Dealing with distractions
Most developers have trouble with distractions. The 5 minutes you take to check Twitter / Hacker News / Google Reader can quickly become 1 hour, and sometimes you need to force yourself to actually do something. This post lists some techniques I’ve been using to get more focused time.
Blocking websites
I’ve been using Alex Payne’s “Get-Back-To-Work Hack” with success for almost two weeks. It’s very simple and while I can easily edit /etc/hosts and un-block everything, I don’t do it. In fact, I’m spending much less time on twitter, email and feeds.
Don’t guess, measure
I use the Rescue Time daemon to track how I’m using my time. It have some pretty cool reports on the web interface and that is helping me a lot to see what distract me most.
Stop notifications
I’ve disabled Growl, changed the clock to analog and now I just keep Dropbox, wi-fi status, volume and the clock on the top bar. The digital clock distracts me more than the analog one (since I cannot see the exact time without clicking on it).
Automate what you can
I use Dropbox to automatically backup my dotfiles (/etc/apache2, .zsh*, .bash*, .ssh/config, etc), ebooks, pictures and other important files automatically - it’s really cool that you can use symlinks instead of copying / pasting.
I also schedule tasks using Things so I always remember to do repeating tasks and stuff in my calendar.
Don’t use IM
Most of the time I don’t use any IM software. I have google talk and skype accounts, but I only use it to talk to my co-workers (when I really need it). I think that a good (and short) meeting at the beginning or at the end of the day is way better then staying online all day on google talk, for example.
This “rule” have at least two good exceptions: Skype (for pair-programming) and IRC. IRC it’s nice because you don’t get windows jumping on your face and you can give attention to it when you want; also reading the logs is easier than on Skype.
I’m working on a project with a friend and usually we don’t work at the same time, so IM don’t work well. We’re using the Co-op app, a twitter-like application with cool additions like a solo / group agenda to communicate about the project.
Take breaks
When you simply can’t work on something, try taking a break away from keyboard. Sometimes I feel my concentration going away because I’m too tired, so I take a break, drink some water (or tea, caffeine FTW) and just rest for some minutes. Sometimes a “power nap” is a good idea too, if you don’t overdo it.