It's really hard to emphasise how important identifying those moments when you're productivity starts to wane actually is....
I'm sure so many of us have this mindset where we all think we are indestructible, mentally and physically, and burning through the nights to be that guy who "gets shit done" is as important as shipping your first line of code.
When I was a lot younger, I couldn't identify poor code even during my best hours, so I could happily burn through an all nighter, but after years of experience you get that wisdom to be able to notice when you aren't switched on. For me, this is usually at about 8pm at night (after working for a full 12 hours with minimal breaks). You start to notice that your concentrate flickers and something that should have taken 15 minutes has actually taken you 2 hours and it's now 10pm (and you have fifteen tabs of HackerNews open).
Do yourself a favour and just stop. Come back refreshed. Whether that is in an hour, or even a full night. Unless you have some insane deadline that doesn't depend on code quality, it's inadvisable to ever burn through it... because ultimately you are wasting time that could be better used on recuperating your faculties!
"should have taken 15 minutes and has actually taken 2 hours" is a really good sign that it's time to give up and go get some sleep.
This is also a good sign that you should sign off sick if you've got a cold or flu or some other ailment, even if it's only 11am. It indicates that your productivity is about to go negative and you may actively damage your project if you keep flailing around.
I find that if I step back from the project when I'm sick, not only do I recover faster, but I often think of novel ways to solve a problem (or realize the solution was under my nose) by nature of taking some time away from the screen.
You'll find that stepping back from a problem, even when not sick, generally can help your overall perspective. I personally like to take walks and focus on things other than the problem at hand; this almost always results in clarity for me.
Exactly! Many of us who have pulled all nighters (or very late nights) know that not only does the quality of our product decrease, but the quality of our lives.
I enjoy what I'm doing less, my body and mind begin to feel strange. What's worse, is that I'll likely spend more time sleeping than I would have had I gone to bed, and I'll wake up at a non-optimal time to boot.
In almost all cases, I find it far better to hand in something a day late than on time and full of errors.
I'm sure so many of us have this mindset where we all think we are indestructible, mentally and physically, and burning through the nights to be that guy who "gets shit done" is as important as shipping your first line of code.
When I was a lot younger, I couldn't identify poor code even during my best hours, so I could happily burn through an all nighter, but after years of experience you get that wisdom to be able to notice when you aren't switched on. For me, this is usually at about 8pm at night (after working for a full 12 hours with minimal breaks). You start to notice that your concentrate flickers and something that should have taken 15 minutes has actually taken you 2 hours and it's now 10pm (and you have fifteen tabs of HackerNews open).
Do yourself a favour and just stop. Come back refreshed. Whether that is in an hour, or even a full night. Unless you have some insane deadline that doesn't depend on code quality, it's inadvisable to ever burn through it... because ultimately you are wasting time that could be better used on recuperating your faculties!