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> five-minute breaks for every 20 minutes spent on a single task, or sitting at your desk As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even

by yosito 9y ago

> five-minute breaks for every 20 minutes spent on a single task, or sitting at your desk As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even gotten a problem into my head, and a five minute break would mean starting over. Also, working remotely is not necessarily a cure for burnout. I've been burned out while working remotely and it had a lot to do with the additional stress of having to be self disciplined, the lack of boundaries between leisure and work, and the lack of emotional support from co-workers. Other than those two points, there was some good stuff in this article.

kenning 9y ago
> As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even gotten a problem into my head, and a five minute break would mean starting over. My strategy for this has been to take a long break and treat myself after finishing a big feature. I usually try to do one large thing in a work day and right when I push the commit, go watch tv for an hour or something. I've found it works very well because instead of using entertainment as some sort of "boredom medicine," it makes it into a reward.
baby 9y ago
> working remotely is not necessarily a cure for burnout I've never been close to burning out so take this with a grain of salt, but I definitely felt way more relaxed once I started working more from home.
- Clubber 9y ago
  I've been burned out at the office (recently) and at prior a while working at home. I was working 100+ hour weeks while at home because they decided to RIF everyone and I was basically working 4 jobs. It's possible to burn out at home, but it takes a lot more doing. At home, you can get up and watch a show on TV for 30 minutes, or play a quick game or something to alleviate the stress. You can't do that at the office typically.
archagon 9y ago
I've seen this mentioned quite a bit around these parts and I just don't get it. What kind of problem takes 20 minutes to wrap your head around? Can you give me a working example? I'm asking honestly, by the way! I've never personally encountered a problem in my professional career that takes half an hour just to internalize, and I've always wondered what one might look like.
- kelvin0 9y ago
  If you are a programmer, here's a good one: You are 'thrown' into a legacy codebase and asked to fix/refactor/add a new feature. Oh, and also you don't have docs and the people who wrote the code are no longer available to you. Added bonus, that codebase runs on 4 completely different platforms platforms. Finally this is a game shipping in 2 months.
  - louhike 9y ago
    I understand, but why can't you stop fixing/refactoring/adding a feature for 5 minutes ? Taking a break won't make you forget you everything, it mights make you more productive for the next 20 minutes. For the record, I've worked on 20 years old code where maintanability didn't seemed like a important part. Breaks doesn't always make you slower, it might do the contrary. Of course, there is no magical solution and you have to find a balance.
    - Slaul 9y ago
      Everybody is different. Personally, I can't keep multiple things in my head at the same time very well. I need to focus 100% (or as near to 100% as possible) on the task at hand. If I'm focused on solving a problem and somebody comes up to my desk to ask a question=, it's very similar to that xkcd comic where the mental bubble goes 'poof' and I'm back to square one.
    - kelvin0 9y ago
      From the parent post, and I quote: "What kind of problem takes 20 minutes to wrap your head around? Can you give me a working example?" I'm not against breaks, the issue here is that someone mentioned that 20 minutes is more than enough to wrap your head around anything. I gave an example where most (mortals) would require substantially more than 20 minutes. Are we talking about breaks? Or the fact that some geniuses are able to figure out everything under 20 minutes?
