Hey, Brenda! I highly recommend the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport. It was first introduced to me by Rob Dodson and fundamentally changed the way I approach staying focused over the last few years.
The core idea is that if you want to produce work of high quality, you need to find a way to maintain focus on a single task for a long period of time without any distraction. It's a narrow focus that allows you to produce some of your best work.
When I want to work on a coding problem, most of my time is spent thinking rather than writing. To stay focused, I’ll usually do this away from my desk as it’s very easy to get distracted and involved when there are interesting conversations happening around you. I’ll try to find a quiet space or a whiteboard where I can try to look at the bigger picture and design the solution away from just the code itself. This isn't always possible, so putting on headphones also works :)
This has been a large change to my workflow. We often rush (out of passion) to solve problems in code, firing up our IDEs right away, but there are times when this can slow us down too. Working on a problem/doc/whatever you need to in a quiet space also helps a lot with staying focused and getting things done.
While I'm not at the office, my wife has otherwise been a big help keeping me focused when I really need to get things done :)
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Hey Addy! Can you tell me a book, podcast, blog or vlog that you use to get focused or the team google recommend? Thanks!
Hughs & Husky love 🐶
Hey, Brenda! I highly recommend the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport. It was first introduced to me by Rob Dodson and fundamentally changed the way I approach staying focused over the last few years.
The core idea is that if you want to produce work of high quality, you need to find a way to maintain focus on a single task for a long period of time without any distraction. It's a narrow focus that allows you to produce some of your best work.
When I want to work on a coding problem, most of my time is spent thinking rather than writing. To stay focused, I’ll usually do this away from my desk as it’s very easy to get distracted and involved when there are interesting conversations happening around you. I’ll try to find a quiet space or a whiteboard where I can try to look at the bigger picture and design the solution away from just the code itself. This isn't always possible, so putting on headphones also works :)
This has been a large change to my workflow. We often rush (out of passion) to solve problems in code, firing up our IDEs right away, but there are times when this can slow us down too. Working on a problem/doc/whatever you need to in a quiet space also helps a lot with staying focused and getting things done.
While I'm not at the office, my wife has otherwise been a big help keeping me focused when I really need to get things done :)