5 ms·

Context switching is a skill you can and will improve as you get interrupted throughout your career.

sethammons 4y ago
that is one of the arguments in favor of the pomodoro productivity technique. For the unaware, pomodoro says to set a timer and do 25min of non-distracted work. Come up for air (mandatory stop) for 5 minutes. Rinse and repeat a few times. Some studies claim it takes 20min to get into the zone, but pomodoro insists on breaking that flow about 5 minutes later. The end result is training yourself to pick back up where you were at. I don't do pomodoro any longer but it was reasonably effective back when I tried it years ago.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  This works..
- michalc 4y ago
  I do something very similar - I didn’t realise this had a name. I plan that I will essentially have to context change in a short amount of time, so try to achieve some tiny thing before that. It really works - at least for me.
- mtrower 4y ago
  This doesn’t really invalidate those studies. What it does do, is force you to restructure your work so that you can get work done anyway. Whether it’s more or less effective than interrupted, “zoned” work is going to depend on the individual and the circumstances, but it is certainly a way to work.
helsinki 4y ago
Agreed. I work at a hedge fund and we are constantly interrupted from programming, but we still manage to make a product that consistently generates profit. I feel like people are being a bit too dramatic, here. Is it hard? Yes, very, but it’s just a matter of discipline and determination, in my opinion.
- wink 4y ago
  I'd say it mostly depends on what you work on, and that is not "a field" or "a job". I've had jobs where yes, I could easily be on phone support during the tasks and I've had projects that were usually hours long deep thinking where you had to have a huge system + 10 classes in your head at the same time, but most jobs and projects were a mix. And then you simply may have a bad day and need deep thinking mode for relatively modest work, but yo won't notice the other way round if you build something great and bug free and it seemed easy. I kinda don't believe the people who say they 100% have this job, all the time - but you also don't know beforehand when you need your interrupt-free time. Some days are just cursed and you get nothing done, even if they only interrupted you 3 times, but it was the important 15min block. And I've had those jobs as well. If someone (different people) interrupts you every 15min, when the day is cluttered up with 3 meetings anyway... I think it scales exponentially.

that is one of the arguments in favor of the pomodoro productivity technique. For the unaware, pomodoro says to set a timer and do 25min of non-distracted work. Come up for air (mandatory stop) for 5 minutes. Rinse and repeat a few times. Some studies claim it takes 20min to get into the zone, but pomodoro insists on breaking that flow about 5 minutes later. The end result is training yourself to pick back up where you were at. I don't do pomodoro any longer but it was reasonably effective back when I tried it years ago.

ipaddr 4y ago
This works..
michalc 4y ago
I do something very similar - I didn’t realise this had a name. I plan that I will essentially have to context change in a short amount of time, so try to achieve some tiny thing before that. It really works - at least for me.
mtrower 4y ago
This doesn’t really invalidate those studies. What it does do, is force you to restructure your work so that you can get work done anyway. Whether it’s more or less effective than interrupted, “zoned” work is going to depend on the individual and the circumstances, but it is certainly a way to work.

helsinki 4y ago

Agreed. I work at a hedge fund and we are constantly interrupted from programming, but we still manage to make a product that consistently generates profit. I feel like people are being a bit too dramatic, here. Is it hard? Yes, very, but it’s just a matter of discipline and determination, in my opinion.

wink 4y ago
I'd say it mostly depends on what you work on, and that is not "a field" or "a job". I've had jobs where yes, I could easily be on phone support during the tasks and I've had projects that were usually hours long deep thinking where you had to have a huge system + 10 classes in your head at the same time, but most jobs and projects were a mix. And then you simply may have a bad day and need deep thinking mode for relatively modest work, but yo won't notice the other way round if you build something great and bug free and it seemed easy. I kinda don't believe the people who say they 100% have this job, all the time - but you also don't know beforehand when you need your interrupt-free time. Some days are just cursed and you get nothing done, even if they only interrupted you 3 times, but it was the important 15min block. And I've had those jobs as well. If someone (different people) interrupts you every 15min, when the day is cluttered up with 3 meetings anyway... I think it scales exponentially.