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Productivity Is About Attention Management

nytimes.com

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Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#31

Post by pm90 »

ohaideredevs wrote: post #9

I have never been able to force true concentration. I arrogantly proclaim that I have strong willpower* - I have very little trouble forcing myself to do something I entirely don't want to do, whether it be study, workout, code, whatever. However, forced concentration completely blocks off my ability to think fluidly, and I memorize very little from reading topics that aren't of interest to me (I am looking at you GC…

Haha GCP docs do seem to be well written though, aren’t they?

It seems like folks have their own way of learning how to concentrate effectively on things that may not immediately catch their attention. For me personally, it has been note-taking. Note taking seems to trigger a part of my brain that makes it think that the subject matter is worth paying attention too. Often my notes won’t be points but some doodles/diagrams to visualize what things look like.

Others have pointed out that certain kinds of prescription drugs are useful too, which... tbh I’m a little wary of trying. If they turn out to be too effective my internal logic system might have me using them all the time.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#32

Post by munchbunny »

revskill wrote: post #14

For most of technical works i do, concentration only happens AFTER i figure out what i need to do to solve the problem. Else most of the time, the "researching phase" is the most daunting task.

I found a tactic that tends to work for me for the researching phase. I just use OneNote, but there are some tools under the label "mind mapping" that try to explicitly cater to this approach.

Since research for me usually works like traversing a tree or directed graph, I take notes in that style. Usually one concept depends on another, or one problem must be solved before another problem becomes relevant.

At any point, when I'm wondering where I need to look next, I look at the leaf nodes in my graph, rank them by how important or promising they are, and then I have a TODO list with plenty of notes for context to jog my memory.

I've found that by leaving myself those breadcrumbs, I am much more organized and fluid about "executing" on my research, and when anyone asks, I have a good idea of what I know and don't know.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#34

Post by ehead »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #26
cven714 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the exact same problem. When I know what needs to get done, even if it's tedious, it's not so bad to put my nose to the grindstone and work through it. But when I'm not sure how to approach a task, suddenly every distraction in the world is more appealing. You often see the suggestion to break up big tasks into smaller, baby step chunks to avoid this analysis paralysis. Doesn't help when I'm not even sure what…

From my experience, try having enough projects in your belt that at least one of them has something actionable to do, and work on that while you ruminate on the other problem for a few days/weeks/months. Don't worry about getting anything done soon, prefer getting them done correctly and pick something else up when you get stuck. Also, don't forget that "staring into space for an hour while you think about a problem"…

This is my solution, but it feels like there should be a better way.

I have replaced 'staring into space thinking' with taking a walk outside my office.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#35

Post by ohaideredevs »

pm90 wrote: post #31
ohaideredevs wrote: post #9

I have never been able to force true concentration. I arrogantly proclaim that I have strong willpower* - I have very little trouble forcing myself to do something I entirely don't want to do, whether it be study, workout, code, whatever. However, forced concentration completely blocks off my ability to think fluidly, and I memorize very little from reading topics that aren't of interest to me (I am looking at you GC…

Haha GCP docs do seem to be well written though, aren’t they? It seems like folks have their own way of learning how to concentrate effectively on things that may not immediately catch their attention. For me personally, it has been note-taking. Note taking seems to trigger a part of my brain that makes it think that the subject matter is worth paying attention too. Often my notes won’t be points but some doodles/dia…

The docs are very well written. I just know I won't use 95% of what I learn before I have forgotten it. I guess it's good to know what is and isn't available though.

I am way of trying Adderall and such as well, for exactly the same reason as you.

Things like trying to paraphrase in my own words help me way more than standard notes, but doing this is also very time consuming, and it's not necessary when I am into the subject.

I think your strat of "doodles/diagrams to visualize what things look like" likely works on the exact same principle which forces the brain to pay attention since it now has to work with the information.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#36

Post by tigerlily »

revskill wrote: post #14

For most of technical works i do, concentration only happens AFTER i figure out what i need to do to solve the problem. Else most of the time, the "researching phase" is the most daunting task.

This absolutely. Right now I'm reflecting on a couple of my own projects that would have been completed much sooner if I had planned things out more effectively.

Don't let your boss jump out from behind a bush and hand you a task and run. Corner them and determine together exactly what the deliverable is. Define terms of reference, get specific details and get them to name the standards, otherwise you'll be stuck trying to guess.

If you are stuck at a critical juncture, list all the options and get your boss to choose the best one (let it be the course of action you recommend).

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#37

Post by [deleted] »

pm90 wrote: post #27
alexanderdmitri wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did it teach you? I'm having trouble seeing the relevance.

People have their competencies which may not often be evident. I do still think that, in the hyper competitive corporate world today, such kinds of people will get shafted regularly until they realize themselves what their great skills are and build on them.

[deleted]

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#38

Post by tylerhou »

netwanderer3 wrote: post #28

There's a general misconception between being productive and being effective. One can fill their days by completing many mindless tasks and consider themselves as productive, but in the end hardly any of those tasks really matters. On the other hand, another person may only complete one or two tasks in a very short time during their day but these were critical tasks that could generate much higher values. This subseq…

> This is quite similar to the cognitive and decision fatigue principle which indicates that each of us only has a limited pool of cognitive resources and so we must be very selective in choosing what activities we engage in.

Watch out — many of the studies which displayed “cognitive fatigue” (I assume you actually mean ego depletion) have not been replicated successfully.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story...

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#39

Post by mark_l_watson »

I liked his book “Power Moves: Lessons from Davis”. After listening to this book I followed Adam Grant for a couple weeks on Twitter. He does have interesting advice on deciding what to focus on.

I am going to add a calendar reminder for a year from now to follow him again on Twitter for a while.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#40

Post by Bekwnn »

kumarvvr wrote: post #3

What the author means by "attention management" is, perhaps, the ability to concentrate for a long period of time. Personally, for work that i love to do, concentration is rewarding. For mundane, routine work, I usually go on auto pilot, getting work done, but, doing it while my attention is somewhere else. For mundane work that requires concentration, my output falls off the cliff. Its here that many tips and tricks…

The term "attention management" might not apply to everyone, too. I'm most effective when I'm in the zone, which usually comes easiest when I'm listening to music and rapidly flicking between things. My thought process works best when there's a fraction of distraction and when I'm in a playful mood, not when there are no distractions and not when the only thing in front of me is the task at hand.

My thoughts slow down without something there to keep them moving.

No known conditions or attention disorders and doubtful of having one. I just work best in a creative or playful mood, not a concentrated one.

I'm surprised it's so alien and uncommon for programmers, it's not uncommon in other more traditionally creative fields.

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