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What the author means by "attention management" is, perhaps, the ability to concentrate for a long period of time. Personally, for work that i love to do, conc

What the author means by "attention management" is, perhaps, the ability to concentrate for a long period of time. Personally, for work that i love to do, concentration is rewarding. For mundane, routine work, I usually go on auto pilot, getting work done, but, doing it while my attention is somewhere else. For mundane work that requires concentration, my output falls off the cliff. Its here that many tips and tricks ought to focus, but dont. And, frankly, its difficult too, to hack this type of work. Its human nature to be bored out and perhaps nothing can change it.

marcv81 8y ago
I used to think like you until I met a coworker. He could not code to save his life, nobody in the team liked working with him. Until one day we had a boring data entry task. He could do it for hours at a time, and barely made any mistake. This experience taught me something.
- alexanderdmitri 8y ago
  What did it teach you? I'm having trouble seeing the relevance.
  - quickthrower2 8y ago
    Maybe don't autofire your 0.1Xers?
    - dlivingston 8y ago
      What's a 0.1Xer?
      - quickthrower2 8y ago
        Amazingly it's hard to find a good link on this topic. Anyway it's from some study years ago that the most productive people are 10 times more productive than the least productive people. These are called 10x-ers (assuming they exist). 0.1xer is a play on that to talk to the least productive people in a team.
  - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
    That some individuals are better at concentrating on mundane tasks.
  - pm90 8y ago
    People have their competencies which may not often be evident. I do still think that, in the hyper competitive corporate world today, such kinds of people will get shafted regularly until they realize themselves what their great skills are and build on them.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- kumarvvr 8y ago
  To each his own I guess. Maybe that person is most comfortable in a semi- auto pilot mode. I have noticed that some people are very much averse to prolonged thinking / problem solving / creative work. These are the kinds of people, who, if stuck in a problem, go to their friends and family for advise and solve their problems. They usually have a lot of people / socializing / networking skills. I myself am an introvert and love to sit by myself and think of solutions for problems, be it work / life related. I am very bad at networking and usually go to a very very small set of people to discuss any problems I am facing, that I am unable to solve myself.
  - cgriswald 8y ago
    I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. I love to sit and think in a problem. I also love to turn off my brain completely and solve sudoku for hours on end while my mind is elsewhere.
    - kumarvvr 8y ago
      That's really interesting, about the sudoku thing. I love to do those puzzles but I go full into the stuff and can't think anything else while solving for them.
- empath75 8y ago
  I literally learned how to code to get out of a single boring data entry task.
ChrisSD 8y ago
Perhaps but people can develop strategies that work for them. It helps if you can mix the mundane with more engaging work or some procrastination. This is where time management can be very useful. If possible I prefer short but intense bursts of mundane but high concentration tasks. I've been using timers to help train myself to spend a set amount of time fully concentrating on a task and then reward myself with a break (which could involve more engaging work or if might simply be spending time on HN).
brandall10 8y ago
Probably going to be controversial but I'll say it anyway - About 10 years ago I had a period of 6 months filled almost entirely with mundane work that required concentration. My gf at the time had a pretty hefty prescription for Vyvanse and well... I was shocked at the difference. I could get done in one morning what would normally take an entire week. And I did it about that often, usually a Monday or Tues depending on meeting load and would use my free time to get to other side projects that were important but not my main priority. I'm too old to have seen the ritalin craze in higher education (I used it a handful of times during all-nighters but it was fairly rare/hard to get), and I don't believe I've touched these types of drugs since, but I do understand their pull when one needs to grind.
- QualityReboot 8y ago
  Yeah, people feel uneasy with this. It seems that amphetamines work for pretty much everyone at the right dose, and they have very few side effects. I've had a prescription for about 15 years and while I don't take it daily, it's incredibly helpful sometimes. It's a problem if everyone does it, but that hasn't really stopped me. It's unclear if I'm a rational actor, a bad person, or both.
- rootbear 8y ago
  I was on Vyvanse for a while and it did seem to help, a little, but it had unacceptable side effects for me. Specifically, I started grinding my teeth! When I figured out it was the Vyvanse that caused it, I went off the drug and the grinding stopped. We tried some other drug, I forget which, but it wasn't as effective. I'm glad it worked for you and I wish it had worked better for me. I don't much like my current job and it's a daily struggle to stay focused on it.
  - brandall10 8y ago
    It worked for me specifically in that context, but I didn't have a desire to do much with it in ensuing years as it seemed to have a deleterious effect on my creative capacity (important for work I do like) + did have a negative impact on my ability to sleep and made me really hyper. The grinding happened for me too but didn't bother me much, I just chewed gum. Could see how doing that on a daily basis would be a drag.
Bekwnn 8y ago
The term "attention management" might not apply to everyone, too. I'm most effective when I'm in the zone, which usually comes easiest when I'm listening to music and rapidly flicking between things. My thought process works best when there's a fraction of distraction and when I'm in a playful mood, not when there are no distractions and not when the only thing in front of me is the task at hand. My thoughts slow down without something there to keep them moving. No known conditions or attention disorders and doubtful of having one. I just work best in a creative or playful mood, not a concentrated one. I'm surprised it's so alien and uncommon for programmers, it's not uncommon in other more traditionally creative fields.
- kumarvvr 8y ago
  Very interesting. Are you in a digital creative field or traditional creative field?
  - Bekwnn 8y ago
    Games development as a programmer. Lots of writing new code. Parents were artists and I very nearly majored in English. There's a lot of lessons I took from traditionally creative fields.
    - kumarvvr 8y ago
      Great to know. Have a hobby game project lined up this year, using Unreal. Creative work is such a rush.
douglaswlance 8y ago
No work is mundane if you can find a higher reason why you're doing the task.

