I think I'm one of those rare non-smokers that found the cognitive benefits of nicotine and vaping.
The decision to start vaping nicotine containing eliquid took me over a year to arrive at. Sticking my toes in the water and lots of research.
As an aging software developer, I've turned to nicotine + caffeine as a way to help stay focused on long 14+ coding and design sessions.
My passion for IT, software development, UX and design is as fierce as when I was young, so it's not burnout that I'm experiencing. It's subtle, age-related concentration decline.
Subtle, but the effect adds up over the course of a week, because even losing one 5 minute, super-human period of focus can require the focuser to nearly start over at the beginning for another 5 minutes, if that "unit of comprehension" is not fully realized (if that made any sense).
It takes incredible effort to keep a sophisticated object-oriented design pattern aloft in one's mind, so as to see it clearly from all angles, and finish it.
Often, a visual understanding of many, many objects is required.
I have a whiteboard and other visualization tools, but the mind still needs to "see and comprehend" internally.
Coding has always been hard and it's not getting easier.
Caffeine does help, a lot.
Nicotine really works, even more so!
A low, but steady combination of the two are really working for me.
My levels of concentration and focus are much higher. My fingers seem to glide over the keyboard easier, too (fine motor skills?)
It even seems to help during short periods of stress ("I can't figure this out!"), which are common in this field.
I'm vaping low levels of Nicotine (3mg and not too much vaping) + energy drink "nursing" (not too much) + techno/trance under headphones (lol). It has been a profoundly effective combination for me (stereotyped as that is).
I'm so grateful to have found this "ancient" nicotine solution to add to my arsenal, to help stay in the field I love.
Most talk about vaping being a smoking cessation tool and that's great (lifesaving), but I'm at least one who has found an almost medical use for it, self-prescribing as that may be.
I know there are some known health concerns, potential concerns and unknowns with vaping, but I've assessed the risks and feel the benefits -- for me -- outweigh them.
That said, I'm monitoring it closely and doing it only to the degree that it helps me. I'm also monitoring the health reports, as they come out, and will curb my intake (higher nic + less vaping) if there are serious VG/PG/wick/wire/flavoring reports that surface. I use temp control and try to keep the heat production reasonable.
I'm grateful there is this cigarette alternative and hope it stays a free, viable choice. For previously non-smokers, too!
Thanks for listening and take care.
The decision to start vaping nicotine containing eliquid took me over a year to arrive at. Sticking my toes in the water and lots of research.
As an aging software developer, I've turned to nicotine + caffeine as a way to help stay focused on long 14+ coding and design sessions.
My passion for IT, software development, UX and design is as fierce as when I was young, so it's not burnout that I'm experiencing. It's subtle, age-related concentration decline.
Subtle, but the effect adds up over the course of a week, because even losing one 5 minute, super-human period of focus can require the focuser to nearly start over at the beginning for another 5 minutes, if that "unit of comprehension" is not fully realized (if that made any sense).
It takes incredible effort to keep a sophisticated object-oriented design pattern aloft in one's mind, so as to see it clearly from all angles, and finish it.
Often, a visual understanding of many, many objects is required.
I have a whiteboard and other visualization tools, but the mind still needs to "see and comprehend" internally.
Coding has always been hard and it's not getting easier.
Caffeine does help, a lot.
Nicotine really works, even more so!
A low, but steady combination of the two are really working for me.
My levels of concentration and focus are much higher. My fingers seem to glide over the keyboard easier, too (fine motor skills?)
It even seems to help during short periods of stress ("I can't figure this out!"), which are common in this field.
I'm vaping low levels of Nicotine (3mg and not too much vaping) + energy drink "nursing" (not too much) + techno/trance under headphones (lol). It has been a profoundly effective combination for me (stereotyped as that is).
I'm so grateful to have found this "ancient" nicotine solution to add to my arsenal, to help stay in the field I love.
Most talk about vaping being a smoking cessation tool and that's great (lifesaving), but I'm at least one who has found an almost medical use for it, self-prescribing as that may be.
I know there are some known health concerns, potential concerns and unknowns with vaping, but I've assessed the risks and feel the benefits -- for me -- outweigh them.
That said, I'm monitoring it closely and doing it only to the degree that it helps me. I'm also monitoring the health reports, as they come out, and will curb my intake (higher nic + less vaping) if there are serious VG/PG/wick/wire/flavoring reports that surface. I use temp control and try to keep the heat production reasonable.
I'm grateful there is this cigarette alternative and hope it stays a free, viable choice. For previously non-smokers, too!
Thanks for listening and take care.
Last edited:
Bug eyed and half my hair gone from pulling my hair out with some algorithm I was trying to develop the night before 
