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I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

melmagazine.com

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Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#101

Post by luckylion »

hobs wrote: post #28
drdeca wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For me, guilt/shame is something to be overcome, not used as a tool. Wow, I think I quite strongly disagree. What do you think it exists _for_ ? It is good for society that people have the capacity for guilt and shame. If we did not, I cannot see any other recourse other than fear!

Love, kindness, empathy, etc. You dont have to build your society as a goad to make people do what you want.

Do you know of any example of societies that were based on love, kindness, empathy and so on, and were stable for a prolonged time?

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#103

Post by luckylion »

Is it necessary to have an actual live video feed with an actual person that you've talked to before, or can you just have a video of a person that occasionally glances up to look at the camera?

Committing to (and reviewing afterwards) what you want to accomplish does somewhat work for me. Ultraworking work cycles [1] are based on that by making you write down what you'll work on, how you'll start before each (short) session. When I really need a push to do something I don't enjoy at all, this usually does the trick.

[1] https://www.ultraworking.com/cycles

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#104

Post by swozey »

I wonder if this writer has ever tried a Pomodoro technique. If I force myself to use that entire 20-25 minutes and work the entire time with some planning on what to focus on directly before hitting the button I find myself hyper-focused for that duration and knock a lot out; if I'm not interrupted by the surrounding zoo of the open office.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#105

Post by deevolution »

emerongi wrote: post #84
myth2018 wrote: post #79

Procrastination has destroyed my life. Three years ago I finally achieved my dream of working from home. I was writing my thesis and believed I could finish my masters in 8 months. I decided to fully focus on it and, afterwards, I would create my long dreamed own software company. It worked really well for some weeks. I was much more focused than I used to be working in regular offices, with bosses. But soon I starte…

Working from home changed my life in the opposite direction. Being able to fully manage my own time and not have someone breathing down my neck has enabled me to actually not procrastinate. I used to suffer from a lot of stress and anxiety and I think that fueled my procrastination. Now that I no longer suffer from those, I can just focus on work. For a while I've wondered how I even started procrastinating as hard a…

I think the stress and anxiety is caused by procrastination and the stress and anxiety causes further procrastination. It's a loop! The trick is to get out of the loop by establishing productive, rewarding habits.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#106

Post by bdreadz »

BurningFrog wrote: post #39

My first month of pair programming was utterly exhausting, but once I got into the pace, it was the best thing I've ever done. The mutual focus is definitely a big part. You're in a social context, and there is no place to stray from the mutual task, and that discipline is very liberating, weird as it may sound, for someone prone to procrastinating like myself.

Came here to say this. When ever I'm lagging on putting down some code. I can grab another developer that seems like they are just in that afternoon haze too. A lot of times just talking about things much more elegant and dry solutions come too.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#107

Post by nickjj »

myth2018 wrote: post #79

Procrastination has destroyed my life. Three years ago I finally achieved my dream of working from home. I was writing my thesis and believed I could finish my masters in 8 months. I decided to fully focus on it and, afterwards, I would create my long dreamed own software company. It worked really well for some weeks. I was much more focused than I used to be working in regular offices, with bosses. But soon I starte…

> Coincidentally, yesterday I started to work on a co-working space. That new atmosphere helped me significantly and I hope it keeps this way for some time at least.

Did you have to pay for this space?

I know for me, the best way to kick myself in the pants is to start paying for something. If I stay in my apartment (which I'm paying for anyways), it's not easy to finish certain tasks, but once I have to start paying out of pocket that usually kicks me into high gear due to thinking "well I'm paying an extra $350/month for this space, if I sit here and slack off, I'm paying $350 /month to read HN, nope!".

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#108

Post by elcomet »

ergothus wrote: post #98
catwind7 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a lot of this depends on the dynamics of the team. i don't think pair programming necessarily means typing 100% of the time. I get a ton of value in tackling a very ill-defined task with another member of my team, especially in the design / architecture phase where I find that a lot of engineers tend to over-think and over-engineer a task. i don't want to discount your experience tho - i def. have moments where i abs…

If that is how you define pair programming, how is pair programming different than just working with someone on a problem? Legit question.

Pair programming is literally working with someone on a programming problem.

Re: I let a stranger watch me work for a day and I've never been more productive

#109

Post by archagon »

myth2018 wrote: post #79

Procrastination has destroyed my life. Three years ago I finally achieved my dream of working from home. I was writing my thesis and believed I could finish my masters in 8 months. I decided to fully focus on it and, afterwards, I would create my long dreamed own software company. It worked really well for some weeks. I was much more focused than I used to be working in regular offices, with bosses. But soon I starte…

I had a similar experience (on a smaller scale), but then discovered that working away from home—usually at a cafe—was basically a magic fix for my productivity problems. And I’ve seen a number of people on HN say the same thing.

IMO, if your focus starts drifting, find a new physical location to work from.

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