In an ideal world, web developers will be given the opportunity to work on a project from start to finish without interruption. It’s a kind of utopia we often dream about but seldom experience, but when we do it can help us do some amazing things.
Sadly the reality is that in the course of any given work day something will require attention that only you have the skill set to resolve. This is an ongoing problem in other creative industries as well, and some studies have shown that interrupting a developer, designer or other creative for a mere 1 minute can equate to 30 minutes of lost productivity.
To the person interrupting you, that one minute interruption only equates to one minute of down-time, and that’s a fair assumption for them to make. But the reason this isn’t true is because programming more often that not requires intense levels of concentration that can’t be achieved until the zone has been entered, and entering said zone is far from instantaneous. Once pulled from it, It can take 15 maybe even 30 minutes to get back into the zone where you are once again fully focused on the project or solution at hand.
This is no fault of the creative in question, and there’s even psychological studies to acknowledge it. We’re only humans after all, not robots.
Things you can do for quality zone time:
1. Close off all communications
Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instant Messaging, your mobile phone, anything that could potentially distract you with a notification – kill them all with a blunt heavy object.
2. Let your office colleagues know when you can be interrupted
It might sound strange, given they might not even know when they might need you. But the idea is to make them aware that you can entertain morning interruptions and perform menial tasks required up until a certain point – say 10am, and again after a certain time, say 4pm onwards. Anything in between and you’re off limits for anything other than mission critical tasks – or beer.
3. Get the menial tasks out of the way first
It’s an unfortunate reality that there are also non-project specific tasks we need to perform, like updating another web site, performing maintenance or addressing a support issue. Get this out of the way first thing in the morning so it’s not in the back of your mind while you’re doing real work. If you need to, get your supervisor/project manager to confirm you have completed these tasks so that he/she doesn’t need you to revisit any of them later.
4. Hide local physical distractions
Clear your workspace of clutter or anything else that could potentially shift your attention. Unless of course there’s something that puts you in the zone. I once worked with a guy who couldn’t get in the zone without a Lava Lamp bleeding wax next to him.
5. Music and headphones
Probably one of the most critical elements to achieving total zone zen, nothing beats blocking outside distractions more than some good headphones and appropriate music.
6. Have zone playlists ready to go
Music and headphones won’t be any help if you are constantly having to fiddle with the interface to skip tracks. Prepare suitable playlists composed of music you know you’re not likely to want to skip. That means you’ll have to leave out the Glee collection your ‘girlfriend must have put on there’.
7. Make an announcement
Whenever I know I’m at a point where I can’t afford interruptions, I announce to the office (who are all within knife throwing distance) that “I’m going into headphone land” which they know means I need to be left alone if they want me to finish the project this century. It’s a much nicer way of saying “disturb me and I’ll cut you“.
8. Put up a do not disturb sign
This can be a literal do not disturb sign, or something that you’ve made your colleagues aware of that when visible, you shouldn’t be disturbed unless it absolutely positively can’t wait until later. This could be wearing a hat for example, or if you have the luxury of your own office, a bouncer at the door.
9. Take lunch!
Though I can’t speak for every programmer, to me a stomach growling for pizza and coke is a big distraction. Get some food in you, preferably something that doesn’t have a laxative effect.
10. Hide
If you’re ever afforded the option to work from home, do it. Unless home is actually the local strip club. But if you’re out of sight you’re usually out of mind.
