I need to focus.
I've been brainstorming ideas for a recent project I've undertaken with the rest of my team (you'll find nothing on that site mind you, it's just a quick way to inform you which team I'm referring to), all of them are on board and are eager and willing to participate. But I'm suffering a lack of focus.
My problem this time isn't creativity but focus. I have the necessary materials to make my project, the knowledge to polish it, the support to get it done promptly and the team help to fill it with interesting content, but I can't seem to sit here and work on it, no matter how much I want to.
I opened up a code file, and just stared at it for ten minutes. I know I can optimise and improve the already existing code in that file, but I can't bring myself to make the changes. My mind keeps wandering.
The really annoying thing is, I have nothing distracting me. MSN is quiet, I'm not logged into Chatters or IU and my pager hasn't gone off in hours. But I still can't focus on the task at hand. And I'm curious to know why my mind is refusing to allow me to do something it knows I want to do.
I'm not fatigued, I'm well fed, the only thing remotely atmospheric thing that bothers me is that it's a little warm in here, but it's always warm in this room and I'm used to it now.
I also can't find a song I feel like listening to. I get the feeling this is contributing to my lack of focus. When I find the song that catches me in the moment, I tend to work for hours (without changing the song), but without the song, there seems to be no moving forward. I didn't think I'd associated my hobby with music this much, but it apparently appears to be the case. I've been through nearly my entire MP3 collection, but I just can't find one that captures me.
Have you, my precious reader, ever had a time when you've really wanted to work on something, and no matter how much you try, can't seem to focus on the task at hand regardless of the absolute zero distractions? And if that be the case, did you manage to overcome it? If so, how?
My problem this time isn't creativity but focus. I have the necessary materials to make my project, the knowledge to polish it, the support to get it done promptly and the team help to fill it with interesting content, but I can't seem to sit here and work on it, no matter how much I want to.
I opened up a code file, and just stared at it for ten minutes. I know I can optimise and improve the already existing code in that file, but I can't bring myself to make the changes. My mind keeps wandering.
The really annoying thing is, I have nothing distracting me. MSN is quiet, I'm not logged into Chatters or IU and my pager hasn't gone off in hours. But I still can't focus on the task at hand. And I'm curious to know why my mind is refusing to allow me to do something it knows I want to do.
I'm not fatigued, I'm well fed, the only thing remotely atmospheric thing that bothers me is that it's a little warm in here, but it's always warm in this room and I'm used to it now.
I also can't find a song I feel like listening to. I get the feeling this is contributing to my lack of focus. When I find the song that catches me in the moment, I tend to work for hours (without changing the song), but without the song, there seems to be no moving forward. I didn't think I'd associated my hobby with music this much, but it apparently appears to be the case. I've been through nearly my entire MP3 collection, but I just can't find one that captures me.
Have you, my precious reader, ever had a time when you've really wanted to work on something, and no matter how much you try, can't seem to focus on the task at hand regardless of the absolute zero distractions? And if that be the case, did you manage to overcome it? If so, how?
Posted by Tiberath on Saturday, October 10, 2009 06:36AM
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#17 Tiberath:
Geldonyetich wrote:
> "Exhausting! Put off indefinitely."
That is the best thing I've read today. It's stored away in my quotes database for the day a woman hints at having kids. =)
> Write 1 line of code, then take a break if you feel like it? Mental verdict: "Easy enough. Lets do that right now."
My method of breaking into steps was to do one thing at a time. User Account Control, site administration, templating etc. When that became tediously annoying, I broke it down further. User logging in and out (logging out is 4 lines of code, I couldn't bring myself to section that off as it's own achievement), registration, verification. Even that gets tediously annoying at times. But I'm not a guy who can write half a script once, and write the other half later. If I get a train of thought going, I'm on it. I'm not stopping for hours. And I love those hours, but trains come few and far between now (just like Connex! (personal joke for anyone who's lived in Melbourne)).
I'm tempted now to sponge off the parts I find tediously repetitive and annoying onto Mobius. Although there's nothing inherently difficult about the stuff I find boring, it's simply: I find it boring. And a bored programmer is an unproductive programmer. Unfortunately, he'd probably find it just as boring, but I'm fairly sure he manages it far better than I ever could (jealousy much), after all, he's been working on the same BYOND game for the last six years.
Ultimately though, be it issues of focus or creativity, you always know that somewhere inside there is the burning passion to get the damn thing finished, and I shall!
Monday, October 12, 2009 12:01AM
#16 Geldonyetich:
I mentioned my difficulty getting started on a task to a shrink I was seeing for stress issues awhile back. His recommendation was to break whatever it is I wanted to do down into small, inconsequential steps.
Big website to make? Mental verdict: "Exhausting! Put off indefinitely."
Write 1 line of code, then take a break if you feel like it? Mental verdict: "Easy enough. Lets do that right now."
