Not all interruptions are created equal though. There are cases when interruptions should be tolerated. If someone is working on a problem (a tester, a support

Not all interruptions are created equal though. There are cases when interruptions should be tolerated. If someone is working on a problem (a tester, a support engineer, or another developer), and has a question I know the answer to off the top of my head, I’m fine with being interrupted. Sure, my productivity takes a hit, but we should optimize for the company’s productivity, not only my productivity. If one (or several) other people in the company would be stalled, it’s better to ask me and get the answer in one minute, than to wait for an hour or two, or to dig around for an answer in the code or in the documentation. From my blog post "Programmer Productivity – Interruptions, Meetings and Working Remotely" http://henrikwarne.com/2013/04/02/programmer-productivity-interruptions-meetings-and-working-remotely/ http://henrikwarne.com/2013/04/02/programmer-productivity-in...