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You dont need to do any of this. Walking away from a problem and doing something else ends up in faster more elegant solutions every time than avoiding distract

by d0 13y ago

You dont need to do any of this. Walking away from a problem and doing something else ends up in faster more elegant solutions every time than avoiding distractions on the machine. I'll tap out a tune on my piano, play with the kids or sit in the garden for a bit whilst working from home. Then I'll do an hour or two of work and repeat. I deliver more finished higher quality code and solutions than anyone else chained to the keyboard all day.

mscman 13y ago
I feel some of this is based on personality. It's great that you're able to step away from work periodically and then focus again (I do the same thing working from home). A lot of people have trouble getting back into the work mode again after taking that break. That's what the "work account" idea is designed to help.
- d0 13y ago
  To be fair, I've had that trouble but I found out that I just wasn't happy doing what I was doing so changed it. You have to want to do it before focus comes naturally.
  - sneak 13y ago
    Telling someone with attention/focus issues "you just have to WANT IT" is like telling someone with depression "first you have to WANT to be not depressed!" It doesn't work that way.
JTon 13y ago
I'm glad you found a routine that works for you. If doing particularly grueling work (hey, who doesn't here and there?) or I'm in a mental slump, your methods don't work for me. I don't think productivity has a turn-key solution
- d0 13y ago
  Holidays are a turn key solution from experience. Even if its a weekend sleeping in a tent somewhere. I go like a machine after them for days.
- Cthulhu_ 13y ago
  Productivity isn't something that can be forced; there's some good books out there on the subject. The 'grueling work' you described (and likewise) remind me of Stephen Covey's quadrants [1] (and similar); being in one quadrant (grueling work being 'urgent but not important') too much will cause someone to go to another for escape (not important, non-urgent tasks; distractions). It's important to find a balance there, for both personal planning and if you're a resource planner / project manager / scrum master / whatever http://sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/merrillcoveymatrix.png http://sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/merrillcovey...
Cthulhu_ 13y ago
<snark mode on> You mean taking breaks from work like every profession ever does / requires of its employees? </snark> I don't know where this 'being chained to the keyboard all day' mentality came from, even if I experience and have seen it a lot in the industry. Take breaks; in a lot of countries, the law or health & safety regulations even make it obligatory. And don't feel guilty over it.
sneak 13y ago
> You dont need to do any of this. Walking away from a problem and doing something else ends up in faster more elegant solutions every time than avoiding distractions on the machine. I am not talking about what I do when I take breaks, I'm talking about keeping those breaks from turning from "a short 5 minute break" to "oh shit I just spent four hours in a wikipedia rabbit hole about nuclear energy and now the day is over and I'm tired and my work isn't done".

by d0 13y ago

mscman 13y ago

I feel some of this is based on personality. It's great that you're able to step away from work periodically and then focus again (I do the same thing working from home). A lot of people have trouble getting back into the work mode again after taking that break. That's what the "work account" idea is designed to help.

d0 13y ago
To be fair, I've had that trouble but I found out that I just wasn't happy doing what I was doing so changed it. You have to want to do it before focus comes naturally.
- sneak 13y ago
  Telling someone with attention/focus issues "you just have to WANT IT" is like telling someone with depression "first you have to WANT to be not depressed!" It doesn't work that way.

JTon 13y ago

I'm glad you found a routine that works for you. If doing particularly grueling work (hey, who doesn't here and there?) or I'm in a mental slump, your methods don't work for me. I don't think productivity has a turn-key solution

d0 13y ago
Holidays are a turn key solution from experience. Even if its a weekend sleeping in a tent somewhere. I go like a machine after them for days.
Cthulhu_ 13y ago
Productivity isn't something that can be forced; there's some good books out there on the subject. The 'grueling work' you described (and likewise) remind me of Stephen Covey's quadrants [1] (and similar); being in one quadrant (grueling work being 'urgent but not important') too much will cause someone to go to another for escape (not important, non-urgent tasks; distractions). It's important to find a balance there, for both personal planning and if you're a resource planner / project manager / scrum master / whatever http://sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/merrillcoveymatrix.png http://sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/merrillcovey...

Cthulhu_ 13y ago

<snark mode on> You mean taking breaks from work like every profession ever does / requires of its employees? </snark> I don't know where this 'being chained to the keyboard all day' mentality came from, even if I experience and have seen it a lot in the industry. Take breaks; in a lot of countries, the law or health & safety regulations even make it obligatory. And don't feel guilty over it.

sneak 13y ago

> You dont need to do any of this. Walking away from a problem and doing something else ends up in faster more elegant solutions every time than avoiding distractions on the machine. I am not talking about what I do when I take breaks, I'm talking about keeping those breaks from turning from "a short 5 minute break" to "oh shit I just spent four hours in a wikipedia rabbit hole about nuclear energy and now the day is over and I'm tired and my work isn't done".