How do you reward yourself when you've overcome a monster task

Question

I just finished debugging something really hairy, took me three days and one night of not sleeping (not just one bug, obv).

What I WANTED to do was stand on my desk and dance. What I did do is let myself surf on reddit for a few, and I may treat myself to a walk and a nice lunch.

What are some good rewards for getting a task completed?

Answer 1

In my place of work, it's usually another monster task!

Answer 2

I try and leave work on time that day... or even a wee bit early if it's a big task! :-)

Answer 3

time to hit the xbox..

Answer 4

I buy myself icecream or a new cellphone

Answer 5

Explain what I just accomplish to a teammate and go walk outside for few minutes to smile alone and take time to appreaciate the moment.

Answer 6

Spend a few minutes out in the fresh air. You get a rest, stretch your legs and to clear your mind before hitting the next task.

Of course, I work by a river so this is nicer than at some places, but I can recommend at least getting up from your desk for a few minutes!

Answer 7

I eat something. Then have a smoke.

Answer 8

icecream and Wii

Answer 9

That's when I come to StackOverflow.

Answer 10

I allow myself to work on some programming task which I find super fun but might not be something the company I work for would prioritize at the moment. Usually I have a lot of ideas for solutions that would be really interesting to implement but their only purpose might be to replace some existing (poor) solution, defeating the "don't fix it if it ain't broken" rule.

Answer 11

Of course, I spend some time on stackoverflow! ;-)

Then I go get ice cream, a cell phone, play some xbox when I leave early.

Answer 12

You only thought about dancing? Usually, I stand up in my cube and stretch to cover up my victory dance. Then I proceed to share the story with my adjacent cubes, as anything interesting makes for good conversation and we're always in need of a mental break. If I still feel energetic, I'll take a walk to the canteen and grab a soda and some high sugar snack food.

Of course, then I start the email mill looking for more to do. :) More work is good!

Answer 13

Surf the web until I feel guilty about doing so!

Answer 14

Go-Go- Bar

hmmm... You want to dance... these ideas may work out well together ;-)

Answer 15

Start planning the next 5 big tasks (of which, 3 will never be started, 1 will never be finished and for the 5th one I'll have another celebration).

Answer 16

I just had this yesterday! What a relief! Enjoy the feeling while it lasts!

Answer 17

Bask in the adulation of your co-workers... oh wait that never happens. Nevermind.

Answer 18

go hit some golf balls and drink some beer

Answer 19

Head over to the cigar shop for a nice Paul Garmirian 15th Anniversary ...

(Which is what I'm about to do; thanks for letting me brag!)

Oh, and maybe some XBox or Wii goodness. (That I'm not about to do ... )

Answer 20

Blow some trees

Answer 21

I leave the guilt aside and go for a big juicy BigTasty hamburger at MacDonald's.

Answer 22

I drink whiskey.

Answer 23

I usually reward myself by looking at airline fares and planning my next vacation (until I realize I still too short on funding to make it happen)

Sometimes I also look at photos in Flickr or Google earth near the places I want to visit (Venice, Paris, Rome, Egypt you name it).

Answer 24

A craft beer when I get home.

Answer 25

I stand up and yell...

Answer 26

Head to the nearby microbrewery: order a steak plus IPA.

Go home early.

Get exercise.

Answer 27

I go out and have a drink; but that's what I do all the time anyway.

Answer 28

Have a BIG dinner at Japanese restourant :)

yum sushi!!!

Answer 29

I work in a small office, where a heart-felt "WooHoo!" seems to make people smile. (At least, they haven't complained yet.) Sometimes I'll kidnap a coworker, take a walk for iced coffee or a Thai lunch, and plan the next battle. I'll share the story with one or two people who seem to need an energy jolt, even if they only hear "babble babble stoopid babble awesome babble babble can sell it now." Seems to perk them up. :-)

If the breakthrough comes from someone on my team, I ask them to show me where the magic was and share it with the rest of the team. Often, chocolate is involved.

Hadn't considered dancing on the desk ... until now!

Answer 30

Run through the office giving everyone a high five.

Answer 31

going sleep

Answer 32

• A decent break,
• a walk,
• time for my hobby (photography, music),
• call somebody you wanted to call the other day,
• a seldom meal, does not need to be expensive or big, but rather extraordinary, mostly healthy, since it's what got lost the days before.

Answer 33

Easy.

cd pub
more beer

Answer 34

I reward myself by refactoring.

I've inherited a monster of an ASP.NET project full of spaghetti code, and while the project manager sort of understands why that's bad, we don't have much time to do anything about it. So occasionally, when I think I've earned it, I "steal" company time to refactor the worst bits.

Answer 35

I take a break and go for a "spirited" ride on my motorcycle (2008 Hayabusa).

Answer 36

I have a wank in the bog.

Answer 37

I say to myself "I am a god".

Answer 38

Well, DO NOT turn on the computer for ONE day. And go get a massage.

But hey, I'm a girl (Ionut's girlfriend), so you might find my advice kinda "girly" :)

Answer 39

Smoke break

Answer 40

chocolate and ice cream

Answer 41

I tackle the next, hopefully more difficult problem, since the last one was obviously to easy ...