What are some techniques you use to concentrate while programming? Where do you think it's best to work? What time of day do you work most efficiently?

Question

Chandan Boruah · Answer

Warning: adult material ahead...

I used to have absolute concentration when a kid. I was healthy and could work very hard with above par concentration and was mostly top 2 in class. Then I learned to masturbate in class 10 (Indian education system). My grades declined. I fell sick because I was working like that kid even though I didn't have the energy.

Then recently my friend told me about Brahmacharya (celebacy) and meditation and non consumption of modern media. I didn't masturbate for a week and I overslept (sleeping is a kind of meditation), I slept in the evening. When I woke up I went to bath and I was experiencing a kind of piercingly sharp concentration so much that I could solve any problem, really like I was that kid... I felt so strong and powerful. But then I masturbated and the contrasting loss in concentration really made me realize what I had lost by consuming porn and masturbation.

Next day I overslept(meditated) using force and exercised and no fap... I solved a hard div 1 250 maths problem in 20 minutes (topcoder, competitive programming). Previously I had trouble even reading the problem statement. In another 20 mins I solved another hard implementation problem.

This is absolute energy, sexual transmutation. Conversion of sexual energy to creative energy that is what causes civilizations. That is why we humans could create abundance, jaw dropping creativity and extreme spirituality. My amazing friend had told me don't waste this energy, have a very impossible goal in head and focus all your energy on that goal only then you can successfully transmute that energy.

Celebacy+oversleep or meditation+no consumption of media+a dream in your heart = absolute concentration power to realize anything

Steven Grimm · Answer

When I want to crank out code -- which is not the entire development process -- it's mostly about minimizing distractions.

When working at an office: Get into an enclosed area with as few other people as possible and orient myself such that I can't see any movement while I'm facing the computer. If this means facing into a corner, so be it. Other people are able to get a lot done in big open areas with coworkers constantly walking by, but I'm not one of them.

When working at home: Keep a different sleep schedule than my wife, who as a non-developer doesn't truly understand how speaking just one innocent-sounding sentence to me, or even just entering the room to get something from a desk drawer, can ruin an entire coding session by breaking my focus. If I'm offset from her by 4 hours or so, that's 4 hours of prime coding time.

When at a coffee shop: Enjoy my coffee and then leave. Writing code in that kind of environment is a complete non-possibility for me.

In general: Temporarily edit hosts file to prevent access to sites like Reddit, Facebook, and (yes) Quora. While I enjoy all those sites, it's too easy to "take a break" and suddenly find that an hour or two has passed. I can't close down my web browser or disconnect from the Internet because I need to look up APIs and such, but I can at least make it less easy to dive into my most frequent time sinks. When I actually do need a break, I can get up and walk around a little, which is good for my health anyway.

Keep a list of small incremental goals that can be finished in 30 minutes or less. Some people use systems like the Pomodoro Technique [ https://www.quora.com/topic/Pomodoro-Technique ]. The important thing is to have something specific and achievable to focus on rather than just a general notion that there's a lot of stuff to do.

On that topic, a bit of an aside: Tools like Asana (product) [ https://www.quora.com/topic/Asana-product ] can be helpful for this, but frankly I usually just use a text file or greppable comments in the code to keep a list of these micro-goals, in part because it gives me the freedom to write them up using shorthand that may make zero sense to anyone but me. I've found that when I write tasks out in clear detail such that other people could pick them up, I tend to not bother writing as many small tasks down because it takes too much effort relative to the task size: an item like "hks esc" is enough to jog my memory as long as I get to it within a day or two and takes little enough time that I can write it down while remaining completely focused on the code, but writing it out as, "Modify handleKeystroke to dismiss the country selector when the user hits Esc" requires enough cognitive power to break my flow. But I may do the latter anyway depending on the project's collaboration style.

Get my surroundings as quiet as possible -- close doors and windows if any, put noisy computer hardware in a closet rather than on my desk, turn off my cell phone ringer (or even the entire phone). Some people listen to music while coding, but personally I only do that if it's the only available means to drown out environmental noise. When I do use music, it's instrumental-only without a lot of sudden changes in volume level. Lyrics or sudden crescendos will pull my attention away from the code.

As for times of day, this definitely varies from person to person. I am most productive in the morning and at night, least productive during the middle of the day. But I am productive in different ways at different times: in the morning I am better at "grunt work" kinds of coding (I know what I need to do and how to do it, the code just doesn't exist yet) and in the evening I am better at problem-solving. You need both, so on a given project I'll tend to alternate between doing most of my work first thing after getting up and doing most of my work in the hours before I go to bed.

