This document discusses how to deal with distractions as a developer. It identifies common distractions like meetings, emails, phone calls, coworkers, and social media. It recommends finding a dedicated work zone, setting boundaries like putting your phone on do not disturb, scheduling meetings at specific times, taking breaks when stuck, and devoting large chunks of time to each project to avoid constantly switching tasks. Extra resources on reducing interruptions and increasing focus are also provided.

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How to deal with distractions
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Who am I?

Sean Prunka

PHP Developer for Battelle Memorial Institute

15 yrs of PHP/MySQL experience

Twitter: @sprunka

Email:
●
sprunka@gmail.com
●
prunkas@battelle.org

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024681012
Late Interruption
Early Interruption
Small Interruption
Big Interruption
Uninterrupted
Why are distractions such a bad thing?
EfficiencyMetric*
Time on Task
*NB:
Efficiency Metric
uses imaginary
data points

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What distractions do we face?
● Unavoidable
– Meetings
– Email
– Phone
– Coworkers
– Bosses
– Mental Blocks
– Task Switching
● Avoidable
– FOMO!
● Twitter
● FaceBook
● IRC
● G+
● Etc.
– Self Inflicted
● Smoke breaks
● Playing Games
● Videos (YouTube!)

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So, how do we combat them?
● Internal
– Imposter Syndrome
● Pep Talks
● Mentors
● Community
– FOMO
● Block site
● Close browser tabs
● External
– Put the phone on DND
– Set aside a block of
time specifically for
follow-ups via phone,
email, text, etc.
– Schedule meetings
early or late.
– Adjust your own
schedule to overlap
with “business hours”

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Tips to combat downtime (2)
● Internal
– Mental Blocks
● Improvise
● Take a break/walk
● Catch up on FOMO
● Reach out to the
community for help.
● External
– Project Switching
● Manage your time by
devoting larger chunks
of time to each project.
– 2 Projects? ½ day each
or every other day.
– 3 or more? Split days in
half and swap days.

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FIND A “SECRET”
WORK ZONE!

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Extra Links and References
● Jason Fried's TED talk “Why Work Doesn't
happen At Work”: http://j.mp/12ED7C1
● Codecraft post about Interruptions:
http://j.mp/13zIuop
● Coding Horror post on Multi-Tasking:
http://j.mp/10IG8za

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Who am I?

Sean Prunka

Joind.in: https://joind.in/8152

Twitter: @sprunka

10. BUSINESS SENSITIVE
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Who am I?

Sean Prunka

Joind.in: https://joind.in/8152

Twitter: @sprunka