Monday, September 16, 2013

Always improving

As a programmer, most of my day is spent programming.  While programming is fun, it can be tiring.   Unsurprisingly, some days I don't have the energy to code.

In those times, it's good to have something else to do that is productive.  Here are a few things that I've been doing to stay busy.

Coursera

When I am tired of coding, it's nice to just sit and watch something.  I am taking a databases class.  It doesn't have a strict timeline, so I can watch a course or two whenever I get a chance.  I am familiar with databases, but I have never taken a structured course on them.  Therefore, I learn something in each lecture, but it isn't too mentally taxing.

Practice typing

I read a rant about the importance of typing fast.  From that reading, I realized that I am not good at typing numbers.  I didn't even know which fingers I was supposed to use when typing numbers.  So whenever I want something truly mindless to do, I go to a site that helps you practice typing.

VIM plugins

I heard of vim plugins before, but I didn't really ever use them much.  I imagine that once I begin using them, I will realize how useful they are.  I started by installing pathogen.  I then installed NERDTree, syntastic, easymotion, and sensible. Some of these (pathogen, syntastic and sensible) are really simple to use and work right out of the box.  NERDTree and easymotion are also easy to use, but the more you practice using them the better you will be at using them.  Playing with vim plugins is fun and hopefully makes you more productive - whenever you do decide to start coding again.

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