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

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

#161

Post by em-bee »

alangpierce wrote: post #64
coldtea wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't be the one choosing when and for how long to use the tool...

Normal office environments already have managers that are plenty capable of watching and critiquing everything you do all the time, but at least in my experience, that's almost never how it goes. Good managers know that freedom and autonomy are empowering. I'm sure others have had much worse experiences, but I think it's mostly well-established that micromanagement is a bad thing. Whether it's in-person or with a too…

that's what we use daily standups for. i announce my plan for the day, and the next day i report on how well it went. if i procrastinate to much i have nothing to report.

it doesn't impact my freedom and autonomy because i decide what to do every day, so i set my own goals and only report on how well i achieved them or explain why i didn't (run into a bug etc)

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

#162

Post by uvu »

hliyan wrote: post #143
StaticRedux wrote: post #29

Now do that for a month. Or even a week. You may be more productive bc you don't want to be seen as slacking off with someone watching, but maintaining that kind of pace is untenable. Did you ever get stuck and check your email or Facebook just to give your brain a little break? Did you ever sit, unsure of your next move? Or did you do the first thing you thought of, even if it was wrong, so you didn't look like you…

I don't believe this is the case at all. When I was in university, everyone I know (including myself) organized into study groups precisely to combat procrastination, and not for any intellectual benefits. It worked. At the end of a day of solo studying, you would feel horrible and ashamed because you got so little done. But at the end of a group study session, you actually feel fulfilled.

I don't believe studying with a group of people and letting stranger watch you what you are working.

Also, did your study group have stranger or at least you kind of a bit familiar with them?

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

#163

Post by trickstra »

mratzloff wrote: post #124
williamdclt wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one way to see it. Another way is "I've shown that I got some unleashed productivity potential. How can I make it sustainable rather than an exhausting sprint?". In other words "how to make it a habit", habits are easy to sustain I'm not arguing for having a stranger watching you all the times or that you should only think about productivity, just that it shows that there's a margin for improvement that can't…

It's not sustainable. Your brain needs downtime, just like you can't run everywhere you go.

but can't we just allocate those downtimes to the time when we are not on the clock?

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

#164

Post by hliyan »

uvu wrote: post #162
hliyan wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe this is the case at all. When I was in university, everyone I know (including myself) organized into study groups precisely to combat procrastination, and not for any intellectual benefits. It worked. At the end of a day of solo studying, you would feel horrible and ashamed because you got so little done. But at the end of a group study session, you actually feel fulfilled.

I don't believe studying with a group of people and letting stranger watch you what you are working. Also, did your study group have stranger or at least you kind of a bit familiar with them?

Some were friends, but there were members I only knew by sight. Of course, by the time of the tests, they were friends.

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

#165

Post by catwind7 »

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.

yeah i think that's a fair question. i think while the extreme programming community may define it as a practice with a particular set of guidelines, ultimately it's about working effectively with another programmer.

sometimes that means bucking the rules of whatever the methodology prescribes and doing what works for your team.

for example: xp people tend to suggest frequent pair rotations in order to spread knowledge (faster?). I know half my team, though advocates of pair programming, would be pretty unhappy with that given the costs of context switching.

maybe some people will point at that and say we're not really pair programming /shrug

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

#166

Post by rxhernandez »

drdeca wrote: post #157
rxhernandez wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your argument that it exists _for_ anything is a bit hollow. What do superstitions exist _for_? What does religion exist _for_? What does the shame of being on the LGBTQ spectrum exist _for_? What does fat shaming exist _for_? That something exists and that people are using it doesn't at all mean that the use is still valid, that it ever was valid, or that there are not much more fruitful alternatives. Moreover your…

> what has been burned into my mind as a child How was this done?

With my father doing the complete opposite by being abusive as possible without physically touching me.

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

#167

Post by drdeca »

rxhernandez wrote: post #166
drdeca wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what has been burned into my mind as a child How was this done?

With my father doing the complete opposite by being abusive as possible without physically touching me.

:( I’m sorry to hear that,

I don’t mean to suggest that shame/guilt aren’t sometimes (often?) overused.

I just think that attempting to entirely excise them is a mistake (and that they are at times useful in moderation for certain things).

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

#168

Post by Mirioron »

ww520 wrote: post #89
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…

To be blunt, I think it's the wrong kind of attitude toward school. You focused too much on the end result, getting the degree, rather than enjoying the journey, the learning and the obtaining of knowledge. It shouldn't matter whether it's 8 months or 14 months, as long as you learned during those time. As far as creating your own software company, it sounds like you are looking for the fantasy of entrepreneurship th…

The problem is that for some (many?) people none of what you mentioned is ever going to be enjoyable. For some, studying and work will always be a negative thing that that simply have to do. I think having goals for people like that is the only way to actually continue doing things. There is no end to work, so if you don't enjoy it it'll seem hopeless to even try.

At least this has been my personal experience.

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

#170

Post by jakebaker »

systemizer wrote: post #8

Anybody else get an immediately negative visceral reaction from this? If I'm understanding this correctly, the aim is to manipulate our sense of shame/guilt to boost productivity. After sitting with the feeling for a bit, here are some ideas that come to mind: 1. Maybe we should ask why we feel shame/guilt in the first place. Is it "normal" to feel this? If it isn't we should not rely on it for our happiness (or prod…

It really isn’t like that when using it. Culture matters a lot and the community is just focused on actively working in a collaborative environment. It works wonders. I call it “flow state on demand.”
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