Programmers are always trying to find new ways to be productive. Tweaks to text editors, compilation tweaks, scripts and automation; the list goes on for how programmers want to maximize their productive time coding. We also spend time tweaking the rest of our lives with the belief that we should always be doing something related to coding. Any moment we're not coding is a moment where our projects get behind. And getting behind with our coding can lead to other problems: missed deadlines, other companies getting their program to market before us, or other instances where we miss an opportunity. We're constantly worrying that we're not doing enough to succeed.
-We've heard the stories of developers waking up at their computers to the strange sound of beeping because they fell asleep at the keyboard and the keyboard auto repeat can't handle any more input with their face resting on the keys. Isn't that how developers should work?
+We've heard stories of developers waking up at their computers to the strange sound of beeping because they fell asleep at the keyboard and the keyboard's auto repeat can't handle any more input with their face resting on the keys. Isn't that how developers should work?
There's a tendency to think that because we work with machines that are tireless and ready for more work that we need to behave in the same way; we need to constantly utilize these resources. We try become like the machine; tireless and always ready for more work.
One thing that I have found is to narrow the focus to the present moment using containers.
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## Containers
-We should replace soft deadlines with the commitment to work on a particular project for a given length of time. One trick that I have found useful is the idea of a timed container where one chooses what they are working on and then focuses on that project with their full attention for the period of time. I've used 10 minutes but something as small as 5 minutes or as large as 25 minutes can be useful. The work we selected at the beginning of the container is the only thing we work on, and we do our best to make sure there are no interruptions, whether internal or external, until the container is complete. When the work is done we wrap up wherever we landed and then take a quick break before starting the next container (with the same or some other task before us).
+We should replace soft deadlines (deadlines that aren't externally imposed on us) with a commitment to work on a particular project for a given length of time. One trick I've found useful is the idea of a timed focus container. When I do a timed focus container I start by choosing what will be focused on during the container. Once the task is chosen I set a timer at my work-space and then focus on that task with my full attention for the remainder of the time on the timer. I've had the best luck with using 10 minutes but a session as small as 5 minutes or as large as 25 minutes can be useful. The work selected at the beginning of the container is the only thing I work on and I do my best to make sure there are no interruptions (whether internal or external) until the container is complete. When the work is done I wrap up wherever I landed and then take a quick break (about 5 minutes) before starting the next container. The next container can continue with the same task, or I can select another task. But the idea is simple: I only focus on the thing in front of me for the allotted time. When my mind tries to wander or I get the temptation to "just check this one thing" I pause for a moment and see if it is indeed important. Most of the time it isn't important and I can make a quick note to check in on that after the container.
-When we start the container we see where the session takes us. There is no judgment of the quality of the work in the container, just the expectation that we will work for the duration of the container. There's also no expectation about what we will have accomplished when the container is finished. If we complete the task before the container ends then that's awesome! We can then figure out what out next task will be. If the container ends and we're still in the middle of debugging a problem perhaps we write down where we left off and what steps we took in order to get there and then work on something else. Or we get up for a bit and come back to the session in progress.
+We can use these containers to overcome our desires to multitask. We only focus on one thing at a time. We can also use containers to just let the session go where it wants to take us. When we start the container we don't start off with trying to finish a particular task; instead we see where the session takes us. There is no judgment of the quality of the work in the container, just the expectation that we will work for the duration of the container. There's no expectation for what work we will accomplish, just that we will work on it until the container is finished. If we complete the task before the container ends then that's awesome! We can then figure out what out next task will be. If the container ends and we're still in the middle of a task we can then write down where we left off and what steps we took in order to get there. We can then work on something else, or we can take a quick break and then come back to the work with a focus container.
The underlying concept for the container is just to agree to work in the container without judgment for the work done and for the progress made. When the work is done in the container we take a step back and reflect on what we did and where we need to go. We give ourselves permission to not have to worry about it in the moment, but also allow ourselves the freedom to look back in short increments and see how we're doing. We allow ourselves to just work in the moment without fear of judgment, reprisal, or self-recrimination. We give ourselves the gift of uninterrupted work (or at least as much as we can possibly give). And we give it our full attention by turning off notifications, closing other programs, and focusing on the work in front of us.
+I'd like to invite to to take on this practice of doing focused containers. I think they're an excellent way to give ourselves permission to focus on one thing at a time without the need or worry for what will get accomplished during that container. It limits us to focus on one thing at a time and do it to the best of our abilities. The limitation of working on one thing at a time without thinking about the other bits of work that we have to do can be liberating and I hope that you will at least get a sense of what fully-focused work can feel like.
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+This whole book was created and edited using focus containers. I took about 10 minutes per container to write the initial draft, and later I used 10 minute containers to edit the book. Sometimes they bled over into 15 or 20 minute containers but that was because I was so engaged with the material that I didn't want to stop. This was in sharp contrast with how I've normally approached tasks, which requires me to get over the initial hurdle of allocating a half-hour or so to the task. With a focus container I think to myself "I can just take 10 minutes to work on this" and gradually I see the progress unfold with each container.
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## Distractions
-Life is often full of distractions that are beyond our control. Someone walks up to our work-space and needs our attention at that moment. An email thread that we thought was settled becomes a heated discussion and needs our attention. Something happens at home and now our minds are split between work and home. Whatever the cause may be there are times when our attention isn't where we feel it should be and we feel pulled in every direction at once.
+Life is full of distractions. So many things want our attention, and many of these distractions are outside of our control. Someone walks up to our work-space and needs our attention at that moment. An email thread that we thought was settled becomes a heated discussion our attention is drawn to it. Something happens at home and now our mind is split between our work tasks and worrying about what's happening at home. Whatever the cause may be there are times when our attention isn't where we want it to be and we feel pulled in every direction at once.
