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I'd like to squeeze a few more minutes of work before going to sleep. I'm working from hotels regularly so I can't bring a stand with me. Does anyone have a technique that has worked for them? Ie: standing on the side, with pillows head up, with pillows torso at 45 degrees, etc.

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Instead of squeezing a few more minutes of work before going to sleep, make sure you get adequate sleep so that you're rejuvenated for the next session of work. – Programming Enthusiast Feb 5 '11 at 7:32
The pillows/lap work fine with me for 2 hours or so. But, what should i do about the heat generated from the laptop? – user16615 Feb 10 '11 at 5:26
@anisha: I moved your answer to a comment, please wait until you have the required reputation to post comments. – Josh K Feb 10 '11 at 5:26

closed as off topic by gnat, Glenn Nelson, JeffO, Thomas Owens♦ Jan 17 at 15:14

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6 Answers

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Many of the hotels I have been in typically have desks. I strongly suggest that you use them if provided. Your bed should always be associated in your mind with sleep (and some other night-time activities that put your mind in a different state). Working in your bed could associate it more with work and give you a bad case of insomnia.

If you still must use the bed, maybe lay prone or use lots of pillows for support. As for me, I don't think I could be very productive, and I'd be staring at the ceiling all night wishing for sleep.

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+1 for classic conditioning affecting sleep. This got me pretty badly after university and my iPhone isn't allowed within reach of my bed now. – StuperUser Feb 10 '11 at 9:47
It's taken me 2 years to relearn how to go to sleep at night. For years I would work and then go to bed with the laptop and work a few minutes more. I would even wake in the night to answer an email on my phone! After your classic case of burnout, I decided to actually do something about it. I now keep all my electronic equipment deliberately away from the bedroom. I'm even reluctant to have an alarm clock! I'm now glad to be able to get 4-5 hours sleep, and getting better all the time. Do yourself a favour, spare yourself years of pain, sleep then work in the morning when you are fresh. – S.Robins Jan 6 '12 at 4:09
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My motto is that the workday doesn't begin at 5:30 in the morning; instead, it begins at 9:30 at night when you muster up the discipline to go to bed and get a good-night's sleep. – jmort253 Jan 9 '12 at 17:47
up vote 9 down vote

You wrote:

I'm working from hotels regularly so I can't bring a stand with me.

What works for me:

Packing a stand. Or more precisely, a lap desk.

There are slim, lightweight, plastic folding stands that I've found work perfectly well. I use one similar to these:

The only thing better than using that one when on the road is staying at Hampton Inns, where the rooms come with a lovely wooden padded lapdesk.

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+1 for the Hampton Inn Lap Desks!! They rock!! – Jesse McCulloch Feb 10 '11 at 6:06
up vote 3 down vote
  1. Trackball
  2. Leaning back against the headboard
  3. Good mound of pillows behind me and my head
  4. Pillows under both elbows (no strain on my arms)
  5. Pillow(s)under laptop

That said, I can't sleep if I've been working too close to bed. I try and read a book (a couple pages to a chapter) to reset my brain so I sleep better.

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I find, that with a pillow under the laptop it does not vent well. – Software Monkey Feb 5 '11 at 15:04
@Software Monkey It depends on what PC I'm using. My mac doesn't generate enough heat, so it's no biggie. My main development rig (qc i7) is a blast furnace, so I pull the pillow case tight to make the pillow more rigid. – Sean Feb 5 '11 at 15:08
up vote 2 down vote

I find getting a large-screen laptop or switching to a smaller resolution (to get letters bigger) is almost necessary.

When you're leaned back, the distance to the eyes is larger as it would be if you were sitting to a desk. I find it I can tolerate a resolution at the desk but it becomes too small when in bed, I need to scale it down.

Getting a cushdesk for a laptop is a must, don't hold it on your lap.

Something like this:

enter image description here

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That looks way too big to pack in a suitcase (to me at least). – Dori Feb 5 '11 at 8:19
It actually smaller than it looks like (I own it). – user8685 Feb 5 '11 at 8:22
It won't fit in every 55cm trolley, but will in any 65cm (the middle size). – user8685 Feb 5 '11 at 8:26
up vote 1 down vote

You could probably put a piece of plywood in your suitcase (cedar if you want your clothes to smell nice).

Anyway, that's all I have protecting me from the heat of my incendiary Dell laptop.

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up vote 1 down vote

In my experience, it's better to wake up earlier and do the work in the morning.

If i code at night, i tend to go to bed late and my unconscience will continue to think about it, so sleep quality will suffer. In the morning i will automatically have some sort of deadline, which will motivate me even more.

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