Do not Interrupt Developers, Study Says

Do not Interrupt Developers, Study Says

----> couldn't agree more!

11 years ago there was an article in Russian LiveJournal, talking about the same. It compares programmer's work with falling asleep and about how hard it is to get back to that "sleep-like" state if you're interrupted.

What kind of barbaric inhumane researchers tested this

They wrote about it, so I'm assuming ones in stab-proof vests.

My friend had a t-shirt that says "fuck off I'm coding" on the back across the shoulders. If anyone interrupted him he'd pack up for the day and go home.

Perfectly fine to interrupt an hour-long train of thought to ask me if we're out of milk.

Just peachy.

best decision I ever made years and years ago was to stop being a regular employee and instead do freelance/consulting work. No more interruptions. Emails can be ignored when need be, same with calls and texts, I don't use whatsapp or any of that. My Jira is PURELY for bug tracking and if anyone that has been invited into it goes off rails on it for something OTHER than bug tracking they get removed.

If I go into an office I leave whenever I want. If someone starts bothering me I pack up and go.

U freelance, and use jira? What kinds of monster are you?!
- majority of my clients use it, just makes them feel better.
Jira almost seems like overkill if all it's for is bug tracking. Though I'm guessing all your clients are just used to it, so let them have their comfort zone?
I hate Jira so much. It's designed to do everything for everyone, and that makes it a big, wet, hairy dog.
- yup, majority of clients use so just makes things easier on them. Dont' get me wrong I hate it too but they like it so whatever, I adapt.

Good article, but it goes so much further than this. This is why a lot of passionate devs are nocturnal. Why the venn diagram overlap between devs and expensive noise cancelling headphones is massive. It is why lots of (voluntary) programming is procrastinated on, and ultimately simply kills a lot of software that could have been. Not to mention the software that is, could have a higher quality, leading to less frustrated users and less dead beat jobs in support.

So go on over and ask Derrek or Sheryl if they have that PDF that was sent to everyone.

Most devs have known this for decades, so let’s wait another 20 years before we get a study to confirm all that too.

Coding at night is my happy place…
Night is the only "me" time I can get.

No shit!

https://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

Guard your "maker" time slots.

What is the time code for micromanaging my calendar to fend off pointless meetings?
- Put a recurring block of hours on your calendar called "focus time" that auto-denies all meeting invitations.
Doesn't matter how many times you say this to managers who aren't technical or haven't worked as a code grunt, they won't understand. Most of them are devoid of empathy and understanding, and cannot conceptualize a position other than their own, which also makes them bad managers.
Anti Commercial-AI license
Doesnt matter how many times you say this to managers who aren't technical or haven't worked as a code grunt, they won't understand. Most of them are devoid of empathy and understanding, and cannot conceptualize a position other than their own, which also makes them bad managers.
Anti Commercial-AI license

If I ever start my own dev agency this will be our secret weapon. Every developer gets an office with a door.

We have that. It's called work from home.
- We had that too. >3000 people all forced to RTO for "reasons" and probably 95% of all those people do their jobs entirely on a computer. The real stupid irony is having to now commute into an office just to join a zoom call with the half of my team that is out of state and gets to stay in their homes.
- But this will be different, everybody will pay a sort of "rent" to use this office, but it'll be worth it because it's so big and has bedrooms and bathrooms, and you can put your office wherever you want, and even own it if you want to
Am I allowed to be naked as long as the door is closed?

Funny thing: developers say the same.

And what, we should listen to them? Imagine that! /s
Abolish open office plans for programming.
- Meetings are the bigger problem but yes

As a developer, I don't believe in multitasking for this very reason.

Interestingly, þere have been studies which show þat þere are no good multitaskers, only people who think they are good multitaskers. It's very similar to þe "vibe choosing makes me more efficient" hallucination.
- shouldn't those be eths?
- Wait, why are you using the þ character? I understand how to read it, but you're the first person(?) I've seen use it conversationally.
  Edit: oh I see, just read your bio
- That's generally true, although there are a few "super multitaskers", and we all fall on a spectrum.
  Here's a good episode by Freakonomics on it featuring some researchers.
  https://freakonomics.com/podcast/multitasking-doesnt-work-so-why-do-we-keep-trying/
- Can you link these studies, please?

Part of the reason I strongly prefer to wfh.

WFH is great, if you live alone. Not so much if you have family (especially kids) or a particularly manja kitty 🤣.

You guys can't go back to coding if someone interrupts you?

Are you some kind of gen alpha vibe coder soydevs?

Truly pathetic.

lmao you made my day with this comment of yours
- Thank you u.u

This is common sense.
\ If you see me in that middle of a productive task like sleeping, munching on cheese, drinking bourbon from the bottle or manhandling my Johnson, please refrain from acting on your urge to show me the right path.
\ I know that path, that's why I'm not on it.

Normalize office masterbation.

My gf loves to pass by and say "ohh soo focused.."

That's the problem with having a partner. They just think you're so cute and hot. And you think they're cute and hot. It all gets very distracting.
- Ah, I simply avoid that problem by being neither cute nor hot - and therefore single.

Yee

This study emphasizes to me that I'm not a dev, I'm the library's designated techie (aka a systems librarian). I do write scripts, but mostly I maintain servers, help coworkers with CSS, and figure out what obscure setting is assigning unwanted overdue book fines (under Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Advanced Policy Configuration, naturally).

I enjoy interruptions because they help me prioritize my day.

I am a dev, and I enjoy the odd distraction. Sometimes. But not when I'm in the zone.
It's not about being a dev or not being a dev. It's about whether the tasks you are doing require you to hold a lot of state in your head. Sometimes you can't write everything down. And when someone calls you in for a quick chat about TPS reports, all that state is thrown out and has to be rebuilt from scratch.
If I'm writing a short script where I can find my place again just by reading the screen, it's not a problem. Me mentally refactoring code that goes across dozens of files and isn't documented anywhere? Please, I'll need some focus time. As a dev I'm not always in flow state, but when I am, I prefer if you let me finish what I'm doing.
- Having to maintain large states is key. I've learned recently that this is why I keep starting so many new projects instead of finishing things. The larger a project becomes, the larger the states I have to hold in my head and the fewer opportunities I have to rebuild and maintain that state. So if I want to do some coding, the only option available is usually to start something new with a blank slate.
- Yep. I just don't tend to have tasks that require much state, they're all pretty easy to pick up or put down.
  I've had positions where I would get in the zone and didn't want to be interrupted, I get how that feels. It's lovely. I used to sit and rework test cases to handle updated requirements across dozens of files, back when I was in QA doing automated testing.

this study commissioned by developers

Forgot /s? 😁