Busy to Death • Hacker News Board

Re: Busy to Death

#21

Post by TeMPOraL » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 9:27 AM UTC

MaulingMonkey wrote: post #14

computator wrote: post #2

> Thinking is an activity too—don’t undervalue it. Make time and space for it in your daily work schedule. This is why I find it impossible to work effectively in open-plan offices. I'm often looking off in to space, thinking. But I feel compelled to make clickety-clack noises on a keyboard, continuously and unproductively, lest people think I'm not working.

> But I feel compelled to make clickety-clack noises on a keyboard, continuously and unproductively, lest people think I'm not working. Easier said than done, but some unsolicited suggestions: 1) Acquire the self confidence that your results will speak for themselves, appearances be damned. 2) Realize your coworkers also value thinking, and recognize it properly. 3) Realize your coworkers are probably too busy worryi…

> 5) Consider journaling / take stream-of-concious notes / mind-mapping. Might slow your thinking down some, but might compensate for memory some too.

I found myself unable to focus on thinking in the office, when there are other people present. I learned to compensate for that by doing my thinking in writing - I just start dumping my thoughts and talking to myself through my text editor. It feels a bit slower, but it does wonders for concentration and for short-term memory.

Re: Busy to Death

#22

Post by TeMPOraL » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 9:32 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #12

tiglionabbit wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. I usually use a google doc to organize my thoughts. It frees up active memory to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper where you can see them and no longer fear forgetting them.

> You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. That would be a solution to a non-problem ("looking busy").

It's a good one, too.

I use Emacs for that, but because I use Emacs for almost anything and have a rather low font size set, cow-orkers doing casual screen glancing can't even tell if I'm coding, working through TODOs, requirement docs, or if I'm IRCing or reading my mail.

Re: Busy to Death

#23

Post by keithpeter » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 9:36 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #12

tiglionabbit wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. I usually use a google doc to organize my thoughts. It frees up active memory to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper where you can see them and no longer fear forgetting them.

> You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. That would be a solution to a non-problem ("looking busy").

I need to make marks on paper while thinking through things - I often use a mind map so the outcome of a session might be a single side of A4 printing paper with a diagram on it but that could be the basic plan for a year's teaching on a course.

Re: Busy to Death

#24

Post by yrio » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 9:52 AM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #11

I am often bemused how people actually end up being so busy. At times, I have felt insecure about my "free time" — sort of how I might be running behind people who are constantly occupied. But, taking a closer look, you can see how a lot of work that busy people do is something that can be reduced, optimised, and even completely done away with. Checking emails, and reports, taking calls that need not be taken, endles…

I think the last problem is commonly called "procrastination" and different from workaholism & doing busywork like creating needless meetings, reports, etc.

Re: Busy to Death

#25

Post by lmm » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 10:01 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #12

tiglionabbit wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. I usually use a google doc to organize my thoughts. It frees up active memory to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper where you can see them and no longer fear forgetting them.

> You could write down what you're thinking while you're thinking it. That would be a solution to a non-problem ("looking busy").

It clearly is a problem that the grandparent feels the need to solve. Often it's worth making small changes that improve your own life even if those changes are inherently throwaway.

Re: Busy to Death

#26

Post by shubhamjain » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 10:09 AM UTC

yrio wrote: post #24

shubhamjain wrote: post #11

I am often bemused how people actually end up being so busy. At times, I have felt insecure about my "free time" — sort of how I might be running behind people who are constantly occupied. But, taking a closer look, you can see how a lot of work that busy people do is something that can be reduced, optimised, and even completely done away with. Checking emails, and reports, taking calls that need not be taken, endles…

I think the last problem is commonly called "procrastination" and different from workaholism & doing busywork like creating needless meetings, reports, etc.

True, it's different. My point was people could be achieving little during the daytime and feel compelled to work during the night and hence, be very busy. The work schedule might look like 12 hours/day but in actual terms, the real work only occupied 3-4 hours.

Re: Busy to Death

#27

Post by epx » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 10:27 AM UTC

Once a guy chose not to go to office, instead he went to Starbucks -- so he could finish an important document (not some side project, but the kind of document he was paid to write). True story.

Re: Busy to Death

#28

Post by majewsky » Mon, Jul 03, 2017, 10:39 AM UTC

zubspace wrote: post #9

tunetine wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here I am trying not to look pissed off at everyone around me because they're sitting there doing little to no work, talking, and making noises.

I'm working in a small office with 4 to 5 developers. I actually enjoy the company and don't mind the occasional phone call or chat. Sometimes I can overhear another conversation and add my 5 cents to it, which I believe to be valuable. We also use slack and 'idle-ping' other team members first and keep conversations in slack if possible. This works quite well, too. Recently we had an intern, which had a very annoyin…

> Recently we had an intern, which had a very annoying tic: While listening to headphones he now and then started to sing/whistle/hiss along, quietly but audible. It's strange and a personality thing, but it took quite a few days until I snapped and told him to stop. It also started again after a couple of days and I had to tell him again.

I shall confess that I'm guilty of this, too. It helps, though, that everyone in our open-plan office has good headphones, so usually not too many people notice.

(And yes, I realize the bizarreness of this entire situation.)