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Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#21

Post by beermonster »

jv_dh wrote: post #14

One thing that helps me to focus on the task at hand is using Promodoro timers: 25 minutes focussed work, then 5 minutes break. More generally, if distractions are bothering you or are making you nervous, I would recommend meditation. Meditation is the practice of focussing on the present. Try the waking up app ( https://wakingup.com/ ), it is a good reason-based introduction to the practice and theory of meditation.

Seconded. I have found the Pomodoro method is a great way to stay focussed. I even use the pomodoro mode in Spacemacs and there are simple apps available for iOS/Android.

For being interrupted by apps I generally invert control E.g. - Disable notifications and decide to check a few times a day instead

- Close apps when I’m focussing.

For being interrupted by humans - Make good use of a calendar and let people know my availability

- Use calendar to block of focussing time for tasks requiring periods of longer concentration

- Not be afraid to say I’m in the middle of something I’ll come find you in a bit unless it’s urgent when prodded physically.

- Changing my status message on instant messaging apps/web meeting apps to let people know I’m not always monitoring them (e.g. “I check for DM’s multiple times a day”) to set a level of expectation.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#22

Post by diegoperini »

adontz wrote: post #16

Therapy. For real. In some cultures it's not welcome, but it affects personal development enormously. It's the best investment in your life. Not that you'll solve all your problems, however you'll learn to analyze your problems and learn to find root causes to fight with, instead of symptoms. Being here and now is not easy. You may be anxious, tired, may have some mild disorders, obsessions you don't even know about.

I upvoted and have nothing else to add but this is so true I want this advice to stay on top :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#23

Post by artemonster »

adontz wrote: post #16

Therapy. For real. In some cultures it's not welcome, but it affects personal development enormously. It's the best investment in your life. Not that you'll solve all your problems, however you'll learn to analyze your problems and learn to find root causes to fight with, instead of symptoms. Being here and now is not easy. You may be anxious, tired, may have some mild disorders, obsessions you don't even know about.

Therapy is not a silver bullet. While it can be helpful, I found it incredibly awful and frustrating when therapist tries to describe and justify things that are happening to you by trying to tie something from your past. You can always do that with any person and any circumstance. Client: „I am annoyed by the interuruptions“ Therapist: „Maybe you dont like loosing control because your mother havent given you a titty when you were little and cried for couple of hours“ Something like that…

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#24

Post by wruza »

It seems like an anxiety, especially this part: “events coming up that make me nervous”. I successfully let go of huge parts of it with CBT. And additionally…

without loosing progress?

I always write down both the plan and the progress. For strategic plans and sudden realizations I’m using personal Trello. For at-the-moment tactics I just have a piece of paper and few pens on my desk. Circles and text and arrows and notes, you know. And somewhere in the middle there is always TODO.txt or a variant of `grep -r "TODO\|FIXME\|XXX" .`. Which of the latter two I’m using depends on whether I want to draw a map and navigate it (research-mode) or to set a short-term plan (do-it-mode).

For upcoming events that depend on my action, I make sure to plan beforehand with the ios builtin reminder app and then fully rely on it. If these don’t depend on me (someone to arrive in a hour or maybe four), I just learned to not give a fuck until it happens with CBT, and then I spend a minute to write down all the relevant progress/action/situation info to pick up later.

If I don’t write it down, it’s not worth it, and vice versa.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#25

Post by dave_sullivan »

I organize my life around not being interrupted. Work from home, respond to messages when I get to it.

When I have an idea or thought that might interrupt, I write it down quickly on an ideas board or my notes for later and discard the thought.

When I get tired I sleep. When I'm working on something I am in a flow state. When I feel myself leaving a flow state (or bored?) I take a break. Progress is unpredictable. There is no such thing as finished, only ongoing or back burner or dead.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#26

Post by MattGaiser »

I work remotely, so I just live my life and hang around online during business hours (and sometimes nap) and then use the late evening hours to churn out work. I do not like the split between work and life at all. Better to weave it all together as I see fit. 3 days of work can easily be 3 hours if I get those 3 hours uninterrupted rather than every hour punctuated by meetings or some other dev or even just needing to check that ping.

Either that or just ignore the interruptions. Slack can be silenced, as can phones. No need to always tolerate them.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#27

Post by z3t4 »

I used to think of tasks/todos as burning buildings and I had to prioritize which family to save. Now I instead think of tasks as balls, where most balls are made of rubber, so i can just drop them as needed, it no longer feels like someone is dying just because i dropped something, then several weeks later when i go through the todo list i relentlessly remove tasks that are not a must have, all nice to have are removed, and i often find that the tasks i dropped was not really important and many are no longer needed

So the tasks/todos are rubber balls and its ok to drop them. And do not worry about losing them. If they are important they will bounce back at you. There are only a few balls that are made of glass.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#29

Post by donpark »

I use sticky notes and a pinboard like others with a twist: sticky notes are placed on paper, not directly on the board. Each sheet of paper works like a room, contextual frame for notes. Move paper to top to switch context. Doing the same in computer screen doesn't work as well.

Re: Ask HN: How do you cope with being interupted?

#30

Post by faichai »

artemonster wrote: post #23
adontz wrote: post #16

Therapy. For real. In some cultures it's not welcome, but it affects personal development enormously. It's the best investment in your life. Not that you'll solve all your problems, however you'll learn to analyze your problems and learn to find root causes to fight with, instead of symptoms. Being here and now is not easy. You may be anxious, tired, may have some mild disorders, obsessions you don't even know about.

Therapy is not a silver bullet. While it can be helpful, I found it incredibly awful and frustrating when therapist tries to describe and justify things that are happening to you by trying to tie something from your past. You can always do that with any person and any circumstance. Client: „I am annoyed by the interuruptions“ Therapist: „Maybe you dont like loosing control because your mother havent given you a titty…

My experience with CBT was that it eschewed chasing down causal issues from your past, and rather worked more towards understanding how you’ve ended up, and to give you the tools to counteract your automatic thoughts and behaviours.

I found it incredibly helpful, what I thought were my issues turned out to be symptoms of a more foundational issue and understanding that gave great insight into why I do things the way I do.

Run a mile from anyone practicing Freudian nonsense.

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