marcv81 8y ago

I used to think like you until I met a coworker. He could not code to save his life, nobody in the team liked working with him. Until one day we had a boring data entry task. He could do it for hours at a time, and barely made any mistake. This experience taught me something.

alexanderdmitri 8y ago
What did it teach you? I'm having trouble seeing the relevance.
- quickthrower2 8y ago
  Maybe don't autofire your 0.1Xers?
  - dlivingston 8y ago
    What's a 0.1Xer?
    - quickthrower2 8y ago
      Amazingly it's hard to find a good link on this topic. Anyway it's from some study years ago that the most productive people are 10 times more productive than the least productive people. These are called 10x-ers (assuming they exist). 0.1xer is a play on that to talk to the least productive people in a team.
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  That some individuals are better at concentrating on mundane tasks.
- pm90 8y ago
  People have their competencies which may not often be evident. I do still think that, in the hyper competitive corporate world today, such kinds of people will get shafted regularly until they realize themselves what their great skills are and build on them.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
kumarvvr 8y ago
To each his own I guess. Maybe that person is most comfortable in a semi- auto pilot mode. I have noticed that some people are very much averse to prolonged thinking / problem solving / creative work. These are the kinds of people, who, if stuck in a problem, go to their friends and family for advise and solve their problems. They usually have a lot of people / socializing / networking skills. I myself am an introvert and love to sit by myself and think of solutions for problems, be it work / life related. I am very bad at networking and usually go to a very very small set of people to discuss any problems I am facing, that I am unable to solve myself.
- cgriswald 8y ago
  I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. I love to sit and think in a problem. I also love to turn off my brain completely and solve sudoku for hours on end while my mind is elsewhere.
  - kumarvvr 8y ago
    That's really interesting, about the sudoku thing. I love to do those puzzles but I go full into the stuff and can't think anything else while solving for them.
empath75 8y ago
I literally learned how to code to get out of a single boring data entry task.

ChrisSD 8y ago

Perhaps but people can develop strategies that work for them. It helps if you can mix the mundane with more engaging work or some procrastination. This is where time management can be very useful. If possible I prefer short but intense bursts of mundane but high concentration tasks. I've been using timers to help train myself to spend a set amount of time fully concentrating on a task and then reward myself with a break (which could involve more engaging work or if might simply be spending time on HN).

brandall10 8y ago

Probably going to be controversial but I'll say it anyway - About 10 years ago I had a period of 6 months filled almost entirely with mundane work that required concentration. My gf at the time had a pretty hefty prescription for Vyvanse and well... I was shocked at the difference. I could get done in one morning what would normally take an entire week. And I did it about that often, usually a Monday or Tues depending on meeting load and would use my free time to get to other side projects that were important but not my main priority. I'm too old to have seen the ritalin craze in higher education (I used it a handful of times during all-nighters but it was fairly rare/hard to get), and I don't believe I've touched these types of drugs since, but I do understand their pull when one needs to grind.

QualityReboot 8y ago
Yeah, people feel uneasy with this. It seems that amphetamines work for pretty much everyone at the right dose, and they have very few side effects. I've had a prescription for about 15 years and while I don't take it daily, it's incredibly helpful sometimes. It's a problem if everyone does it, but that hasn't really stopped me. It's unclear if I'm a rational actor, a bad person, or both.
rootbear 8y ago
I was on Vyvanse for a while and it did seem to help, a little, but it had unacceptable side effects for me. Specifically, I started grinding my teeth! When I figured out it was the Vyvanse that caused it, I went off the drug and the grinding stopped. We tried some other drug, I forget which, but it wasn't as effective. I'm glad it worked for you and I wish it had worked better for me. I don't much like my current job and it's a daily struggle to stay focused on it.
- brandall10 8y ago
  It worked for me specifically in that context, but I didn't have a desire to do much with it in ensuing years as it seemed to have a deleterious effect on my creative capacity (important for work I do like) + did have a negative impact on my ability to sleep and made me really hyper. The grinding happened for me too but didn't bother me much, I just chewed gum. Could see how doing that on a daily basis would be a drag.

Bekwnn 8y ago

The term "attention management" might not apply to everyone, too. I'm most effective when I'm in the zone, which usually comes easiest when I'm listening to music and rapidly flicking between things. My thought process works best when there's a fraction of distraction and when I'm in a playful mood, not when there are no distractions and not when the only thing in front of me is the task at hand. My thoughts slow down without something there to keep them moving. No known conditions or attention disorders and doubtful of having one. I just work best in a creative or playful mood, not a concentrated one. I'm surprised it's so alien and uncommon for programmers, it's not uncommon in other more traditionally creative fields.

kumarvvr 8y ago
Very interesting. Are you in a digital creative field or traditional creative field?
- Bekwnn 8y ago
  Games development as a programmer. Lots of writing new code. Parents were artists and I very nearly majored in English. There's a lot of lessons I took from traditionally creative fields.
  - kumarvvr 8y ago
    Great to know. Have a hobby game project lined up this year, using Unreal. Creative work is such a rush.

douglaswlance 8y ago

No work is mundane if you can find a higher reason why you're doing the task.