It's true that interruptions are a source of significant cost for programmers, but the other side of the coin is that talking through problems and design decisi

It's true that interruptions are a source of significant cost for programmers, but the other side of the coin is that talking through problems and design decisions with other programmers can generate a massive gain in productivity. Let's say you are struggling with a design choice, or something in the production system looks screwy, how do you know who you can approach to discuss this? Well, the way i've worked in the past (when we used to all sit in an open plan office which seems like an age ago) was that you signalled 'do not disturb' for those times when you needed to be in the zone by putting headphones on. You weren't necessarily listening to music, some of us did, some didn't, but it was used as a clear signal that you shouldn't be disturbed. The result of the headphone rule works pretty well. I've worked places where there's been a full production meltdown, serious money being lost (well, not earned) due to the downtime, and all sorts of people and teams being pulled in to help identify and resolve the issue, meanwhile on the same desk someone in headphone mode being totally unaware of the problem.