Laziness is one of three great virtues of a programmer, according to Larry Wall, inventor of Perl. And it is true. You need to have a certain amount of laziness to be able to sit on your backside all day, subsisting only on gummy bears and coffee. Of course programmers understand that being active is good for them, but it does not change the relief we feel when we sit back in our chairs. Of all the lazy programmers, I was maybe one of the worst. Throughout my teenage years, I prided himself in avoiding all forms of physical activity. This changed when our fourth child was born. I realized that if I wanted to see her grow up, I needed to do something about my physical well-being. Using mind hacks, I've made exercise part of my daily routine. Now, no matter where I am or what the weather is like, I will go outside and run one mile. The mind hacks I used changed exercise from being an occasional reluctant obligation to something I cannot live without. In 2018, we hosted a 40 day running challenge for programmers. We also hosted a push-up challenge, which ended with 91 programmers doing 5000 push-ups in February. My latest hack deals with food. It started with my "Singleton Food Experiment" to try and figure out the cost in calories and effect of each food item in a tactile and practical fashion. Today is day 4 of my first Diet Sprint and so far it is doing well. Agile dieting is so much more reactive than the old waterfall model. Hear more in a few hours. |