Best solution I have for you that work both as an "immediate fix" and a long term re-training is work in duo.
I hated the very idea of someone sitting with me at the computer and coding together, I mean that's stupid right ? And I'm going to be super slow compared to usual, and will have to explain stuff, ...
But even if you're only going at 80% of your usual speed, you're going. 100% speed is useless if you stop after 5 minutes. Consider telling the other person about your focus issue, so they don't let you play around too much.
With time, I've seen plenty of other great sides and bonuses in pair programming, but that one alone has been a god send. And after a while you get used to the rythm and get better at coding alone without stopping too.
I’d prefer not having to depend on someone because my schedule eventually becomes intertwined with theirs and it leads to all kinds of conflicts and complications. It sucks for me that you found it so effective, because I’m missing out on a potential solution[1].
[1] What has been a temporary solution is vasodilation through garlic-driven TRPA1 activation. Sometimes I get so down I wonder what is the point of life when I’m going to die in about 1600 weeks and me and all of my work is going to be forgotten; I pop in 70 to 120 garlic cloves (very hard to chew, they sting) but it does seem to work (could be placebo although the vasodilation does actually work as I get incredibly horny after). Since garlic is hard to chew I have my eyes on chocolate flavonols (chocamine) that does the same vasodilation effect. Still looking for better alternatives, if I can find them.
> Sometimes I get so down I wonder what is the point of life when I’m going to die in about 1600 weeks and me and all of my work is going to be forgotten; I pop in 70 to 120 garlic cloves (very hard to chew, they sting) but it does seem to work (could be placebo although the vasodilation does actually work as I get incredibly horny after).
That might be the greatest single sentence I have ever read on HN.
You may or may not have one near you, but "open coworking spaces" is how I did it in Paris. It's those big workspaces open to anyone where you rent a place by the day or week, you come in sit at one of the open spot and go at it.
Tons of people looking for the same thing, or open to it for the experience, and after a while it just gets second nature.
I don’t have one nearby (Coimbatore, South India) but I will try working at the mall here, see if the background noise and activity of people milling about can have a similar effect. Bret Victor mentioned working while travelling on trains for a year as a “wandering hobo”, perhaps he has the same trouble as we do and the presence of people helped him focus.
Judging from your experience as well as Bret’s, not working alone seems to be the key factor. I wonder why that is the case, but the mall idea is worth a try, thanks for the inspiration!
You might want to try pairing a portion of the time. I've been pairing part time on a side project and it's going really well. We pair about twice a week on harder work or stuff that involves decisions that aren't really undone. On our own time we then work on more mondaine stuff. It's great because there is always opportunity to be productive of the scheduled don't align, but at the same time you have just enough pressure to keep going while also having the safety net of being able to pair with someone if you get stuck. So there is little opportunity to procrastinate which I usually do when stuck.
It’s not every day that one hears about garlic-induced vasodilation! Did you arrive at 70–120 cloves as your minimum effective dose? Any side effects, digestion-wise for example, from consuming that many at once?
Just got diagnosed with ADHD-PI (ADD) recently and this sounds a lot like me. If you're not sure, take a look at the wiki page, especially the "Examples of Observed Symptoms" for adults:
If that fits, you may wish to speak with a psychologist/psychiatrist. Best not to self-diagnose :)
My experience since getting the diagnosis has been pretty positive. I've dropped a lot of personal guilt after realizing many of these traits were not my fault. And I've also better understood how to manage them.
Finally, I'm titrating onto medication and so far my experience with that has been quite positive as well. It's nice to feel like I have productive weekends.
Surprised to see a lot of those symptoms hit really close to home for me, especially Directed Attention Fatigue. Thanks for pointing me in this direction!
I have been wondering this as well. I also wonder if being a "night owl" is related, as I'm only really able to work when I'm tired. Maybe I require a less active mind to reach motivation?
I’ve found that to be true in my case too. Many theories have been proposed but my personal favourite is [1]: "I can't start work until I've exhausted every possible distraction.”
Someone should invent a straitjacket for the mind.
