Are you a coder facing a looming deadline, lots of work to get through and very little time to complete the project? Are you beginning to panic and worry that you may not finish the job on time?

If the above situation describes the state of things for you, or if you have felt such a sense of trepidation as a coder, then the following tips will allow you to better survive your next epic coding session.

The key to most of the tips mentioned below is to keep your productivity at optimal levels while staving off sleep and tiredness as well. For more helpful IT career tips, news and job listings make sure you subscribe to Codeslaw, here.

1. Stop! Breathe, think and plan

With an epic coding session ahead of you, you need to focus and marshal all your skill and energy to the task ahead of you. In order to achieve this Zen state of mind for productivity, you need to:

• Stop! Don’t panic but rather be present
• Take several deep breaths and relax. You will think clearer that way,
• Think about what you have to do right now to accomplish your goals. You do this by assessing your current situation and then
• Plan the best way to tackle the work ahead of you. If it seems that you may not complete all the work on time, plan to do the most significant portions of the work ahead of you first.

2. Nap like a pro

If you want to survive an epic coding session, sleep is definitely going to get in your way at some point. Knowing this, you need to deal with sleep like a pro. Before commencing your coding session, start off by taking a short nap for about 20 minutes when you are not so tired instead of taking a nap later on when you are more tired and likely to crave deep sleep.

3. Keep your energy high by eating the right foods

Since you have many hours ahead of you in your coding session, keeping your energy high is a must. Instead of going for any quick, ‘carb-loaded’ bites like potato chips, sodas, pizza and sweets, instead go for proteins, fruit and fresh juices.

Carb-loaded quick fixes only provide temporary boosts in energy and additionally make you less productive and even sleepier. Proteins and fruit will provide better quality energy for a longer time.

4. Use coffee and energy drinks wisely

Besides eating protein and fruit to keep your energy up, you may feel inclined to drink coffee and energy drinks to stay sharp and alert. Although these drinks can provide an immediate energy boost, you need to use them wisely.

• Avoid taking these drinks in the time leading to your epic coding session. This way, you will lower your tolerance for these drinks and they will work better when you take them.
• Sip slowly over a long period of time so that the energy boost is steady and the chances of crashing are lowered.
• Hydrate every 30 minutes.

5. Light stretches and a little exercise

If your mind starts to feel dull and you begin feeling fatigued, then doing some light stretches or a little exercise will jump start your mind and body and stimulate your productivity.

Getting your blood flowing in this way is a great way to survive an epic coding session but try not to over-do it because too much exercise will become counter-productive.

6. Listen to mind stimulating music

A great way to stay alert and stimulated when coding is to listen to music that you enjoy. The music should preferably; not have any lyrics and should not be too exciting so that it instead distracts you and causes your mind to wander. Baroque music by artists like Debussy are favorites for many, but if you prefer contemporary music, then movie or game soundtracks offer some great choices as well.

7. Code while in a well ventilated room

With good oxygen circulation in your coding room or area, your mind is going to remain sharper for longer. Avoid rooms without good circulation and if possible go for rooms that are slightly cooler than normal. A cooler room is more likely to keep you awake than a warm and cozy room.

8. Calibrate your screen brightness and contrast

If you haven’t already calibrated your screen brightness and contrast on your monitor or laptop screen, then you should do so immediately. When your screen is too bright and if text if blurry, your eyes tend to get strained much faster and this will certainly prevent you from surviving your epic coding session. If you can change the visual theme on your coding software to a dark theme, then do so.

9. Code is never finished, only abandoned

If you have a tendency for perfection and if you find it hard to move on to solving a different problem until you have the current one perfectly addressed, then you need to remember Leonardo da Vinci’s famous quote, ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned’.

From a coder’s perspective, the power behind this famous quote is to keep things moving as long as your code works because you can always come back and fine-tune when you are not so hard-pressed for time.

10. Have a good rest after your epic coding session

Once you get through your epic coding session, you need to rest or else you will experience diminishing returns from pushing your body so hard. In other words, taking some time off away from coding will recharge you and make you better prepared for your next epic coding session.

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