[brianclements]

Yes, this is the other side of it. Make the hours you do have as productive as possible. Efficient problem solving and creative design (not just marathon coding) are also about getting your mind and body right. Get on consistent sleep patterns, eat healthy, exercise. Also, don't underestimate the importance of downtime for problem solving and planning. Bouncing off of another post from today, if you get the planning and design part right first, you can save yourself a lot of time in the implementation stages (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10963229). It's also easier to know where your progress is toward a specific goal in concrete terms. That also makes it easier psychologically to take breaks and enjoy life a bit.

I would add to this too, a little life-hacking: Try to design your daily workflow (things that take time such as cooking, dishes, etc.) using the same strategies you use in programming. Modular food strategies so that you can cook once (on the weekend for example) and put together various meals by adding only little things here and there that round out the nutrition and quantity throughout the week with minimal dishes to clean after. Don't underestimate the efficiency of a good blender and protein shakes!

Get the right tools for the job too, maybe a standing desk to improve focus?

Lastly, I would add make sure you are picking projects that you find important and are passionate about. Thinking about them wakes you up. Aim for importance to you, not just # of commits. There will always be people who just work faster then you, or where money is not a problem for them, or where what seems like their hobbies are very tied into their actual work and the two overlap and they just seem more productive. That is where you have to focus on importance and not breadth but depth of where you spend you time.