Ask HN: How do you stay focused at work?

Ask HN: How do you set a goal and stay focused? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23282855

Ask HN: How to Stay Focused at Work? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31221475

Ask HN: How do you stay focused and get s*t done? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22436856

It required some discipline, but now it is easy.

The harder is with context switches, calls, meetings, whether planned or not, colleagues asking for something, boss asking for something. Context switching kind of lowers my ability to be focused.

Have water and a drink of choice (coffee, diet cola, tea) prepared for your journey.

Don't.

Workspaces - I use Ubuntu with Gnome, and I set up three workspaces: one for personal stuff like Hacker News, a middle one for work communications (email, Slack), and a third with the tools I actually use for my job. This way at least I don't have distractions staring me in the face all the time when I'm trying to work. A step better would be to use a separate computer for personal stuff and to keep it suspended or even powered off.

Social media - I removed all social media apps on my phone so now it only bothers me for texts and those annoying ubiquitous spam phone calls which I can easily ignore. I deleted Facebook ages ago and I hardly ever look at Tweeter.

Segmented browsing - I use Firefox for personal stuff and Chromium for work (I'm not a front-end web dev). When I need to concentrate I can run `pkill -f firefox` and get rid of that distraction while knowing that I can get my tabs back later.

Structuring tasks - Break tasks up into chunks that you can finish in an hour or two. Make lists and check boxes. It's important to feel like you're making some kind of progress. A big amorphous blob of project is a barrier to getting started again.

Accountability - I've been working remotely for 11 years now. I had a real crisis of focus and ennui early on, but then I went to my boss and asked for twice-weekly meetings. It really helps me to know that somebody is going to ask about my tasks, plus it's a nice social time.

Exercise - Nobody would mistake me for a fitness enthusiast but I concentrate much better if I do at least basic exercise every day. A walk around the block is great for clearing my head, and I sometimes get ideas while outside.

Housekeeping - Tidy up your workspace. Run apt-get updates. Keep some simple tasks around for when you have low mental energy. The equivalent of dusting or sweeping the floor.

Acceptance - I'm reading HN right now. It's okay, I can't sustain focus forever. Skimming the tech trades can give you a sense of what kinds of things other people are doing and what new tools might be out there. Keep track of interesting things using Pinboard or django-linkpile or something. Over my career I've had lots of times where the solution to a work problem came from something I read in a Slashdot or HN post or comment.

I read something by mid-1600s monk Brother Lawrence a long time ago. A novice monk was having trouble focusing during his prayer times and was told to go seek his advice. Brother Lawrence basically said don't beat yourself up over it (certain monastic orders would self-flagellate to try to purify themselves), but just acknowledge that you've lost focus, ask the Lord for forgiveness and strength, and get back to it. You will lose focus. It happens. Don't beat yourself up, take a short break, and get back to it. Speaking of which...

Putting the earphones in and listening to music gets me in flow.

I don’t tend to listen to music at other times.

Completely contrary to Peopleware, but I find that too much silence is just as distracting as too little. I get disturbed by my own thoughts and the music trims them down enough to get the work done.

Also, do whatever you can to be healthy. That's quite a broad topic.

If you're multi-tasking then you're doing a lot of crap work that should be automated, or at least processed sequentially. One at a time. Use a list, don't go to the next one until the task is done. If it can't be completed put it on a new list with reasons why. Follow-up. Prioritize.

If you keep getting work you don't want to do, change that. Distraction gets the best of me when I have no interest in what I'm assigned. (edit: clarity)

If you don't like what you're doing, change your relationship with it. Don't go through life just coping with your responsibilities, try to shape them to be responsibilities you enjoy doing. That might be at a new employer, new city, new significant other, etc.

Use tools (medication, timers, etc) to help build the path, but they shouldn't be the wheels you depend on to move through life. Use your head and your own two feet.

Another thing I've learned from work somewhat, but primarily from exercise-- habits build amazingly quickly. It's easy to feel like "there's no point" in not following a distraction, because you'll never be able to fully break that habit anyway. But seriously, a very small amount of repetition makes a new "normal" way quicker than you'd ever expect. Thinking of giving in to a distraction? Just don't. Just this time, don't. Do that enough times, and you have a new normal. And even if you only do it the one time, it was a success.

- There are a lot of different systems, you need to find one that works for you.

- Nearly everyone struggles with trying to focus when there are so many things demanding our attention, prioritizing is what helps you focus on what's most important.

- You're human and there will always the temptation to switch to the new "app" because somehow a new company has figured out how to get things done. In reality, it's always a struggle.

- Reading a new article about how to focus is like reading a book of how to run a 4 minute mile. You need to get out there and struggle and find what works for you.

- AVOID the online BS that people tell you about how their day is so planned out. 4am wake up, 4:30am workout, 5am get ready, 6am study (it's mostly nonsense). Life is too unpredictable to be able to follow that 100% and if you plan your life like that you'll be let down when reality strikes and you miss something on your scheduled because a friend/family/coworker needed help with x.

How do I manage my life? One word, Todoist.

- Make projects, add things to those projects with a date that you'd like each done and give it a priority. - Look at the Today screen and do the highest priority things first.

What benefit does this system add?

- You'll always know what's most important and where to spend your attention.

Or, if that's not an option, I throw in a playlist and try to complete that task as fast as possible. And if that keeps happening I talk to my boss to work on something else instead.