Thanks, I feel that this answer fits closest to what I've been questioning so far. especially the mentality for writing code is something I had not known, but makes a lot of sense. in combination with all the other answers I know what to do to keep myself more efficient and consistent.

Your opening sentence seems far more appropriate to a burger flipper than a software engineer.

@corsiKa - I assume you are concerned with my tone -- software developers are usually given broad control over their time, and don't typically have to punch a clock. That's true. However, the quesrioner was not specific on job title. Hence my reference to established norms on "minimum". It is a useful guideline / starting point regardless of how lofty the title. :)

Why does everyone seem to make coding look like it's a special kind of job that requires special mental attention... do you think for example being an electrical/mechanical/civil engineer is any different?

@Mehrdad if they work with their hands and move around to do the work instead of sitting on a desk all day, then it is. But there can also be very repetitive computer-based jobs that require breaks for your eyes, but not really for your thought-process in my opinion. If I do data-entry a whole eight hours, I will start making mistakes because it's dull, not because it's too complex. But in both cases, taking a break and shifting focus helps. Non-computer jobs have that built in, because they walk around or do different things.

@Mehrdad Not only is much of the work in elec/mech/civil engineering coding, but OP explicitly asks - in the title even - "in a programming job".

@Ollie Ford, simbabque: The heck? I mean I'm just thinking of (for example) an EE who's trying to design an analog circuit. That has nothing to do with coding. You're drawing lines and putting components on your PCB. It isn't something mundane like data entry. and it involves a heck of a lot of thought to figure out how to deal with noise, space constraints, and other design requirements. Why do programmers think their job is somehow special or that every computer job must be either coding, gruntwork, or involve moving around? It's so frustrating!

@Merhdad: answer is not intended as "whose job is harder". I have mad respect for EEs (and ME, CivE, etc). But I've designed PCBs, and the mental requirements are different. Ex: With PCB there is something to look at, and CAD to tell you if all leads connect, components have good paths, etc. With programming (esp. full stack), there is nothing tangible. Lots of context has to live in your head. Imagine designing and writing out an entire PCB, in words, and connecting it to other PCBs, in your head, without a CAD tool, and you don't know if it will work til finished. It's mentally tiring.

At my place of wage-slavery we're now being Strongly Encouraged to take part in their MoveMore plan, the idea being that we're supposed to get up and move around, exercise, etc, etc, more. AT THE EXACT SAME TIME we're being told that we should be parked at our desks cranking out code/paperwork/whatever. It reminds me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's remark that "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function", and thus realize that I'm working for either geniuses or madmen. :-\

@MealyPotatoes: I what you described would just be the analog equivalent of Verilog... It's already been done and successful in the digital world, so it doesn't sound that crazy. But even when doing analog, don't you have to worry about noise? About parasitic effects? About your antenna reception? The actual problems aren't tangible are they? At least with programming, the computer does exactly what you tell it to, so the only problem is finding your own mistakes. And you have a debugger. With any other type of engineering the system can refuse to do what you tell it to...

... I have no idea how hardware engineers of any kind ever make to get past this fundamental different, but it seems extremely hard to me compared to programming a computer, which 99.99999...% of the time does exactly what you tell it to, thanks to the hardware engineers who went through hell making sure that happens. Point being, software engineers tend to think their situation is somehow so much more mentally taxing for some reason, and I see that both between the lines in the answer and in your comment, and I find it quite unbelievable.

@Mehrdad on an earlier point, yes right now it does state in the title that the question is aimed at programmers. However when I first wrote it, the word programmer was not mentioned once. I feel there's one more difference with programmers and a lot of other occupations. A lot of other designers, whether they are hardware engineers or something else. Quite often they can see the connections and things they make visually. The only thing a programmer gets to see are lines of code and needs to make these connections in their head. It gets confusing very quick.

@Mehrdad So are you trying to say that electrical engineers don't take breaks? Or are you just venting your frustration of people who think programming is special on a thread that asserts no such thing?

"The 15 minute breaks are on the clock, the longer lunch break is not." <- In some countries standard working hours are 8 hrs / weekday including a lunchbreak.

@Mehrdad - EE sounds hard. You guys are crazy-smart. Maybe us programmers are all just Prima donnas, and you engineers are the real mental heavyweights. It's cool. This isn't a competition for hardest-job; it's a message board where I'm trying to help an intern adjust to the 9 to 5 working world.

@Mehrdad: Just agreeing what MealyPotatoes says. This is not competiting to other jobs in any manor. And I can't tell why I have this need, and how it comes, that it helps me beeing productive. But by just staring on the screen I rarely solve an existing (even obvisious) problem. And that is a fact regardless how often employees of other fields handle their breaks and error fixings.

@MealyPotatoes: FYI, I'm not an EE, I'm a programmer too. My last couple of comments were in response to yours; I was responding to your previous comment where you said the requirements are different in that "there is nothing tangible" and "Lots of context has to live in your head." My first comment was in response to sentences you had, like "Writing code is mentally taxing work that most people don't know how to do, or even how to learn to do". I'm trying to say that you're making it seem like coding is special, whereas I would think a manager who's any kind of engineer would get it.

@Mehrdad: Re "...a computer, which 99.99999...% of the time does exactly what you tell it to...", that's not the problem. The problem is figuring out what to tell it to do in order to get the result you need. (Not that I think designing a circuit or a mechanism is more or less difficult...)

@Luaan: More like, if you actually read MealyPotatoes's last comment it's pretty obvious he thinks programming is special in some way (apparently because, unlike in other types of engineering, the important bits only live in your head).

@Mehrdad He said most people, not most engineers. All design engineering work is mentally taxing, regardless of whether it's software, electrical, mechanical, etc. I don't think anyone here has stated otherwise. Most people aren't engineers, though.

@Merhdad: I got nothin. Message received: Other jobs are hard too. Programmers are not special. I'm going to give you a bunch of up votes, and then I don't want to talk about this any more. :)