The thing is, after you write one line of code, it doesn't seem so bad - you may not actually feel like you need that break quite yet... So you write two lines. Then four lines. Then eight lines. Then sixteen lines. Before you know it, you remember you actually like to code, and viola: block broken.
Unfortunately, I've found knowing the technique nonetheless is not the same as actually bringing myself about to use it. It seems there's a certain matter of mental priorities where the logical mind isn't the one really calling the shots.
Later, I read a book that seemed to suggest that there's a lot of habit going on, that procrastination is a result of self-talk that makes anything too momentous to do, and a complete adjustment of mental attitude is really what's called for to lick it for good.
I do plan to finish that book, one of these days...
Sunday, October 11, 2009 09:58PM
#15 Tiberath:
Kuraudo wrote:
> There's only one true way to get rid of programmer's block.
>
> Make donations to me!
I find that to be false. In fact, I always find it really easy to focus on a project when I in fact, receive donations. *points to the left*
Sunday, October 11, 2009 09:43PM
#14 Kuraudo:
There's only one true way to get rid of programmer's block.
Make donations to me!
Sunday, October 11, 2009 09:25PM
#13 Scotty-V:
Whenever I get a "programmer's block", I can sleep it off, or just grab something to eat and spend some time on a game or something.
And I totally agree with Zaole. I tend to accomplish the most right after I get home from school.
Sunday, October 11, 2009 09:24PM
#12 Tiberath:
If I wanted heavy, I could easily go with like, Static X. King Diamond, although not as heavy, is always a nice choice. That was the what I eventually settled with when I wrote this post.
Sunday, October 11, 2009 06:18AM
#11 Ease:
Sick Puppies - All the Same.
That song writes code for itself =P Or, if you want something heavier, InMe - Faster the Chase.
Good luck with the focus Tibs!
Sunday, October 11, 2009 04:16AM
#10 Audeuro:
The answer is fairly obvious to me. Jonathon Coulton - "Code Monkey". It's a great song referred to me by a wise old guy to help break my times of unrest. Ok, it was just referred to me by Scoobert, I think it was, because he thought it was awesome, but still.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 07:26PM
#9 Kuraudo:
Happens to me all the time. I usually give in and sign into KGS to play a game or two of Go while listening to music. After, I'm less bored.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 09:41AM
#8 Tiberath:
I'm using PHP at the moment actually. And I have done this, my breaks consist of going from DM to PHP and back again. Giving me sufficient time to rest each individual language.
If I find myself in a situation where I don't want to use either. I look into learning other languages. I briefly touched on wxWidgets for both Python and C++. I've also touched on C# and the XNA framework.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 09:03AM
#7 DivineTraveller:
Calus CoRPS wrote:
> I was fairly similar to your circumstance. I would have Dream Maker open the entire day, yet nothing will change from the existing code. I soon realized that I could possibly be worn-out; I have been using BYOND consistently since 2004 and had not taken a break.
>
> So I decided to take a temporary leave from BYOND and programming all together. Although, this only lasted around 4 to 6 months, I literally feel re-energized. Now when I open Dream Maker, I find myself mesmerized and continue to keep programming until something important grabs my attention.
I'll have to say I strongly agree with this as well, I went through this too. Now, since I've been back, I've released two demos <_<
Saturday, October 10, 2009 09:00AM
#6 Calus CoRPS:
I was fairly similar to your circumstance. I would have Dream Maker open the entire day, yet nothing will change from the existing code. I soon realized that I could possibly be worn-out; I have been using BYOND consistently since 2004 and had not taken a break.
So I decided to take a temporary leave from BYOND and programming all together. Although, this only lasted around 4 to 6 months, I literally feel re-energized. Now when I open Dream Maker, I find myself mesmerized and continue to keep programming until something important grabs my attention.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 08:58AM
#5 DivineTraveller:
I know what you mean, tib. That's pretty much how I am day in and day out, except at school. When I get home, focus=0. Easy way to solve it: multitasking, imo.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 08:09AM
#4 Tiberath:
I put in for a nightfil job at Safeway after talking to the nightfil manager, with any luck something will come of it. But that will still be a little while. =(
Saturday, October 10, 2009 07:28AM
#3 Zaole:
you've made yourself too comfortable. if you really want to get some progress done programming, it should be immediately after getting home from a busy day at work and the place is a mess and people on the pager keep bothering you and there's a bunch of people on IU whining that they need an admin, but you rush to get on DM to get in as much programming as you can while you still have the time
Saturday, October 10, 2009 07:26AM
#2 Tiberath:
Not much has changed since 2007, it seems.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 06:45AM
#1 Metamorphman:
It's happened to me many times. What I usually do is take a shower, read a book, go outside and shoot the ball around a few times or just take a walk and look around. Things to refresh my brain and get some fresh air. I find that this, as well as increasing my creativity and physical readiness, also increases my focus.
[EDIT] Also, I like to do some drawing or sketch some random stuff too. I find it always rejuvenates my mentality.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 06:43AM