I loved your post on how you get into your focused work—it really hit home. As someone who works on the software development side of the house from time to time, it’s so easy to get lost in the constant buzz of notifications and distractions, so your approach felt super refreshing.
I have to say, I chuckled when I got to the part about the vinyl record timer.
“Having to get up and flip or change a record every twenty minutes acts as a perfect Pomodoro timer”—that's such a cool, analog touch in an otherwise digital world. And hey, it's probably the only timer I wouldn't mind listening to over and over again!
Your insights about creating a distraction-free environment and managing your energy levels were spot on. It’s something that I think a lot of us in tech overlook, especially when we’re heads down in code. The bit about adjusting your workspace and flow to match the type of work you're doing? Pure gold. It’s easy to forget how much our surroundings impact productivity, and reading your take was a great reminder.
One thing I’m curious about: how do you manage those unexpected interruptions that pull you away from your focus bubble? You’ve clearly got a great system, but sometimes life throws in a curveball (or two). Any tips for snapping back into that flow after a disruption?
Thanks again for sharing your process—your thoughts really hit home, and I’m definitely taking notes!
Thanks Lonnie! You can't completely silence interruptions, an urgent family or work situation will always permeate the bubble (as they should). Anything important (rather than urgent) is acknowledged with a response that you will attend to it when you can and then ignored until later. For anything that requires an immediate response, I deal with it for however long it requires my attention and then I will take a bit of time to recenter before I jump back into my focused work. If there is a situation that will require an extended effort (or requires a lot of mini interruptions like answering questions that come every few minutes), I may switch into non-focused easily task-switched work like answering e-mails until the situation is resolved. If I've lost enough time to where I can't finish what I needed to do in that day, I will restructure the following days calendar to give me more focused time and go again.
If those interruptions continually make it impossible to get focused work done, that is a sign of a bigger issue where it may be necessary to work on empowering people that report to you to be able to make decisions without your immediate input or set up better delegation in your team. Without that, your focus time or any time away from the whirlwind (like a vacation) will be constantly interrupted.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and offer your advice! I completely agree, those urgent interruptions are inevitable, but how you handle them is key. Your point about empowering the team really hit home. We've had similar disruptions recently—our Head of AI had to step into doing software technical interviews, which was totally outside her usual role. Myself and the rest of the team had to break our focus cycles to help her find a flow that worked, but once we did, things started to click again. Thanks again for sharing your insights!
BTW - Vacations? Sometime I need a vacation from the vacation, LOL
Hey Kevin,
I loved your post on how you get into your focused work—it really hit home. As someone who works on the software development side of the house from time to time, it’s so easy to get lost in the constant buzz of notifications and distractions, so your approach felt super refreshing.
I have to say, I chuckled when I got to the part about the vinyl record timer.
“Having to get up and flip or change a record every twenty minutes acts as a perfect Pomodoro timer”—that's such a cool, analog touch in an otherwise digital world. And hey, it's probably the only timer I wouldn't mind listening to over and over again!
Your insights about creating a distraction-free environment and managing your energy levels were spot on. It’s something that I think a lot of us in tech overlook, especially when we’re heads down in code. The bit about adjusting your workspace and flow to match the type of work you're doing? Pure gold. It’s easy to forget how much our surroundings impact productivity, and reading your take was a great reminder.
One thing I’m curious about: how do you manage those unexpected interruptions that pull you away from your focus bubble? You’ve clearly got a great system, but sometimes life throws in a curveball (or two). Any tips for snapping back into that flow after a disruption?
Thanks again for sharing your process—your thoughts really hit home, and I’m definitely taking notes!
Best,
Lonnie
from: TeamStation
Thanks Lonnie! You can't completely silence interruptions, an urgent family or work situation will always permeate the bubble (as they should). Anything important (rather than urgent) is acknowledged with a response that you will attend to it when you can and then ignored until later. For anything that requires an immediate response, I deal with it for however long it requires my attention and then I will take a bit of time to recenter before I jump back into my focused work. If there is a situation that will require an extended effort (or requires a lot of mini interruptions like answering questions that come every few minutes), I may switch into non-focused easily task-switched work like answering e-mails until the situation is resolved. If I've lost enough time to where I can't finish what I needed to do in that day, I will restructure the following days calendar to give me more focused time and go again.
If those interruptions continually make it impossible to get focused work done, that is a sign of a bigger issue where it may be necessary to work on empowering people that report to you to be able to make decisions without your immediate input or set up better delegation in your team. Without that, your focus time or any time away from the whirlwind (like a vacation) will be constantly interrupted.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and offer your advice! I completely agree, those urgent interruptions are inevitable, but how you handle them is key. Your point about empowering the team really hit home. We've had similar disruptions recently—our Head of AI had to step into doing software technical interviews, which was totally outside her usual role. Myself and the rest of the team had to break our focus cycles to help her find a flow that worked, but once we did, things started to click again. Thanks again for sharing your insights!
BTW - Vacations? Sometime I need a vacation from the vacation, LOL
Best,
Lonnie