Summary
As someone who sometimes (most of the time) has trouble doing things in moderation, I find myself grinding often. Maybe this is a product of Waterloo Culture.
Sprints
Since Waterloo S4 has 4 months of study followed by 4 months of co-op, you learn to work in 4 month sprints before you get a brief break, followed by a context switch which, while still mentally stimulating, lets you grind in a different way since you aren’t working on the same types of problems. As beneficial as this program is, I think it teaches you to maximize Velocity over careful planning and working in moderation.
Working in Moderation
One piece of feedback that I consistently get during co-ops is the need to “slow down”. I agree, but for a 4 month work term, it is better to push results with high velocity than it is to meticulously design a system such that you don’t end up pushing any code. Ultimately it is about striking a balance (slowing down will come with full-time work), but on the scale of developing fast to meticulous design, it is better to be on the side of velocity for short term work. Working in moderation is required however for preventing Burn Out.
Things I Grind
- Leetcode
- Running
- Fitness
- Obsidian (I need to get better at writing more frequently and sparsely instead of sitting down and writing for hours at a time)
I think grinding has its time and place (ie. evaluations where you need to absorb copious amounts of information or achieve an increase in performance without caring too much about long term retention), but grinding is never sustainable and you can’t expect to be able to be in a state of grind for years+ at a time.