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Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

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171–180 of 271 posts

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#171

Post by negative_zero »

One of the most elegant ways I have heard "flow" explained was by an old colleague of mine. He called it "balancing the chandelier". Don't know if it's his thought originally or if he heard it some where but it always stuck with me.

But yeah, sometimes find it almost violating in a way, especially when its that typical PM line "hey did you read my email?" (that was literally sent 10 seconds ago).

It just feels like someone coming over to my desk and pushing, monitors, scopes, everything off and smashing it on the floor, then walking off.

Now I have both unrealistic deadline AND a mess to clean up.

I don't know where I'm going with this comment. Just venting I guess :)

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#172

Post by zikduruqe »

marcosdumay wrote: post #110
saghm wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the point they're making, but I'm not sure you understand mine though. If someone talking about weight loss suggested that people should just never eat breakfast to reduce the amount of eating they do in a given day, it would be relevant to offer a critique this may end up being counterproductive overall to the goal due to it just pushing the issue into another part of the day; this is basically the same…

Hum... Isn't that intermittent fasting?

The rest of the world calls this lack of readily access to food.

First world problems; there is so much food that we can make lifestyle choices around it. You can pretend to be a caveman and eat "paleo" since meat is neatly wrapped in plastic at the store and you didn't have to hunt it down. (And if you study the Hadza tribe who are one of the last paleo-bros on the planet you'll find that meat is a small part of their diet). You can forgo certain meats and call your self pescatarian since you can find fish in the middle of a city. And you can intermittently fast since you know that you can quit anytime and stuff yourself full of food.

We as a modern society have to be the most smug of all. Think about every predator in the world. We constantly pay to exercise, to burn off EXTRA calories, where as every other animal on the planet conserves them or expends a vast amount to obtain more.

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#175

Post by lr1970 »

fryry wrote: post #153
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I pretty much write off the day entirely. I think this is the mindset that a lot of people have, but always keep in mind, the meetings is part of your job, and writing code is also only one aspect of your job. What I'm trying to say is that don't let the meetings frustrate you, instead just accept them and the distractions. Few people get to do what they really want to do all the time, and it does often seem that s…

This would be a valid way of thinking about it, but programmers aren't generally judged on their meeting attendance but rather their code output. More meetings == less code == worse perceived performance == fewer opportunities for pay increases and promotions

> This would be a valid way of thinking about it, but programmers aren't generally judged on their meeting attendance but rather their code output.

Not universally. Programmers are judged by overall success or failure of the project they are working on. And those ones who can take credit for a success or who can effectively deflect blame for failure are the ones who got promoted. Being in the meetings with the decision makers provides the forum for self-promotion and controlling the message. This does not always mean that they did most of the work. More code or less code is unfortunately secondary.

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#176

Post by theery »

I don't doubt the cost of context switching. However I also think there's noticeable value in time-boxing. If I split my day into 3 chunks of two hours, with each block allotted to one task/project, I end the day with a feeling of having made more progress, and I do, because I sense the limited time, and therefore execute more efficiently.

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#177

Post by Torkel »

Reading through the comments here, and in the ton of similar threads on this subject, I feel I must be such an outlier...

For me there are different tasks and different days. Some days I want uninterrupted flow. But some days I feel more productive by chopping it up with a few meetings and some office trash talk. A laugh every now and then, teasing a co-worker for screaming at his code - it gives energy to me. Talking through a problem or pausing for a while in a meeting and then returning to it - that can be a great way to see new things.

Now don't get me wrong here, I am not saying meetings and distractions are good for everybody. But it's just that for me at least the picture is not as clear. Some days I feel I would have been more productive if I had had some meetings to distract me.

Am I really the only one to feel this way?

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#178

Post by [deleted] »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #140
RonnieOwnsLexus wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a design decision would come from collaboration, sure you can get 1st draft ready in 10-15 mins then re iterate it 1 or 2 times to see all of its pro's and cons are visible to you but then you would need all stakeholder's time to get it through

what about the bit where someone thinks?

[deleted]

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#179

Post by kjuulh »

Torkel wrote: post #177

Reading through the comments here, and in the ton of similar threads on this subject, I feel I must be such an outlier... For me there are different tasks and different days. Some days I want uninterrupted flow. But some days I feel more productive by chopping it up with a few meetings and some office trash talk. A laugh every now and then, teasing a co-worker for screaming at his code - it gives energy to me. Talkin…

Not at all. I have exactly the same sentiment.

I usually split my work-week in office and remote work. When I am in office I plan for having meetings with stakeholders, architecture/mob coding with my coworkers, etc.

But when I am at home I can focus on the projects I need to execute on, fairly uninterrupted.

It is not perfect and isn't quite as black and white as it may seem, and it is difficult to communicate that this is how you're working, but just doing it in my org has been pretty good.

I probably have one of the more outreaching roles, some mix between an architect and devrel with a sprinkle of actual execution, so even if it is an outreach kind of role it actually works pretty well.

Re: Programmer interrupted: The cost of interruption and context switching (2022)

#180

Post by kjuulh »

My most imporant learning for my self is simply to not book meetings in the beginning of the day. It sets the tone for how I am working, and I have difficulties focus if I am in "meeting" mode.

I have solved this in multiple ways, getting into work before others (not that early but just a few hours before our first planned meetings). Second, reaching an agreement with the team to push standup and such to after lunch. This basically gives me the entire morning free to focus and sets me off to a great start.

That is for the days I am actually in office =D

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