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+This is where the containers are most helpful. If something interrupts the container we can determine if it's more important than the work we're doing. If we determine that it is more important than what we're currently doing we can stop the container with the understanding that we'll return to the work once we've handled the interruption. If the interruption is not more important then we can agree (both with whomever is interrupting us, or with ourselves) that our focus needs to be here with the work until the container ends. We'll be able to give that other thing our full attention once the container ends. We'll also try to split our attention between the work and the interruption, and will give each of them our full attention at the appropriate time.
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+This creates a simple delineation between our work and the rest of the world. But just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy. Keeping the delineation between our work and the outside world can be challenging, especially if the culture you're in is about immediate results.
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+I don't have good answers if the culture you're in demands your attention at all times. The best I can offer is that a containerized approach gives you at least some periods of undisturbed concentration. But if you feel on-guard all the time because something might happen at any moment then you're going to remain less effective than if you can shut the world off for a bit. I'd also challenge you to examine if that perception is really true; are you constantly being ambushed by interruptions? Testing that theory may be in order. Keep a log (whether it's a sheet of paper, text file, spreadsheet, or database is up to you) of when you did a focus container and if that container was interrupted or not. If you find that you are getting interrupted more often than not then you need to examine what is causing the interruption and assess if it's something that you can control. There are many ways to handle and minimize workplace distractions that I won't go into here but being aware of the distractions and determining where they are coming from will be key to figuring out how to mitigate them in the future.
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+Also be aware of the self-imposed distractions you've added to your life. Do you need immediate notification that someone liked something you shared? Is the funny anecdote you just remembered important enough to warrant switching out of your current context so you can post it to your friends and colleagues? Do you really need something to pop up in your field of view to let you know that your music player changed a track? Are you willing to sacrifice your attention and flow throughout the day because a program detected a change in your environment, regardless of the importance of that change?
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+We add these distractions into our lives because we worry that we might miss something important. Programs also come configured with most of their notifications turned on so a user can be reminded of status of the program at all times. Perhaps it's useful but for me they are very distracting. In my career I've sat at the desks of many other folks and have cringed at the number of notifications they receive in the short period was there (usually the span of ten minutes or less). And I've seen folks interrupt their current line of thinking because a notification for a message unrelated to the current task distracted them. What happened to the original thought? They had to mentally switch back to it and remember where they left off (usually at great mental effort).
-This is where the containers can be most helpful. If someone interrupts the container we can determine if it's something that is more important than the work we're doing. If it is more important than what we're currently doing we can stop the container with the understanding that we'll get back to it once we've handled the interruption. If it's not more important then we can agree (both with whomever is interrupting, or ourselves) that our focus needs to be here, with the work, until the container ends. We'll be able to give that other thing our full attention and not try to split our attention between the two.
+I challenge you to turn off as many notifications as you can and get a taste of what your experience is like without them. That may be as simple as closing out an application when you're done with it, or may be as complex as changing the settings so an application doesn't notify you when new messages arrive. You'll need to play with this and see what works best for your needs and concentration. A good rule of thumb is "what is important enough to warrant me dropping my important work and focusing on this thing?". If you can scale your notifications back to where only the most time-critical things send you notifications you'll be better able to relax and focus into your work. You won't have to parse the notifications to determine if what you're seeing is important or not.
-This may seem like a simple delineation but putting it into practice can be challenging, especially if the culture you're in is about immediate results.
+One of the reasons I've heard for folks keeping their notifications on is that they might receive something that requires an immediate response. We've created cultures where we feel a need to respond to messages the moment we receive them. I'd argue that most of the messages you receive during the day don't require the attention you're giving them, and certainly not the level of attention that warrants interrupting what you're doing to view and respond to them. You may be better served by scheduling several periods of the day where you do nothing but check and respond to your messages. Schedule these as infrequently as you can. Some folks recommend two or three times a day, but even setting a limit where you check your messages once an hour can make a vast improvement compared with how many times you're already checking your messages. You'll need to judge how often you check your messages based on your needs and your work culture. Also consider the person you're responding to. Does it make sense to give this person a quick, semi-thought-out response or does this message require more time to simmer in your mind before you respond? Giving yourself time to think about a your response may give you additional insights into a problem that aren't readily apparent in the moment. This could mean the difference between one well thought out response versus a deluge of half-thought-out back-and-forth brainstorming via your messaging application. Responding to everything as it's received is very stressful and requires huge amounts of attention that could be better placed on your programming work.
-I don't have good answers if your culture demands your attention at all times. The best I can offer is that the containerized approach at least gives you some periods of concentration. But if you feel constantly on-guard because something might happen at any moment you're going to be less effective than if you have the ability to shut the world off for a bit. I'd also challenge you to see if that perception is really true: are you constantly being ambushed by interruptions? Testing that theory may be in order. Keep a sheet of paper (or put it into a text file, spreadsheet or database) with when you did a focus container and if it was interrupted or not. If you find that you are getting interrupted more often than not then you need to reassess what is causing the interruption and if it's something that you can control. There are many ways to handle workplace distractions that I won't go into here but being mindful of the distractions and where they are coming from will be key to figuring out how to mitigate them in the future.
+It may seem challenging and foreign to live without notifications and without the need to respond to every message and notification. But our attention is limited. Maintaining our focus throughout the day can be challenging and stressful. If we can limit the number of distractions we receive throughout the day then we give ourselves the freedom to not have to work as hard to keep our attention attuned to our programming tasks. We get to say "not right now" to our distractions and handle them at a more appropriate time.
projects / themediocreprogrammer.git / blobdiff