work. Try a project that uses a different part of your brain, such as drawing or writing fiction.

To me, the opposite question is the hard one.

Since I've started using a tool to plan my activities in a weekly, and also in a daily, basis, I've seen my productivity boost. I have separate task lists for my day job, my side projects, and also personal stuff. I use Trello, and Google Calendar for tasks that have a clear deadline, meetings, or appointments.

It feels good to tick the "Done" box.

Also, I use a tool to track where I spend my time, so that I try to improve my "time invested on productive activities" per week. I use Rescue Time for that.

@bking: I am glad you asked this question. I do exactly what you say: After my regular 9-5 job, I work another 6 hours on my personal projects & I have been asking myself how to increase efficiency in those 6 hours (because my personal projects really matter to me the most). Recently, I have come up with a model whereby, I work 6 hours after work, every alternate day. So, I'd do my 6 hours on Monday, and then take a break on Tuesday after work - Id spend around 3 hours improving what I did on Monday (so, "no innovation" day). Those 3 hours actually help a lot - I try and read docs/SoF, watch some stupid tv, spend time with my gf and off to bed. I repeat this pattern every alternate days. To be honest, this model seems to work. Thats my 2 cents.

Like a lot of people, exercising right after work is what helps me. Diet seems to help as well.

Timing of my caffeine is also critical. I usually try to have caffeine (2 shot Americano) in the morning and something towards the end of my work day around 3, maybe a single Americano or some sugar free energy drink. Then by the time I workout and get home I have a nice, sustainable stream of energy and can focus. I run into problems with caffeine if I have it too close to the time I really need to work. I get jittery and can't focus.

I also don't put too much pressure on myself. Some days I'll feel like working and get a lot accomplished. Other days I don't, or can't be productive later in the day, that's just life. No reason to beat myself up over it.

I have worked on lots of personal projects (1), most of which are related to electronics. I do not do electronics for my job and I do not have a lot of free time. So, I've found three things to be effective at maximizing my happiness:

1. Have multiple projects on the go at once.

I've found that building multiple things at once enables me to best make use of my available time and resources (such as the equipment/components I have and spare money). One of the projects will usually have some portion that I can spend time on, or research, or buy something for. This is especially true of the researching part.

Depending on my mood I will either (a) not work on the projects at all since there are plenty of other valuable things to do (such as cooking, interacting with people, exercising) or (b) pick from the available choices the one that I'm most in the mood for (e.g. tonight I'd like to finish that amplifier, or tonight I need to read up on X).

2. Don't worry about when they get completed.

This has made me achieve more not less. The more I worried I wasn't completing things the more I stressed myself out and set unrealistic deadlines and then missed them and got upset. Going slow has helped.

3. Pick work that fits in the available time.

I might have an entire evening free, or I might have 20 minutes. There's usually something from the multiple projects that will fit in that available time.

For example, when I worked on my high-altitude balloon project GAGA-1(2) it took me a 9 months of grabbing an hour here, an evening there. The result was fantastic and I don't feel bad about it having taken 9 months instead of a month of total cramming.

(1) http://jgc.org/labs.html (2) http://blog.jgc.org/2011/04/gaga-1-flight.html

Things that work for me are:

- Clean up the house first, having a clean space and already putting in some work makes me more focused and productive.

- Go for a +20min run. It takes that amount of time for your body to get into the reset mode.

- Take a cold shower, it also helps.

- Eat well, i'd recommend tim ferriss's book "the 4-hour body", it keeps me feeling great which in turn helps me do great work.

- combine some multi-positives into your life. By that I mean, if you are commuting that takes a while, listen to audio books or other material. While you are cooking and have a home gym, combine the two and work out while you cook.

- I have experimented with "binaural beats", they are low sound frequencies that help your brain get into concentration mode, relaxation mode, or even deep sleep mode. I actually think they work.

- 30min naps after lunch help. I find that right after lunch I am basically useless so I use the time for fueling up.

- Get the right kind of sleep, the deep REM sleep. The best sleep requires two REM cycles a night (3.5hr - 4hr chunks). Take some magnesium before bed as well.

- do not drink wine or alcohol until it is wind down time at night, I find that this kills my focused energy.

You might try shifting your reading to the early morning before work.

Many people succeeded at this by going to bed early, waking up early and doing their things (developing, learning, whatever) in the early morning. This way you do so when you're still fresh!

I don't. I'm way too tired to do any work in the evening.

I've been most successful doing my side project work in the morning, before I leave for my "real job."

I recommend getting up 2.5 hours before you have to leave for work. Take that first half hour to shower, make coffee, and get set up to work on your side project.

Do not start web browsing. Just go to your to-do list and start working on one items.

Getting up early will only be difficult for maybe a week or two, then you'll get used to it.

If you're still interested in doing "work" in the evening, use that time to jot down some ideas in evernote and plan for the next morning. Don't force it.

Try to be productive with the information you've consumed at work. If you read an article about a technology then go home and try to scrape the surface of the technology and write couple of paragraphs about it in your blog/journal. From my experience, you should not be consuming any new information once you get home (maybe in my case I consume a lot at work already). You might not be able to consume as much with this practice, however, you'll put to practice (understand) whatever you consume. Remember, learning the word doesn't matter, understanding the definition does.

Here's a tip: don't try to be productive all the time. This leads to mediocre performance, which is generally a bad thing. Instead, give your 100% in everything you do, then when you're tired, RELAX! No articles. No small stuff for work. Don't do any of that. Instead, recharge your batteries for, say, tweny minutes, even taking a quick nap if you want to. Once you're feeling rested, again give it your 100%.

Wash, rinse and repeat, and suddenly you're two times as productive. :)

I gave up television except for two nights a week. Doing that gave me the time and motivation to work on online classes and to work on side projects.