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Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

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Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#191

Post by imhoguy »

meow112012 wrote: post #182
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did exactly this early in my career: Stayed up late, got work done outside of business hours, suffered the consequences. Later I started being more assertive about my time. Meeting request in the middle of my core work hours? Decline as busy, suggest to move it to a lunch meeting or offer to call the person after working hours (Everyone chooses lunch meeting instead of after hours). People tapping me on the shoulde…

Me either. Getting some critical job done is impossible during normal working time when I get a lot of direct questions over slack and have to spend my time on meeting and communication. The hard thing is that it's not easy to explain critical job' result to the team. Most people simply think that's [my] job. The very annoying thing to me is that people tend to ask via PM. Why don't they just ask question on common g…

I just delay any response for any new topic or I do not respond at all if that is just "Hi XYZ". Often I see "nevermind/found it/sorted it out" after a while.

My rule of thumb is 15 minutes. I also never send "Hi XYZ" alone and then form a question. "Hi" is part of question message (Shift+Enter ftw!) and often while forming the question sentence with some guiding information I manage to find an answer too. No message send, win-win.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#192

Post by unixhero »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #179
vegetablepotpie wrote: post #8

> Cal Newport said it best in his book Deep Work: the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive. The people who cultivate that skill, stay up late at night while everyone is asleep so they don’t get distracted. T…

>> As a consequence, deep thought workers are seen by their immediate and responsive counterparts as obtuse, eccentric, or worse: lazy and unable to manage their time. Literally just had this on my year end review. I won't go into the useless stack ranking the company I work for uses, but none of my project work was ever late (it was actually either right on time or early) but because I'm a night owl and do a majorit…

Walk slower or quit. The efforts you have put in have not been apprechiated.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#193

Post by fogihujy »

ldbooth wrote: post #17

I tried a flip phone for a week but got tired of explaining to people why I didn't receive the picture they texted me, and I was carrying my no-SIM smartphone around for the audiobooks anyway. It does feel like taking the proverbial digital leash off, and rather than text replying I was calling everyone back for convenience. I sure have strayed socially. I shall find this middle ground and report back.

I went the feature phone route, bog standard Nokia with a 64 GB SD card in it for music/etc.

I managed three months and then a customer sent me an iPhone because sending SMS's was too much of a hassle when everyone else was on Slack 24/7, and because their authentication scheme was changing and they required a smart phone app for 2FA.

Years later, I still refuse to put Slack on my phone (now an Android), but I can't get away from various app requirements connected to my business number, and I can't be bothered to have two separate phones when I have two SIM slots in my phone anyway.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#194

Post by waheoo »

biren34 wrote: post #180
waheoo wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, any tips on what to look out for identifying these people in the wild when you might not be able to work with them personally in the beginning?

Of the two I know, one is a general manager / executive type that surfs and used to be in a frat. The other is a sales guy / stoner type, who always seems to have been to every new bar and restaurant and already know the owners by the time I've heard of the place. These descriptions are just the two I know--but you get the idea. They genuinely value people, so it's not a chore for them to know people, and they never…

Thanks I think I know what you mean.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#195

Post by d0mine »

devtul wrote: post #152
Swizec wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you spend your time marketing your self to others and letting people know your accomplishments, or do you spend the time doing work that will benefit others? I like the luck surface area analogy for this. Take a rectangle. Side A is "Quality of work". Side B is "How many people know about it". The surface area – A*B – is your luck and opportunity. If you do amazing work and nobody knows about it, your luck is ze…

A friend told me a new hire spent weeks drawing diagrams on the board and explaining to coworkers how X feature should work, after two months of zero commits he was let go. A perfect example of a -2 X 5, zero work done but great presentation, now the guy is infamous in our circle and no one would recommend him to be hired anywhere.

> zero work done

Knowing what should and should not be implemented (where to go) may be more important than being able to move in random directions.

Once requirements are clear, the implementation becomes easier.

Perhaps, the guy should be in the product team, not in devs.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#196

Post by najra »

andrewzah wrote: post #26
browningstreet wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like my Apple Watch, but I use it almost exclusively for fitness (workouts, trail running, etc). I decided early on to remove all the other things -- apps, notifications, etc. I get Messages, but that's about it. I like the balance, and it allows me to keep my phone farther away in a bag than before. Plus with the WorkOutDoors app, I can go on runs, with maps, without my iPhone. Love that.

Why not use a garmin in that case? I only use my fenix when I work out, as I strictly wear mechanical/quartz watches the rest of the time. The UX is definitely not anywhere close to an apple watch, but it is more suited for physical activity and tracking that data.

I was considering a fitbit because of this, i like my mechanical watches too much. Think that might work on my other wrist, while still wearing my regular watches.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#197

Post by deergomoo »

SilverRed wrote: post #158
GoblinSlayer wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me vibration is very intrusive notification, if the phone is on the table, the table all but explodes, a melody without vibration is a much softer notification.

I find the Apple watch to be the least intrusive notification method. Its just a light tap on the wrist. And it uses different taps for different things. Receiving a text message is different to a call and different to the message telling me to stand up for a minute. It also doesn't make any sound so its not distracting others in the office and it can always be felt while vibrations in my pocket are not always notice…

> And it uses different taps for different things. Receiving a text message is different to a call and different to the message telling me to stand up for a minute.

And the "low battery" warning is heart attack inducing, heh.

I really like the Apple Watch, they just need to fix the part where multiple notifications in a short period of time effectively DDoS you from being able to use the damn thing.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#198

Post by sudosudo »

Swizec wrote: post #12
vegetablepotpie wrote: post #8

> Cal Newport said it best in his book Deep Work: the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive. The people who cultivate that skill, stay up late at night while everyone is asleep so they don’t get distracted. T…

> Do you spend your time marketing your self to others and letting people know your accomplishments, or do you spend the time doing work that will benefit others? I like the luck surface area analogy for this. Take a rectangle. Side A is "Quality of work". Side B is "How many people know about it". The surface area – A*B – is your luck and opportunity. If you do amazing work and nobody knows about it, your luck is ze…

Honestly yes!

in summary:

know. Your. Audience. Let them know , but speak to them in their terms. Communication is not a display of hubris, it’s a two way street

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#199

Post by tremon »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #181
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did exactly this early in my career: Stayed up late, got work done outside of business hours, suffered the consequences. Later I started being more assertive about my time. Meeting request in the middle of my core work hours? Decline as busy, suggest to move it to a lunch meeting or offer to call the person after working hours (Everyone chooses lunch meeting instead of after hours). People tapping me on the shoulde…

One of the first companies I worked at (a startup) had a strict protocol on how to ask someone for help. The chain was basically: a) ping them over IM. Do not grenade them with your problem. Ask first if they have time to help you: No? Try fixing your problem on your own for another 20-30 minutes. Yes? Be short and to the point. If its a coding issue, list all of the solutions you've tried first and what the issue is…

a) ping them over IM. Do not grenade them with your problem. Ask first if they have time to help you

This wouldn't work with me. I don't respond until I know what I'm saying yes to.

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