Take care of your body! Yeah, this is not a secret, but we all see it ignored all the time. I know many of you see your body as a brain transportation system and little else, but you are a system and you need to keep that system working optimally for maximum results.
- Get Enough Quality Sleep.
- Eat for mental performance.
- Get some exercise.
"But Coach Gabavics, I'm a developer, as long as I can sit upright and type, I can do my job." Yes, but not optimally.
"I don't have time to eat well". You are a professional knowledge worker, it is literally your job to perform at maximum mental clarity.
"I can't get enough sleep, I do my best work at night" Then work at night and get your sleep elsewhere.
"I do just great on 4-5 hours of sleep". No, you don't. You might be used to living on 5 hours of sleep, but you've probably forgotten what great feels like. Get 7+ hours of sleep for a month and then tell me how great you did on 5.
"If I sleep more I'll get less done, those extra hours are what I use to get ahead." Ultimately the number of hours you put in is a useless metric. We produce working software. The longer it takes you to do that the more inefficient you are being. Being rested, fueled and fit will allow you to be efficient. You will have clarity of thought that will put you in the zone faster, enough fuel to not need to stop because you are hungry and the stamina to push through. This means you can stay focused longer and better. This will make you more productive and not less and much more efficient.
Now I'm not saying you need to train and eat like a bodybuilder or CrossFit games competitor. I'm saying take your body seriously and treat it like you are a professional.
A great resource for optimal performance is Dave Asprey's Bulletproof Lifestyle https://blog.bulletproof.com/bulletproof-for-beginners/. This guy takes mental performance seriously.
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