16bytes 9y ago
Speaking a software developer, I think this technique can be quite powerful. You'll often hear people talk about the Pomodoro Technique[1]. I don't always organize my day around promodoros, but when I'm under the gun, it's a great way to maximize productivity by minimizing task waste. I see a common anti-pattern in myself and other developers that I call the "depth-first problem solving" method. In short, it's when you go down the rabbit hole and loose sight of what you were originally trying to accomplish. Others call this issue "Yak Shaving"[2]. By forcing you to take stock of what you're doing and give yourself a breather, I find one is better able to keep on-task. Also, when doing pomodoros, the side benefits is that you're only working on one thing. Even if you're not doing something more sophisticated like pomodoros, taking a break every 20 minutes can be very useful even for "in-the-zone" type activities, like coding, which can take some time to get into. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique [2] http://www.hanselman.com/blog/YakShavingDefinedIllGetThatDoneAsSoonAsIShaveThisYak.aspx http://www.hanselman.com/blog/YakShavingDefinedIllGetThatDon...
ryandrake 9y ago
> As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even gotten a problem into my head, and a five minute break would mean starting over. Being able to work in small chunks of time and being able to recover from short breaks in concentration are skills that one can develop much like other programming skills. Needing a long time to "get back into the zone" is a fix-able weakness, not some intractable law of nature. Try having kids! You'll quickly learn to divide your productive time up into dozens of short 15-minute sessions rather than hours-long stretches in the zone. Infants don't care that you're concentrating.
- fujiters 9y ago
  Some people sink in the sink or swim scenarios. Having kids can lead to no productive activity at all during kid's waking hours instead of 15 minute chunks.
rickmode 9y ago
Take the break without "unloading" the problem from your head. Get up, get some coffee or whatnot. You're brain will retain the problem you are working on with no effort on your part. This works much better when working remote. When in office, keep your headphones on so people see that you are not available. This is basically variation of a Zen walking meditation. To respect the Zen style fully, try to concentrate on the walking, breathing, making, pouring your coffee, and nothing else. Don't beat yourself up if you starting thinking about work, though -- just go back to being in the moment while doing trivial things. It's the getting up and giving your brain the OK to relax that is the key. The goal of Zen is to be in the flow with that's in front of you, even when sitting and doing almost nothing (just breathing). It is impossible to do this for long (at least for me). But the goal of "not thinking" and being in the moment / in the flow is a worthy goal. Softly bring your attention back to what's in front of you is the mental exercise that helps you relax and avoid distraction when not meditating, though for me this takes months of meditating to have this knock-on effect. This isn't always possible for me. I probably don't meditate enough. Sometimes I basically keep thinking about whatever I'm working on or worrying about. But even then, stepping way from the keyboard at least let's me tackle things from different direction. Anyway, a short break like this unlock something you are working on, similar to how we sometimes come up with good ideas in the shower. For me, I do this once every hour or 2 when I can, not 20 minutes. On the other hand, on days when I have lots of meetings, this is basically impossible. Just my 2 cents. Everyone is built slightly different; your milage may vary.

