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This was not at all what I was expecting from the title. I thought I was going to read an article about the importance of taking one day a week to not write any

This was not at all what I was expecting from the title. I thought I was going to read an article about the importance of taking one day a week to not write any code. I'm sure that between startups, work, side projects, etc. some of us are coding every day on something or other. As someone who often works alone, one of the best things I've done is to find someone else to share code, problems, and ideas with on a regular basis, even though we're not working on the same projects. It's helped me grow as a developer, has improved my mood, and has also just been an enjoyable. But I still really do think it is important to make sure there's one day a week where you don't touch anything related to work or code.

steveklabnik 13y ago
I've been developing a concept called "irresponsible coding," which is basically the idea that you need 'good engineering' time as well as some form of 'irresponsible, exploratory coding.' I've given a few talks on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyQOLRiEPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyQOLRiEPs I think that we've often lost a lot of the wonder and whimsy in software. Code is like magic! But you don't get that when BDDing a new feature so you can check it off in Pivotal. I agree that not coding every single day is a really fantastic idea as well.
- moultano 13y ago
  I personally think that's the best part about 20% time. You can do things where it's OK for them to not work. This means you can try things you don't know how to do, and bring them in to your main projects once you are already comfortable with them.
- sanderjd 13y ago
  I like the idea of a "day off" being either a real day off, or just a day where you code irresponsibly, whichever will be more rejuvenating. Thanks for the terminology!
freditup 13y ago
I think you're 100% right. It's impossible (for me anyways) to be productive 7 days a week for a lot of weeks in a row. I started recently taking Sundays off from working altogether and spent the day only doing stuff like going to church, relaxing with friends, reading, exercising, and maybe a couple other things. I think it has helped me in lots of ways, from being more efficient and effective at work the other days to also enjoying the work more.

steveklabnik 13y ago

I've been developing a concept called "irresponsible coding," which is basically the idea that you need 'good engineering' time as well as some form of 'irresponsible, exploratory coding.' I've given a few talks on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyQOLRiEPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyQOLRiEPs I think that we've often lost a lot of the wonder and whimsy in software. Code is like magic! But you don't get that when BDDing a new feature so you can check it off in Pivotal. I agree that not coding every single day is a really fantastic idea as well.

moultano 13y ago
I personally think that's the best part about 20% time. You can do things where it's OK for them to not work. This means you can try things you don't know how to do, and bring them in to your main projects once you are already comfortable with them.
sanderjd 13y ago
I like the idea of a "day off" being either a real day off, or just a day where you code irresponsibly, whichever will be more rejuvenating. Thanks for the terminology!

freditup 13y ago

I think you're 100% right. It's impossible (for me anyways) to be productive 7 days a week for a lot of weeks in a row. I started recently taking Sundays off from working altogether and spent the day only doing stuff like going to church, relaxing with friends, reading, exercising, and maybe a couple other things. I think it has helped me in lots of ways, from being more efficient and effective at work the other days to also enjoying the work more.