That's what works for me. Maybe none of it will work for you, but it's an additional few points of data, anyway.

Mattias Petter Johansson · Answer

Pomodoros. One of the few things that I've found to actually make me more concentrated is the Pomodoro technique (http://pomodorotechnique.com/); I use a software called Breaktime (http://breaktimeapp.com/) to focus in 25-minute chunks. In an open office environment, you tend to only get 4-8 of these chunks done on most days, but they are very efficient.

Write down expectations for the day. Almost all mornings, I write down how I expect the day to play out, in list form. I write this in the diary app Day One (http://dayoneapp.com). Then I print it out, and keep it with me at all times. It looks like this:

This is example of a short, low-energy day with low expectations. I've found that it's crucial to have the heading for this list to be expectations and not goals, or it just becomes an unrealistic wish-list of things to do. The small scribbles that you see next to the entries are to indicate pomodoros. As the day progresses, I edit the Day One entry to actually reflect reality instead of expectations, making it into a diary entry for the day.

There are lots of other things I do and try to do, but the two above are the only two things that I've found to work consistently on a long-term basis.

Gabriel Harper · Answer

My basic recipe for a productive day of coding:

1. Eliminate environmental and mental distractions.
2. Start the day with a pleasant routine - shower & bagel, exercise, brisk walk, chores, whatever gets the blood flowing and the mind focused.

3. Make a plan. Know exactly what needs to be accomplished and how to accomplish it. Break it down and create a list.
4. Track progress. Pencil and paper work well. Checking off each items feels nice; furiously scribbling out a particularly frustrating one feels even better. And it gives you that extra motivation you really need at the end of the day.
5. Stretch a lot. Remember to breathe.
6. Don't set a "break time". Take frequent, short breaks when you're running slow, but ride the flow when it happens and don't be afraid to code for many hours straight.

7. Do not get hung up on stupid shit!!!

Dave Sullivan · Answer

There’s a bunch of different strategies and tactics for improving focus and productivity, but the most important thing is to expose yourself to ideas, and experiment with different techniques until you find what works for you.

Here’s a couple different ideas to start with (including a few already mentioned):

1. The Pomodoro Technique [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique ] - this is basically the idea of setting a timer and working for the duration of the timer. Usually it’s 25 minutes, and then once the timer is up, you take a quick 5 minute break.
2. Design your Environment [ https://jamesclear.com/environment-design-organ-donation ] - the idea here is that your brain is hard-wired to respond to the cues around you - your phone vibrating, a new e-mail in your inbox, noises around you. Being intentional in designing your environment to eliminate these distractions helps you focus better.
3. Seek Clarity - I don’t have a specific reference for this one, as it is something I put together myself as a combination of Work Cycles [ https://www.ultraworking.com/cycles/ ] (similar to Pomodoro) and part of reading High Performance Habits [ https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Habits-Extraordinary-People/dp/1401952852/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1543164453&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=high+performance+habits&psc=1 ]. But the key is to plan your next work session and be as clear as possible about what you’re trying to achieve. For example, “build a feature that allows users to change their password” is super vague. The problem with vague tasks is that we then waste time in decision mode trying to decide where to start, what to do, etc. It’s a form of analysis paralysis [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis ] at a small scale. Instead, for your next work session, say “My goal is to build the password-changing form fields on the user’s profile page, and hook those form fields up to a function that calls a backend API that I haven’t written yet.” This is hyper-specific and makes it really easy to just dive in.
These are a good foundation to start with, but in my experience, out-of-the-box solutions aren’t one-size-fits-all: you have to be very intentional about experimenting with different techniques until you find what works for you. For example, I found 25 minute pomodoros to be way too short for me: it takes me 10–15 minutes to get into a focused flow-state, and then all of a sudden my timer is up. I have mine set for 75 minutes, with a 15 minute break. I take a 10 minute actual break, and then spend 5 minutes planning my next work cycle.

Finally, the most important part about experimenting with different things is measuring how it’s working, and reflecting on what worked, what didn’t work, and what you could try next.

Hope that helps :)

Claire Callahan · Answer

Deadlines, emergencies, chaos.  These things actually prompt me to concentrate and get more done.  Earplugs help.

