On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting.
6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life.
Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had throughout life and even the few gains I've made have been a huge boost in confidence.
I urge everyone here to take up lifting as a hobby and stick with it.
From personal experience I would urge everyone to start with some form of Yoga.
It's less easy to quantify your progress than with weight lifting (whose easy conversion into numeric growth I wonder isn't one of its attractions when you're a data-driven kind of person) but has further reaching benefits beyond basic physical strength.
After 3 years of fairly regular yoga practise (3-4 sessions a week), even when combined with a fairly poor diet/lifestyle alongside it (way too much fun), left me feeling stronger, fitter, calmer, more centred, more energised* than I ever had before.
For those of you who, like me, are put off by the more 'hippy' aspects, I'd say it's a question of finding the right teacher rather than writing off the entire practice (my teacher at the time was nicknamed 'El Sargento' for her, shall we say 'strict' approach -- she taught Iyengar yoga with is a lot about details. This didn't suit everyone but suited me down to a tee).
There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life.
I was very lucky, growing up, to be the son of a sports medicine doctor because, from birth, healthy eating and exercise and their benefits were grilled into my brain.
Unfortunately I see too many people in my job (academia) who don't exercise despite the huge potential benefits to their productivity and life. So this makes me wonder: what is it about exercise that turns people off? Is it a communication issue? Is it the lack of confidence? Lack of knowledge? It seems that there are constant pushes in the media to be more healthy and exercise but it never seems to stick.
You don't necessarily have to only lift in order to gain health benefits. Generally I would simply recommend to pick a sport and try to become the best you can be and the rewards will follow soon, not only physically but also psychologically. Could be anything, cycling, running, tennis, martial arts - lifting works great of course. I myself switched from lifting to gymnastics strength training and couldn't be happier.
Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it.
Probably there are some fraction of women for whom this is an important factor in choosing men. Since I see many beautiful women choosing men with average physiques, I'm going to say that being highly muscled is not an important factor for most women.
NOTE: I'm not questioning exercise in general, cardiovascular fitness, being healthy, being free of disease, and not being overweight. All those are very important. I'm saying that of all the efficient ways of exercising, many people seem to pick lifting because of the misguided agenda that it attracts women.
That's awesome! I think more SW engineers ought to be getting exercise for all the benefits mentioned in these comments.
Me personally - I climb, bike, run, and lift. I like variety, and I usually only do one of those activities a day. I find yoga to be too slow, with little mental engagement, and thus boring. My wife, however, loves yoga. And we run and climb together when we can.
It's all about finding some form(s) of exercise / physically-intense-activity that works for you. I found that I'm attracted to things that engage both my mind and body. Rock climbing is incredibly hard physically and mentally engaging; each boulder problem is like solving a puzzle. And for the progression minded, each route or climb is graded so one can measure progress and overall fitness improvement. Mountain biking is fast, furious, and mentally demanding because you have to pick the right line to stay rubber side down. I tend to ride as fast and as hard as I can, both up and down trails to keep it demanding and fun.
Cross-training is important as it forces you to work different muscle groups, which promotes overall better body awareness and health. I also find that when I take breaks in the middle of the day to do these kinds of activities, I find I'm able to focus better and get more done. I've also found that when I'm stuck on a particularly thorny challenge, be it a defect or algorithm / design problem, taking a break and getting some exercise usually opens up new avenues of thought and ideas I hadn't considered previously.
I even more urge people taking this advice to read and go slow. It's super easy to hurt yourself if you end up with bad technique or go up in weight too fast--anything more than 5 lbs at a time is too fast. Read Starting Strength for some of the technical background and get some help from a friend who actually knows what proper technique looks like.
The single biggest physical improvement to my life was core strengthening. Basically 15 minutes of crunches, plank, and Russian twists every other day.
No more back aches at all. I never realized just how much and how constant the back pain I had was. Even when I was sleeping - tossed and turned all night.
I agree with you on weight training. I would also recommend taking the time to learn to lift correctly. I see a lot of people at the gym lifting in ways that can do a lot of damage, especially to one's back and knees. I would also recommend free weights over machines, since they require more balance.
I think it is also worth looking at kettlebells and gymnastic rings. Here are some good exercises using gymnastic rings. They're a bit challenging at first, but worth the effort, I think.
For myself, 1 year ago, the idea of going to the gym 3 times a week was inconvenient and I just did not want to do it. I got over that obstacle by paying an uncomfortable premium on gym membership/personal trainer.
