Right, they're down. Where was I? Coding in the 9pm to midnight window as a dad of two

Every evening at about half eight I do the same thing. Bath, teeth, two stories (one of which is always the same dinosaur book, I could recite it in my sleep and sometimes do), one glass of water, one second glass of water, "Dad there's a noise", and then finally, around nine, quiet. I come downstairs, open the laptop and say out loud to nobody, "right, they're down, where was I."

The answer, for about the first year after our second was born, was: no idea. I'd stare at a half-finished Laravel migration for twenty minutes trying to remember what I was doing, get a bit of momentum by ten, and then it'd be midnight and I'd be knackered for the 6am wake-up. Proper mardy. So I changed a few things, and a mate asked me to write them down.

1. Leave yourself a note before you stop. Every time.

Not a commit message. A note to tomorrow-you. Last thing before I close the laptop I write a comment right where my cursor is:

// NEXT: OrderController@refund still calls the old gateway.
// Swap to RefundService::issue(), then run RefundTest. The test for
// partial refunds is failing on purpose, that's the one to fix.

Next evening I open the file and I'm working in two minutes instead of twenty. This is the single biggest thing. Hemingway apparently stopped writing mid-sentence for the same reason. I'm not Hemingway but I'll take the trick.

2. Shrink the work until it fits the window

I used to plan evening work in "features". Now I plan it in things I can finish in 90 minutes, tests included. If it doesn't fit, it gets split. Tiny PRs. My reviewers love me now. I didn't plan that.

3. Phone in the kitchen

Do Not Disturb, face down, other room. If I pick it up "just to check the score" (it's always Leeds, it's always bad) the window's gone.

4. Hard stop at midnight

Took me ages to accept this. Anything I write after midnight I end up rewriting at nine the next night. Sleep is a dependency. You can't skip it, you can only defer it with interest.

5. Some nights it's just not happening

Teething nights. Sick nights. The night the little one decided 2am was a great time to discuss sharks. On those nights I don't open the laptop at all, and I've stopped feeling guilty about it. The code'll be there.

One more thing and then I'll stop. This Ramadan was the first time I tried all this while fasting, and the window moved: iftar, kids down, then work until it was time to sort suhoor. Weirdly it was my most productive month of the year. I think because the whole day had a shape to it and I respected the shape. Something to think about if your evenings feel like a blur.

Right. They're down. Where was I.