For some reason I find that I am at my best, in terms of programming, late at night. I'm not sure if it's because I lose my inhibition that keeps me from pushing forward or if there is something else to it but either way I get the most done after the sun goes down.
What time of day do you find yourself the most proficient in terms of programming?
(Feel free to help fix these tags...)
Mostly the "non core" hours when people aren't coming in to ask questions, socialize, or discuss something. So mostly before 9:00AM and after 5:00 PM. I try to structure my work day to get in early or leave later.
I used to code best in the middle of the night(sometime after midnight). Maybe I am turning into an old man. I get my best work done early in the morning now before my co-workers(and myself!) get real chatty and I get tired.
On the train at 7am where no one can bug me, and after a coffee.
I am lucky to have a 1 hour commute, and get my best work done in that time. The afternoon is also productive returning home, but I am sometimes a bit more frazzled than in the morning, and can sometimes switch off (psychologically as well as technologically).
I depends on person's biorhythm. AFAIK there are 2 most common patterns - high mental activity "early in the morning + midnight" and "second half of the day". I'm good at morning/midnight and less productive after 2 p.m. Between 3 p.m and 5 p.m I'm almost useless :)
If it's while I'm at work usually from 9 to 2 since I've woken up and haven't started to get mental burnout. If it's for school when ever I get in the mood. Since I'm not on a strict schedule like work and prioritys of what needs to get done when are constently changing I find it harder to set aside a given block of time to code so I have no most productive time.
I work best in 3-4 hour blocks. Those seem to happen most late at night.
I have found during the day my noise canceling headphones help me get into the 'flow' a lot more. I find I need to be able to hear my thoughts for certain problems, while things I have done already I can do pretty much any time.
i work best during early morning. try to get up early, have some cofee and then some non-stop work..
I usually code between 9AM and 1PM. In the afternoon I will have meetings or peer code reviews.
After lunch. I'm sluggish in the mornings, and usually look for light work to do until noon. Then in the afternoon I'm ready to really concentrate.
I find that I'm better at creative problem solving and doing something small but complex late in the day when ideas have had a chance to accumulate in my mind and I can hold a lot in my head at once. However, I'm better at implementation, detail-oriented work, and just "getting things done" early in the day when I have just had a good night's sleep and my mind is clear.
I must also answer that it depends on my biorhythm and that is affected by light and what time of year it is. But mainly since my personal day is approx 25h and not 24h, the peak moves from month to month...
But normally after the right amount of sleep (not to much and not to little), I get up grab a cup of coffee and start the computer... and there we usually have a very good hour or so.
Then depending on my biorhythm the other "flows" moves around.
/Johan
I tend to be best in the late afternoon to early evening hours. Though I don't have the urge to program while I'm thinking about it and I don't have the urge to think about it while programming.
Historically, my best and most prolific coding times have been after dark and well into the night. However, I think this is mostly a function of having less distractions. While the rest of the world (in my time zone/country) is not busy making news or getting their jobs accomplished, I have more of an opportunity to find the "zone". Even so, in certain cases, I will wake up the next day totally consumed by a problem and continue where I left off, even in the morning, depending on if others don't stop me from reconnecting with the zone.
I think a useful twist to this question would be:
What helps you or detracts you from finding your coding zone?
Weekend afternoons. Not week*days*. Please don't ask me to do programming after school. I just can't concentrate - my attention just...look! Is that a flying pig?
In the morning hours - 6-12 - where I can put the ideas I've had in my sleep into practice