The 3 PM Brain Drain: Why Developers Can’t Think Straight After Lunch
Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash
If you’re wondering why you get stupider in the afternoon than the morning, that drop off might well be the famous the 3pm slump.
Sure, part of this might be down to your individual preference for working at a specific time of day, but more likely it’s more than that.
So, if your coding powers betray you after lunch let’s see the cause and what, if anything, you can do about it.
The Afternoon Meltdown
It’s happening to me RIGHT NOW. I think my IQ has dropped to around 100, and I can’t be trusted with anything over and above the simplest coding tasks.
Yet it’s not my imagination. There is the science backing up this afternoon intellectual melt. Each of us has a rhythm that plays out over any given 24-hour period, and your energy peaks and troughs during any given day.
Combine this with the effects of your carb-heavy lunch and mega-cola-sugar drink and your brain is in a low-energy state.
Simple morning tasks feel like writing C++ code on top of legacy C++ code written by someone who doesn’t know anything about pointers.
So that is why you’re unable to get that ticket done.
The Multitasking Lie
In the olden days Windows couldn’t multitask but faked it. The O/S would simply switch tasks and make it look like multitasking was happening, but it was a flat out lie. The poor performance indicated something was wrong, but most people were not aware that multitasking wasn’t possible.
Unfortunately, your brain is rather like Windows 3.1, and is a skin on a much older system (although your brain probably isn’t running DOS). The fact is your brain cannot multitask complex cognitive tasks, and anything more than breathing while coding is challenging.
Since attempts to task switch costs performance, stress and time you shouldn’t be attempting it. The tiredness you’ll experience looks much like a lowered IQ, and it’s no surprise that by 3pm it’s pretty much “Game Over” for your tired brain.
Upsmart Your Afternoon Self
We need to fight the afternoon crash. We need our coders to be awake for that afternoon emergency refinement session, contribute and make a difference to crazy ideas that product might have (unless you work at Google, in which case you’re probably on a break right now).
So here are a few tips and tricks to keep your brain from flatlining on a sunny Wednesday afternoon:
Take Micro-break
You might be tempted to power through, but studies show that taking short breaks every hour can actually boost productivity. Walk around, stretch, or stare out a window — anything to get your brain out of work mode for a minute.
Avoid Sugar
Don’t bump yourself up with sugar and caffeine spikes. They just delay your slump and make it worse. Not cool, kids.
Hydrate
The real productivity hack is water. Dehydration is a sneaky cause of fatigue, so make sure to guzzle down some H2O throughout the day.
Snack Smart
Step away from the doughnuts. Sugar will give you a short-term boost, but it’s followed by a hard crash. Opt for something with protein and fiber instead, like almonds or — dare I say — vegetables.
Schedule Smart
Try to plan your most complex or mentally demanding tasks for when you’re most alert. For most people, this is in the late morning. After lunch, tackle simpler tasks that don’t require as much brainpower — like responding to Slack messages or pretending to listen during your fifth meeting of the day.
Power Nap
I know, I know — you’re not at one of those cushy jobs with nap pods. But if you’re working from home, a 10–20 minute power nap can do wonders for resetting your brain.
Conclusion
If you’re finding it difficult to get things done in the afternoon rest assured that you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re just not working with your human tendencies.
So next time your brain takes a nosedive, roll with it and take your time. Work with your body rhythms and biochemistry and you might just be able to fix that production defect.
Worth a go, no?