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I'm constantly bombarded with "quick" questions from coworkers about how some part of my code works (or more often why it doesn't). After several such interrupt

I'm constantly bombarded with "quick" questions from coworkers about how some part of my code works (or more often why it doesn't). After several such interruptions it's harder and harder to even try to focus, maybe some kind of neurosis, fear of being interrupted once you are again in flow?

grigarav 6y ago
I just get bombarded with the likes of "Excuse me, but how do I view the code behind an SQL view?"
- yetihehe 6y ago
  Ehh, mine are typically very valid, specific and informed questions. I'm blessed with very smart coworkers, but we are seriously understaffed and documentation is lacking. When you "own" very big lightly documented system, questions happen.
carlivar 6y ago
Try the Pomodoro Technique and make sure to close Slack and other distractions.
sethammons 6y ago
If you are on a team, we’ve addressed this by having a single dev responsible for all incoming questions in our team channel. Any DMs are directed back to the team channel for the designated on call person. The on call person, for the week, doesn’t have sprint commitments. If they have time, they can choose to help the sprint or work to reduce toil.
yoav 6y ago
I’ve been there before. Would recommend starting a document and answering the questions there then linking people to the doc after you’d added their question/answer. The habit of check the docs first and maintaining docs in this way is really critical for remote teams and bandwidth.
onion2k 6y ago
I've been in the same situation and I found the solution was to do less. Unblocking coworkers is valid work, and spending more time on code so that they're not blocked in the first place is also very useful. By doing that I found the overall team velocity went up even though my personal point count fell.
8note 6y ago
I set up a daily "meeting" at 1pm after lunch to batch all those questions together. People tend to have similar questions, and other team members have answers I don't, so having everyone in a room together is handy

grigarav 6y ago

I just get bombarded with the likes of "Excuse me, but how do I view the code behind an SQL view?"

yetihehe 6y ago
Ehh, mine are typically very valid, specific and informed questions. I'm blessed with very smart coworkers, but we are seriously understaffed and documentation is lacking. When you "own" very big lightly documented system, questions happen.

carlivar 6y ago

Try the Pomodoro Technique and make sure to close Slack and other distractions.

sethammons 6y ago

If you are on a team, we’ve addressed this by having a single dev responsible for all incoming questions in our team channel. Any DMs are directed back to the team channel for the designated on call person. The on call person, for the week, doesn’t have sprint commitments. If they have time, they can choose to help the sprint or work to reduce toil.

yoav 6y ago

I’ve been there before. Would recommend starting a document and answering the questions there then linking people to the doc after you’d added their question/answer. The habit of check the docs first and maintaining docs in this way is really critical for remote teams and bandwidth.

onion2k 6y ago

I've been in the same situation and I found the solution was to do less. Unblocking coworkers is valid work, and spending more time on code so that they're not blocked in the first place is also very useful. By doing that I found the overall team velocity went up even though my personal point count fell.

8note 6y ago

I set up a daily "meeting" at 1pm after lunch to batch all those questions together. People tend to have similar questions, and other team members have answers I don't, so having everyone in a room together is handy