by yosito 9y ago

kenning 9y ago

> As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even gotten a problem into my head, and a five minute break would mean starting over. My strategy for this has been to take a long break and treat myself after finishing a big feature. I usually try to do one large thing in a work day and right when I push the commit, go watch tv for an hour or something. I've found it works very well because instead of using entertainment as some sort of "boredom medicine," it makes it into a reward.

baby 9y ago

> working remotely is not necessarily a cure for burnout I've never been close to burning out so take this with a grain of salt, but I definitely felt way more relaxed once I started working more from home.

Clubber 9y ago
I've been burned out at the office (recently) and at prior a while working at home. I was working 100+ hour weeks while at home because they decided to RIF everyone and I was basically working 4 jobs. It's possible to burn out at home, but it takes a lot more doing. At home, you can get up and watch a show on TV for 30 minutes, or play a quick game or something to alleviate the stress. You can't do that at the office typically.

archagon 9y ago

I've seen this mentioned quite a bit around these parts and I just don't get it. What kind of problem takes 20 minutes to wrap your head around? Can you give me a working example? I'm asking honestly, by the way! I've never personally encountered a problem in my professional career that takes half an hour just to internalize, and I've always wondered what one might look like.

kelvin0 9y ago
If you are a programmer, here's a good one: You are 'thrown' into a legacy codebase and asked to fix/refactor/add a new feature. Oh, and also you don't have docs and the people who wrote the code are no longer available to you. Added bonus, that codebase runs on 4 completely different platforms platforms. Finally this is a game shipping in 2 months.
- louhike 9y ago
  I understand, but why can't you stop fixing/refactoring/adding a feature for 5 minutes ? Taking a break won't make you forget you everything, it mights make you more productive for the next 20 minutes. For the record, I've worked on 20 years old code where maintanability didn't seemed like a important part. Breaks doesn't always make you slower, it might do the contrary. Of course, there is no magical solution and you have to find a balance.
  - Slaul 9y ago
    Everybody is different. Personally, I can't keep multiple things in my head at the same time very well. I need to focus 100% (or as near to 100% as possible) on the task at hand. If I'm focused on solving a problem and somebody comes up to my desk to ask a question=, it's very similar to that xkcd comic where the mental bubble goes 'poof' and I'm back to square one.
  - kelvin0 9y ago
    From the parent post, and I quote: "What kind of problem takes 20 minutes to wrap your head around? Can you give me a working example?" I'm not against breaks, the issue here is that someone mentioned that 20 minutes is more than enough to wrap your head around anything. I gave an example where most (mortals) would require substantially more than 20 minutes. Are we talking about breaks? Or the fact that some geniuses are able to figure out everything under 20 minutes?

16bytes 9y ago

Speaking a software developer, I think this technique can be quite powerful. You'll often hear people talk about the Pomodoro Technique[1]. I don't always organize my day around promodoros, but when I'm under the gun, it's a great way to maximize productivity by minimizing task waste. I see a common anti-pattern in myself and other developers that I call the "depth-first problem solving" method. In short, it's when you go down the rabbit hole and loose sight of what you were originally trying to accomplish. Others call this issue "Yak Shaving"[2]. By forcing you to take stock of what you're doing and give yourself a breather, I find one is better able to keep on-task. Also, when doing pomodoros, the side benefits is that you're only working on one thing. Even if you're not doing something more sophisticated like pomodoros, taking a break every 20 minutes can be very useful even for "in-the-zone" type activities, like coding, which can take some time to get into. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique [2] http://www.hanselman.com/blog/YakShavingDefinedIllGetThatDoneAsSoonAsIShaveThisYak.aspx http://www.hanselman.com/blog/YakShavingDefinedIllGetThatDon...

ryandrake 9y ago

> As a software developer, yeah right! In 20 minutes, I've barely even gotten a problem into my head, and a five minute break would mean starting over. Being able to work in small chunks of time and being able to recover from short breaks in concentration are skills that one can develop much like other programming skills. Needing a long time to "get back into the zone" is a fix-able weakness, not some intractable law of nature. Try having kids! You'll quickly learn to divide your productive time up into dozens of short 15-minute sessions rather than hours-long stretches in the zone. Infants don't care that you're concentrating.

fujiters 9y ago
Some people sink in the sink or swim scenarios. Having kids can lead to no productive activity at all during kid's waking hours instead of 15 minute chunks.

rickmode 9y ago

Take the break without "unloading" the problem from your head. Get up, get some coffee or whatnot. You're brain will retain the problem you are working on with no effort on your part. This works much better when working remote. When in office, keep your headphones on so people see that you are not available. This is basically variation of a Zen walking meditation. To respect the Zen style fully, try to concentrate on the walking, breathing, making, pouring your coffee, and nothing else. Don't beat yourself up if you starting thinking about work, though -- just go back to being in the moment while doing trivial things. It's the getting up and giving your brain the OK to relax that is the key. The goal of Zen is to be in the flow with that's in front of you, even when sitting and doing almost nothing (just breathing). It is impossible to do this for long (at least for me). But the goal of "not thinking" and being in the moment / in the flow is a worthy goal. Softly bring your attention back to what's in front of you is the mental exercise that helps you relax and avoid distraction when not meditating, though for me this takes months of meditating to have this knock-on effect. This isn't always possible for me. I probably don't meditate enough. Sometimes I basically keep thinking about whatever I'm working on or worrying about. But even then, stepping way from the keyboard at least let's me tackle things from different direction. Anyway, a short break like this unlock something you are working on, similar to how we sometimes come up with good ideas in the shower. For me, I do this once every hour or 2 when I can, not 20 minutes. On the other hand, on days when I have lots of meetings, this is basically impossible. Just my 2 cents. Everyone is built slightly different; your milage may vary.