Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#1

Post by cryptoSympozium » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:37 AM UTC

I've been a software engineer for 9 years now, and I noticed a very new weirdness in my workflows. Once I finish the architecture of a project and i have my context engineering prompt ready, I hit SEND, and then is just void lol. I have realized that between that time of waiting till AI is done, my mind drifts, I go use other apps, search random stuff and if AI fucks things up I go back and forth supervising it. I feel like this whole experience has generated some kind of fatigue and comes with a lot of cognitive overload. Do you folks face that too? How is it affecting you ?

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#2

Post by physicsguy » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:37 AM UTC

I come to HN...

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#3

Post by shaunpud » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:42 AM UTC

This is how people work now?

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#4

Post by cryptoSympozium » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:45 AM UTC

shaunpud wrote: post #3

This is how people work now?

Well I guess so. AI is not really an option anymore. it is pushed inside most of the companies. Im currently in a big blockchain company leading an engineering team.

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#5

Post by cryptoSympozium » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:45 AM UTC

physicsguy wrote: post #2

I come to HN...

haha fair. HN takes the pain away i guess

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#6

Post by farrukh23buttt » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:47 AM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#7

Post by lebronocta » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:50 AM UTC

> time of waiting till AI is done So you are saying that you are not running multiple shit in parallel?

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#8

Post by lionelgarnier » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:54 AM UTC

Yes, often working on several topics in parallel (usualy 3 to 4) and that's a big mental effort to switch from one to the other, also drifting from some priority topics to useless stuff... I never really step back on that but I agree that this is a real problem that can lead to inefficiency

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#9

Post by bell-cot » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:55 AM UTC

Sounds just like https://xkcd.com/303/

Re: Ask HN: Does your mind drift while waiting for AI prompts to finish?

#10

Post by jr_isidore » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:58 AM UTC

"Flibbertigibbeting" and "Beboppin" are the new i'm waiting for it to compile, but while the binary outcome of compilation (either it compiles or it doesn't) keeps your head in the game, the open-endedness of a Claude response can be disorienting after you've come back from the YouTube/Reddit wormhole -- like how on Monday you ask yourself wtf you were doing on Friday. But it's just a matter of time before prompting is as fast as Googling... and then it's off to collecting UBI!