Once I got a call at 3 am.  Technician reported:  "Everything's aborted and there's an error message".  I somehow got out of bed leaving my 1-yr-old and hubby sleeping soundly, and sleep walked to my computer.  This happens all the time and it's an easy fix, I thought.

I logged on - and the error message was that one single thing that I dreaded most.  I knew what I had to do.  I just didn't ever want to have to do it.

Fast forward to the next morning when I walked in to work.  Apparently, I did it.  I wrote several programs which reset things back to how they started, deleted a bunch of stuff, started all the pointers back where they had been when the program started, and undid all of the calculations which had happened.  Then apparently, I ran all these programs, they worked, and I then re-started the whole shebang.

Then I sleep-walked back to bed, only to be woken up at 6:00 am by my hungry 1-yr-old.

When I looked at all the code I had written during the night, I didn't remember writing it.  It had my name and time and date stamp, but I really didn't remember doing it.  Good thing because it was tedious and painful!

Anonymous · Answer

I am going to tell you what works for me. It may or may not work for you but it won't hurt to try.

I use to listen to chillstep while I code and do anything that requires concentration. I am listing some of my favorite songs here. I have a complete list of 1K+ such songs.

1. Michael Ma - Mixed Emotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dB0SKfjgGg

2. Xan - Strings for a Queen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK075fzsDCM

3. Xan - To The Clouds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgMr1rxkV4I

4. Electus - Who We Are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPl3Aip82Gw

5. Tom Day - Who We Want To Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVomQtrtMTM

Abdurahman Brown · Answer

You definitely want to close yourself to the outside world. How you do this is up to you. I use headphones playing metal music. Most of the time I'm not even listening to the music. The music helps block out all the sounds and distractions from the environment. This is also the reason I choose to code mostly during the night when most people are sleeping.

Also try and have everything you need right by you. Like your phone, water, drinks, snacks. So you don't have to get up. But remember to take breaks as well.

Daniel Catalan · Answer

Every time I code I take a deep breath..

Inhale.. Exhale.. Aahh.. :D

For me, taking deep breaths before or while coding can keep you from being distracted because the sensation was like you're being calm and you're keeping your mind to focus on breathing as well as something you're really doing. Most of the programmers that I've known doesn't mention this (or don't they know it since it's more about meditation? heheh.. :P)

I work at an office. My workspace is so open that I can be seen by the VP whose room was just 6 feet behind me. So I don't have to do anything not related to work (and it seems like reading at Quora was not yet counted) especially every time the VP sees me. So for me, working in the office (while being exposed by the bosses) can be a better place to work. :D

I work most effectively when I get introduced in a project. I always feel slight excitement with that moment. And then after that day of introduction, I'll be in the next process. Code, update, test, code, update, test. That's my normal days in the office. Good thing is I'm yet to feel pressure at my work. Maybe it's because my projects doesn't have a tight a deadline yet.

So thanks for the A2A Kuya Miguel Paraz [ https://www.quora.com/profile/Miguel-Paraz ]. Deeps breaths can be more effective when you close your eyes. :D

Dan Higdon · Answer

Music is very useful for entering the so-called "flow state", especially if it's a kind of music you enjoy and are familiar with. I like using headphones (as opposed to ear buds) because they also block out environmental noises.

I do all my coding at work, so my environment is somewhat determined for me already, but I make sure that I have a medium level of lighting. That is, not overhead fluorescents, but rather a lamp of some kind providing indirect light. Natural light is even better, at least when the sun is not shining directly on to your desk.

Face away from an area where someone or something is likely to enter your field of view.

Steven Grimm's comment about a single sentence being able to derail you is exactly right btw. Also resist the urge to surf the internet (advice I'm not following at the moment...) between compiles. Even if you're just staring at a progress bar for a minute, it will keep you focused on the task. Losing focus can cost you 10 or 15 minutes trying to re-load your brain with all the things you need to keep in mind while coding.

I personally find that I'm the most focused when I'm in the middle of a task and have a limited time remaining to work on it. The "just one more thing..." effect kicks in, though you do need to be careful that you don't get sloppy.

I find I get my best work done in the late evenings or late morning. Afternoons are less productive for me, but I think everyone's going to have a different schedule that works for them.

