Why do programmers prefer to code at night

Why do most people prefer to code at night? Because all the people who would normally disturb you are asleep.

Otherwise, you will barely even get started before something comes along and shatters your concentration: a meeting, a phone call, or even that dreaded "how's it going" from your boss, followed by his impromptu lecture on TPS reports.

To code well, you need both focus and creative energy. Context switching takes a huge toll on both, and wrecks your productivity.

But what happens when you program at night? Nothing. You have the time and silence necessary to think. And your productivity goes through the roof.

If you approach coding at night the right way, it can a healthy, sustainable practice. Stephen Wolfram, one of the most prolific programmers of all, recorded every keystroke he made for 10 years. Guess what - he's a consistent night owl, typically working until 3 a.m.

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Now, some industrious developers have figured out how to reproduce the sanity of night time programming during the day. Here are some common practices that make this possible:

• Only work for a company that lets you work remotely or gives you a private office with a door you can close.
• Unless you're the developer who's on "pager duty," stop answering your phone. Set it to "do not disturb" and return your calls and texts once you're done programming.
• Block out several hours at a time. It sometimes takes an hour or longer to reach a flow state. The longer you have uninterrupted, the more flow time you'll clock in, and the more you'll get done.

It's definitely harder to be a productive daytime coder. But it can be done