The inner conflict went FROM $60 gym membership/long-term health vs going home TO $175 gym membership/long-term health vs going home. I chose the gym a lot more often then, and I am much more healthy than 1 year ago.
Don't want to be the negative guy, but sometimes I wonder why people would spend their physical energy on gym equipment while you may just as well learn a construction skill that leaves a tangible result and has some use in the real world - like bricklaying, plastering walls or wiring electricity.
Just my 2 cents, if you enjoy your gym all the better for you. But I also think that many people give up because they find it boring.
for those of you who might be thinking about this sort of thing around the new year - if you're serious about fitness don't forget to track your calories and/or clean up your diet! if you're chronically overweight, or underweight, you might be just making things up in your head about your inability to lose or gain weight - "what isn't measured can not be improved."
I would put stay healthy and invest in your health (chair, standing desk, exercise, food) as the #1 for any programmer for next year, and the years after. It's all too easy for us to forget about the long lasting effects of sitting in front of a computer that are hard to later undo.
Get ergonomic keyboard and mouse (laptops are terrible ergonomically), and get a break program to remember to take breaks.
I didn't, and was fine for over ten yeares, before I started to have bad RSI problems. I managed to get well, but it took a lot of effort and time: http://henrikwarne.com/2012/02/18/how-i-beat-rsi/
Fitbit got its start after founders James Park and Eric Friedman sold their peer-to-peer photo-sharing company Windup Labs to CNet in 2005. While pondering their next move, Park, a former cross-country runner and avid swimmer, realized two things: that years of startup life had left him in terrible shape, and that he had the resources to come up with a solution. In early 2007, the two launched their fitness gadget company in San Francisco's Financial District, with Park as CEO and Friedman as CTO.
The first thing programmers (or any group of people) need in order to improve their lives is a reason to improve their lives. The blog says "go analog" or "improve your health" or "learn a new programming language" etc. But why should I, or anyone for that matter, go analog, improve their health or learn a new programming language? For fun? If it's for fun, the list should have been called "Fun activities for programmers". This all new "improve-yourself-without-any-context" new age movement doesn't make any sense to me.
Thank you for posting this. Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is and I believe I'd get much more satisfaction from doing something that helps others. Social coder looks like a great solution to this for me.
#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)
# Keep a hobby project or fork an open source project and work on it when ever you find time.
# Once in a year take one month off from work if possible and visit new places.
# Go for a solo trip and spent time with yourself and nature.
# Go for volunteering in some rural schools. And spend time with kids.
# Publish a book.
I really like the resolution to embrace the uncomfortable. When you're young and inexperienced you have very little to lose by taking uncomfortable risks, but as you advance in your career it becomes more difficult to take the same risks.
I recently read the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and he has some great exercises called Comfort Challenges that really push you to go outside of your comfort zone. Some examples include
* Maintain eye contact for a long time
* Approach attractive males/females and get their numbers
* Lie down in the middle of a public place
These seem like simple activities, but they quickly get you acclimated to uncomfortable situations. I highly recommend Ferriss' book if you're interested embracing the uncomfortable.
This is a good point. Many people quickly become cynical and lose their passion for making things. Instead of thinking of the possibilities they change and only think of all the blockers. Recapturing that naiveté is what is required to just get some projects off the ground.
Very interesting article! I like the fact that you mentioned Prolog as one of the less mainstream languages to learn. During my time at uni I found that both Haskell and Prolog really changed the way I approached different problems and gave me a high level perspective to problem solving. Some interesting resources to learn Prolog:
I did some Prolog programming too for fun, and boy! it requires a complete paradigm shift in thinking! For those unfamiliar with Prolog, Prolog is very different from procedural programing languages. In procedural languages like C and Python, we assign values to variables and ask the computer to do operations on them. In logical programming langauges like Prolog and LISP, we tell the computer truth values of a list of statements, and ask the computer to check truth values of other statements using the provided list.
In the past, Prolog and LISP aimed to become the go to language for Artificial Intelligence programming. Sadly, not many people use them any more.
I'd also add Elixir as an alternative to Erlang. Still a different way of thinking if you're an imperative programmer but has nice tools and perhaps a familiar syntax.
I did this a few years ago, and as a result, I'm pretty confident I'm in the minority of people who 'like' both. I have not yet declared a side in the holy war of emacs vs. vi. They're both great.
