How Software Engineers and Designers Can Increase Their Focus

http://howtogetfocused.com/chapters/how-software-engineers-and-designers-can-increase-their-focus/

by concretecode • 16 years ago

33 17 16 years ago

Tea! <3

I'm disheartened by the trend towards tea over the last few years. The solid kick in the pants that a cup of coffee brings is something I'm reluctant to live without.

carterschonwald2• 16 years ago

you clearly haven't spent time tuning your tea brewing! Its actually shockingly easy to brew amazing tasting black tea that is in the coffee- expresso strength in terms of caffeine.

First of all: Get loose leaf black tea, trying out several varieties to find a baseline one you like. Black tea is the simplest to brew of all the caffeinated tea variants. You'll also want to experiment with water temperature, steeping time (not that long, else you'll get the bitter flavor bits that no one like), and how you go about steeping (i 've found that disposable tea bags that I can fill with loose tea is best for me). I've fine tuned this process for myself to the point that I can make super strong tea that also naturally tastes sweet!

The mistake that many people make with tea vs coffee is that they equate the jitteriness with the caffeine working. In tea, there is also theanine, which moderates the jitters that occur due to caffeine via being a very mild muscle relaxant, and I am lead to believe that theanine has been found to have wholely positive cognitive effects generally.

That being said, coffee or tea are only helpful if you have a caffeine dependency, or you are amidst being tired/groggy to an extent that interferes with work. If your issues with doing work are not those, drink the tea anyways because its tasty, healthy and easier on the stomach/body than equivalent volumes of coffee (also tasty) or sugary(real or fake) energy drinks. and/or go talk with a doctor to figure out why you can't do work.

whimsy2• 16 years ago

tl;dr: Get rid of your TV, turn off your gadgets, and exercise.

I was hoping for something profound and specific for designers/software engineers.

kolosy• 16 years ago

it may not be profound, but it is quite refreshing. quite simple really - don't let people interrupt you, and do your f'ing work.

designers and developers are no different than anyone else in terms of focus.

tsally• 16 years ago

I was hoping for that as well. Here's one trick at least for programmers: if you unit test everything right away, getting your pass rate from 0/100 to 100/100 can be like scoring in a game. Personally I've found this strategy feeds into all the habits I developed when I used to play computer games. Gamers have incredible focus; sitting in your chair for 10 hours straight trying to beat a level sound familiar? If you can leverage even a piece of that mindset I'd say you're in good shape in terms of focus.

sscheper2• 16 years ago

Hey Whimsy -- It depends on how you define profound. I think simple, common sense practices can be profound without needing deep stories, data or figures backing it up.

Let me know what other types of focus activities have helped you out. I'll include a chapter or piece on it.

- Scott

P.S. I've been using RescueTime and it's also a good addition in using focus tools

whimsy2• 16 years ago

Yes, it definitely depends on how one defines profound.

For my own part, this is common sense rather than profundity. I don't have a smart phone, I don't use Twitter, I don't worry about getting my inbox to zero, and I disconnect from the internet when I'm trying to get something done that requires focus (writing, coding, projects, etc). The fewer distractions... the better.

Perhaps I'm just young and impudent, but it bothers me that this might surprise anyone, or that this might be unintuitive. It's the unintuitive stuff that I consider profound.

TheTarquin• 16 years ago

I'm not sure there's anything one could say about focus/productivity that's particular to software engineers. When it comes right down to it, the sort of work we do is susceptible to the same procrastination pitfalls as any other knowledge worker, and so it can be avoided in the same ways.

The most helpful advice I've gotten on productivity has come from Merlin Mann of 43Folders (and other projects), and he mostly writes about writing.

ivenkys• 16 years ago

Actually it is profound , the "profoundness" lies in the simplicity of the advice, why designers/software engineers require tonnes of apps "to get focussed" is beyond me.

Scientists,Mathematicians and artists don't use strategies to get focussed , they just get on with it.

jmtame• 16 years ago

adderall

python123• 16 years ago

The key takeaway is the bit about 'inspirational' books. It's very true that people use these types of 'resources' as another means to procrastinate. So many wantrepreneurs think if they just read a little more TechCrunch or Hacker News or watch another Mixergy video, they will have what they need. WRONG.

swah• 16 years ago

Books give him a temporal high? WTF?

Estragon• 16 years ago

He meant temporary.

How Software Engineers and Designers Can Increase Their Focus

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