11–20 of 30 posts
This line got me thinking it would be cool with an app where you can ask this kind of things, and the message will only be announced when the user is unlikely to be busy. (Triggered by events such as the phone going from stationary to being moved.) Anybody knows if such an app exists?
I have been a developer for a little more than a month now and what I have discovered is that although the office is open, whenever someone passes you, they treat you like you are in some kind of a no-distraction bubble, even if you get along really well. I have become to respect that culture.
I've seen suggestions for good noise cancelling headphones but I don't feel very comfortable wearing headphones for long periods of time.
The "red dots" are fantastic. One of the reasons I've always preferred to work at night is that my achievements for a given work period are judged all at once as a lump sum the next morning vs how hard I "appear to be working" when observed at random intervals during a day shift.
Programmer productivity is also very hard to measure. Just this afternoon I finally nailed a tough problem that I 'd banged my head against for weeks and then set aside while I was watching an episode of The Glades, when I should have been "working". Goofing off can be highly productive.
sure it is hard to measure objectively, but I can tell I am significantly less productive than 3 years ago when I started my job. There were just two of us in the office, so either we were talking with each other or concentrating. Now there are 4 and constant interruptions. I suppose it is because the in house database I have been building and maintaining is used more heavily and as such I am a source of knowledge fo…
>My wife asking, “Hey, when you have a minute could you do X?” This line got me thinking it would be cool with an app where you can ask this kind of things, and the message will only be announced when the user is unlikely to be busy. (Triggered by events such as the phone going from stationary to being moved.) Anybody knows if such an app exists?
The noise and the visual distractions are too much for me.
>My wife asking, “Hey, when you have a minute could you do X?” This line got me thinking it would be cool with an app where you can ask this kind of things, and the message will only be announced when the user is unlikely to be busy. (Triggered by events such as the phone going from stationary to being moved.) Anybody knows if such an app exists?
Check the phone when you take a break, like getting a coffe, a glass of water or going to the bathroom.
* Not being hydrated enough. Seriously, its a big problem - I don't pay enough attention to how much I'm drinking every day. A single cup of coffee in the morning, and maybe one after lunch does not a properly hydrated body make.
* Drinking too much coffee. Its cool to have an Italian espresso machine in the office and everything, but man does that stuff wire me up. I've had days where I'm getting a refresher every hour - those bumps are not productive. Goodbye next-2-days productivity, after a day like that... I've learned to treat coffee as a recreational drug, and only do it when I'm not at work. Helps immensely.
* Fights/arguments/stress: from anyone. Sure, its important to have 'normal' human interaction, but rude people suck. Discourteous people suck. They suck all motivation to be productive - even worse when they're a cubicle neighbor or other work associate. Manners in the workplace are important: they simply make you more productive. I wish more people minded their manners.
* Unexplainable terminology. Look, if I have to wade through hours of documentation-reading or grep'ing or what have you, just to discover your newly invented acronym actually means what last years fad was, then its a waste of time. I'm looking at you, new-language-fad guys. Reinventing technology is one thing. Reinventing terminology is another thing entirely, and frankly I'm sick of all the kids (GOML!) coming up with new-fangled sparkly words just because they didn't take the time to learn the old-fangled, perfectly workable, phrases for the same darn thing.
.. just to add my 2c to the flow ..
I really am unproductive in an open-floor office. The noise and the visual distractions are too much for me.
Noise cancelling headphones are a must for me at this point. I was a bit more productive even without them on the other side. Extrapolating, I wager I'd be even more productive in a proper office.