As a text editor, I find vim's paradigm to be absolutely superb. As an editing environment, emacs offers so much more in terms of extensibility and functionality.
I tried for a long time to love readline's vi-mode, but the level of customization to get a bad vim experience (I know vi and vim are different beasts, that's part of the problem) makes this not too valuable a task. On the other hand, with emacs + evil, I get emacs in any REPL I want, and in a pretty capable shell, with evil editing everywhere, which is much less painful to configure than readline.
It has been probably posted sometime before but I think this is still very up to date and HN newcomers and veterans (and everobody else) should read this again and put into action.
Lots of overlap with "12 resolutions for grad students" (http://matt.might.net/articles/grad-student-resolutions/) as well, especially for junior folks. Everything other than "check with your committee applies directly, and if you replace "committee" by "mentor," then it works very well.
I'm currently waiting to see what comes back from fsck on a 4TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi (don't ask). Drive is 390 days old according to SMART and reporting unrecoverable read errors.
Most of the stuff was in other locations but I know there was one repo I was waiting to push... waited too long, I guess.
I would try to use potable devices like iPad/Kindle/Mobile more for reading (Hacker news etc) purposes. Most of the time we don't need a full fledged computer compromising the sitting posture.
Do you find that you read better with a mobile device? I tend to find myself adopting awful posture when using any mobile device. With my computer and desk at home, though, I've got a monitor and keyboard at the right height and a very comfortable chair where I can maintain appropriate posture.
[+] [-] richmt|10 years ago|reply
6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life.
Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had throughout life and even the few gains I've made have been a huge boost in confidence.
I urge everyone here to take up lifting as a hobby and stick with it.
[+] [-] magnetised|10 years ago|reply
It's less easy to quantify your progress than with weight lifting (whose easy conversion into numeric growth I wonder isn't one of its attractions when you're a data-driven kind of person) but has further reaching benefits beyond basic physical strength.
After 3 years of fairly regular yoga practise (3-4 sessions a week), even when combined with a fairly poor diet/lifestyle alongside it (way too much fun), left me feeling stronger, fitter, calmer, more centred, more energised* than I ever had before.
For those of you who, like me, are put off by the more 'hippy' aspects, I'd say it's a question of finding the right teacher rather than writing off the entire practice (my teacher at the time was nicknamed 'El Sargento' for her, shall we say 'strict' approach -- she taught Iyengar yoga with is a lot about details. This didn't suit everyone but suited me down to a tee).
There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoq1eeIUxQ
[+] [-] cabinpark|10 years ago|reply
Unfortunately I see too many people in my job (academia) who don't exercise despite the huge potential benefits to their productivity and life. So this makes me wonder: what is it about exercise that turns people off? Is it a communication issue? Is it the lack of confidence? Lack of knowledge? It seems that there are constant pushes in the media to be more healthy and exercise but it never seems to stick.
[+] [-] slaunchwise|10 years ago|reply
http://stronglifts.com/5x5/
You use 5 compound exercises and work out 3 times per week. Recommendation is to start as light as possible.
[+] [-] aschreyer|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mysterypie|10 years ago|reply
Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it.
Probably there are some fraction of women for whom this is an important factor in choosing men. Since I see many beautiful women choosing men with average physiques, I'm going to say that being highly muscled is not an important factor for most women.
NOTE: I'm not questioning exercise in general, cardiovascular fitness, being healthy, being free of disease, and not being overweight. All those are very important. I'm saying that of all the efficient ways of exercising, many people seem to pick lifting because of the misguided agenda that it attracts women.
[+] [-] yekim|10 years ago|reply
Me personally - I climb, bike, run, and lift. I like variety, and I usually only do one of those activities a day. I find yoga to be too slow, with little mental engagement, and thus boring. My wife, however, loves yoga. And we run and climb together when we can.
It's all about finding some form(s) of exercise / physically-intense-activity that works for you. I found that I'm attracted to things that engage both my mind and body. Rock climbing is incredibly hard physically and mentally engaging; each boulder problem is like solving a puzzle. And for the progression minded, each route or climb is graded so one can measure progress and overall fitness improvement. Mountain biking is fast, furious, and mentally demanding because you have to pick the right line to stay rubber side down. I tend to ride as fast and as hard as I can, both up and down trails to keep it demanding and fun.
