All of this fueled by long nights pulled by young kids who's bodies can take the caffeine abuse for a while.
Don't doubt for a minute that some of us old farts are staying up late, downing obscene amounts of coffee, Red Bull, Monster drinks, etc., trying to get in on things. Hell, if anything, when you start getting older, and you look around and realize "I haven't done anything yet" a certain sense of, hmmm... I won't quite say desperation, but something like that, sets in. I've even spent a lot of time lately debating the merits of going ahead and ordering some black market "smart drugs" just to get a little extra edge. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's awfully damn tempting.
For whatever its worth, plenty of people in this gig don't abuse caffeine and often don't have any at all. I rarely have more than one coffee a day, and often have none. I don't drink energy drinks or soda (except perhaps when out to eat). Francisco doesn't drink any coffee. Tom, on the other hand, has a bit of a red bull addiction. I'd guess anecdotally that most of my friends in startups behave more like me than like Tom or Francisco.
Sure, it's just a stereotype, although I freely admit that I, for one, do kinda help perpetuate the old saw about how "a programmer is a biological machine for turning sugar and caffeine into code."
Or, to look at it another way.... "The four food groups for programmers are salt, sugar, fat and caffeine."
All joking aside, my diet has it's good days and it's bad days. But I do like my coffee, that's for sure.
Better to fuel your mind with the right foods, supplements, etc. B-complex, good quality sea salt, the right fats -- all good for the brain. And it isn't followed by a crash because it builds capacity rather than squeezing existing resources to get more out of them.
Yeah, I take fish-oil, a b-complex, a regular multi-vitamin, ginko-biloba and a couple of other supplements, and eat moderately healthy and least part of the time. I try not not totally fall into the programmer stereotype when it comes to diet, but the bit about late nights fueled by caffeine and sugar, well... what can I say?
Trying not to belabor the point, but you didn't mention "good quality sea salt". I really think that does important things for the brain and nervous system.
Not really trying to butt in. I've just seen my quality of life go up so much and it's hard to resist sharing my enthusiasm.
EDIT: Oh, and I meant better to feed your brain better than to try "smart drugs". I consume caffeine like it's going out of style. So I didn't mean that.
Interesting... I've never really thought about "sea salt" as being something to seek out specifically. I do consume some, because I eat a lot of nuts (cashews, pecans, almonds, etc.) that are often salted with sea-salt. I have no idea whether or not that constitutes "good quality sea salt" though.
I'll have to do some research, thanks for the pointer.
Don't doubt for a minute that some of us old farts are staying up late, downing obscene amounts of coffee, Red Bull, Monster drinks, etc., trying to get in on things. Hell, if anything, when you start getting older, and you look around and realize "I haven't done anything yet" a certain sense of, hmmm... I won't quite say desperation, but something like that, sets in. I've even spent a lot of time lately debating the merits of going ahead and ordering some black market "smart drugs" just to get a little extra edge. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's awfully damn tempting.