Cross-training is important as it forces you to work different muscle groups, which promotes overall better body awareness and health. I also find that when I take breaks in the middle of the day to do these kinds of activities, I find I'm able to focus better and get more done. I've also found that when I'm stuck on a particularly thorny challenge, be it a defect or algorithm / design problem, taking a break and getting some exercise usually opens up new avenues of thought and ideas I hadn't considered previously.
[+] [-] base698|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EdwardMSmith|10 years ago|reply
No more back aches at all. I never realized just how much and how constant the back pain I had was. Even when I was sleeping - tossed and turned all night.
[+] [-] innocentoldguy|10 years ago|reply
I think it is also worth looking at kettlebells and gymnastic rings. Here are some good exercises using gymnastic rings. They're a bit challenging at first, but worth the effort, I think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFB9AV3VMg
[+] [-] sharps_xp|10 years ago|reply
The inner conflict went FROM $60 gym membership/long-term health vs going home TO $175 gym membership/long-term health vs going home. I chose the gym a lot more often then, and I am much more healthy than 1 year ago.
[+] [-] alfapla|10 years ago|reply
Just my 2 cents, if you enjoy your gym all the better for you. But I also think that many people give up because they find it boring.
[+] [-] beachstartup|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dasboth|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dorfsmay|10 years ago|reply
Edit: I'm surprised by the downvotes, I was just asking for a clarification, "committing 3 days per week" could mean dedicate 3 days just to that.
[+] [-] gregdoesit|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] henrik_w|10 years ago|reply
I didn't, and was fine for over ten yeares, before I started to have bad RSI problems. I managed to get well, but it took a lot of effort and time: http://henrikwarne.com/2012/02/18/how-i-beat-rsi/
[+] [-] T-zex|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brlewis|10 years ago|reply
Yes, that's actually how Fitbit started. From http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223780
Fitbit got its start after founders James Park and Eric Friedman sold their peer-to-peer photo-sharing company Windup Labs to CNet in 2005. While pondering their next move, Park, a former cross-country runner and avid swimmer, realized two things: that years of startup life had left him in terrible shape, and that he had the resources to come up with a solution. In early 2007, the two launched their fitness gadget company in San Francisco's Financial District, with Park as CEO and Friedman as CTO.
[+] [-] steinsgate|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] victorp13|10 years ago|reply
I set this resolution for myself last year, and have been able to work on three projects via http://socialcoder.org/ - feels very fulfilling!
[+] [-] shrikant|10 years ago|reply
[As an aside, it was really depressing to see how smaller charities without adequate tech knowledge or budget get taken for ride by scam artists.]
[+] [-] k-mcgrady|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pc86|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mosburger|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mavdi|10 years ago|reply
One look at any news site is enough to help you avoid the first 12 resolutions.
[+] [-] l1feh4ck|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonathanfoster|10 years ago|reply
I recently read the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and he has some great exercises called Comfort Challenges that really push you to go outside of your comfort zone. Some examples include
These seem like simple activities, but they quickly get you acclimated to uncomfortable situations. I highly recommend Ferriss' book if you're interested embracing the uncomfortable.[+] [-] seivan|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matwood|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Anilm3|10 years ago|reply
# http://www.swi-prolog.org/
# http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~bart.demoen/PrologProgrammingC...
# http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/prolog_module/sem242.html
# http://www.learnprolognow.org/
I'm getting an itch now, I think I'll give Prolog a second go this new year.
[+] [-] steinsgate|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sotojuan|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xarien|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emergentcypher|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sawwit|10 years ago|reply
Switch to emacs + evil, or alternatively to Spacemacs: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs
[+] [-] irishcoffee|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] greggyb|10 years ago|reply
As a text editor, I find vim's paradigm to be absolutely superb. As an editing environment, emacs offers so much more in terms of extensibility and functionality.
I tried for a long time to love readline's vi-mode, but the level of customization to get a bad vim experience (I know vi and vim are different beasts, that's part of the problem) makes this not too valuable a task. On the other hand, with emacs + evil, I get emacs in any REPL I want, and in a pretty capable shell, with evil editing everywhere, which is much less painful to configure than readline.
[+] [-] pkrefta|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmiller2|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sotojuan|10 years ago|reply
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...
[+] [-] voltagex_|10 years ago|reply
I'm currently waiting to see what comes back from fsck on a 4TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi (don't ask). Drive is 390 days old according to SMART and reporting unrecoverable read errors.
Most of the stuff was in other locations but I know there was one repo I was waiting to push... waited too long, I guess.
[+] [-] SoulMan|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] greggyb|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pacomerh|10 years ago|reply