Ryan Rosario · Answer

It really depends on my environment, but these are some of the things I try:

* Make a schedule and stick to it, or make goals/milestones and stick to them. If I can't make these goals or milestones, this forces me to ask questions or get help where I otherwise may not.
 * Move all irrelevant websites to another workspace (on Ubuntu) and only have open my work email, documentation, StackOverflow etc.
 * Go somewhere else, particularly somewhere noisy where I do not know anyone well.
 * If I work somewhere quiet, I cannot be facing "action" (a door, walkways etc.) as that makes me people watch and daydream.
 * The worst environment for me is one that is quiet but has a lot of shiny objects to fixate on (movement, seeing people talking outside etc.)
 * I try to keep everything in one application like code, notes, compiler, debugger etc. which prevents me from making a context switch to another application where I might get distracted.
 * Listen to music, but it can't be music that I am overly familiar with. Something indie, or pop. Pandora really helps for this.
 * If I do choose to listen to music I am familiar with, I tend to listen to the same song over, and over and over and over again. Although this is annoying to others if they were to hear it, it keeps me in the same train of thought and the same frame of time.
 * If it is nice outside, I will work outside, somewhere peaceful and away from people.
 * Take a break to get a snack and force myself to ask myself if I am approaching the problem correctly/optimally and if there are any other methods I should try. This prevents me from wasting days of work on a bad method and then having to develop something else after it is too late.
 * DO NOT listen to or think about office politics. This has been a big hindrance on me and I cannot allow it to be.
 * If I am NOT at work, and I am working on something stressful with an impending deadline, I will often make myself a drink. There is truth to Ballmer's Peak -- in my case it prevents me from overanalyzing doubt so I can make better coding decisions.

Mornings (10a-12p) are very unproductive for me. Late afternoon (3pm) and on are my most productive times. 1-3pm is about average for me. I am also very unproductive if the office is too warm. I have to go somewhere cooler.

Anonymous · Answer

I work most efficiently during daylight hours, shortly after I wake up, laying on my couch.

In my time as a programmer, I’ve had a few marathon sessions lasting as long as 10 hours with minimal breaks (even delaying my use of the bathroom). Guess what? Most of that time was highly unproductive.

These days I’ve abandoned the goal of achieving uber-focus. My goal is to take frequent breaks, and to be productive without having to get my entire brain fully absorbed in something that doesn’t really require that level of absorption. Most tasks require just enough discipline to return to your work after a short break, and some practice flexing your focus muscles on command.

Okay, I'll add that when I really need to think through a problem, I take a walk. I rarely encounter a problem that requires me to think deeply AND have my fingers on a keyboard at the same time.

Urvesh Patel · Answer

I was facing the same problem which I solved by changing my habits. 
Try to find out what are the things which is attracting you while you try to concentrate on something. With me whenever I want to concentrate on something I put mobile phone somewhere else so that notification don't attracts me. If I am on laptop I close facebook, gmail and other tabs which can change my focus.

Generally human mind can't concentrate on two or three thing together so if you listen to songs or TV sound or anything else you will loose your concentration. Try to seat at place where you find silence which will also help you in concentration.

If you are thinking of someone or something is regarding family, friends affecting your thought just talk to them.

Hope this helps you.

Shailesh Joshi · Answer

I usually work late night, as there are no things that distract me that time. I keep coffee jug and some junk snacks by the side. I usually play some music so I am isolated to outside sound. If it becomes difficult, I pause the music for a while

The best place to code is in your room :) you don't get distracted by outside world then, just you and your mess. Having things you require by your side helps you to stop thinking of them. oh and turn off all your social networks at the time :)

Jeff Nelson · Answer

Steven Grimm says [ https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-techniques-you-use-to-concentrate-while-programming-Where-do-you-think-its-best-to-work-What-time-of-day-do-you-work-most-efficiently/answer/Steven-Grimm ], "When  at a coffee shop: Enjoy my coffee and then leave. Writing code in that  kind of environment is a complete non-possibility for me."

It's just the opposite for me.  For some reason coffee shops have always been the most productive place.  I think it's because they lack the distractions of both home and work.  Plus, being in public like that, reduces any desire to seek other distractions (Youtube, etc).

I even feel a sense of excitement walking into a good coffee shop, because I know I'm going to be in the zone and have a productive few hours.

Vivek Choubey (विवेक चौबे) · Answer

We all had a same question when we started our way to code. Personally, I think you need 3 things to get better with this.
1. Free mind
2. Perfect or rising plan
3. Stubborness

By free mind I mean your mind should be free from everything. It shouldn't be the case that you are compelled or bored or have to look at your Facebook/Quora or any other notifications quite often. Put everything at the bay and then only coding is possible. You can't even write a single line until and unless you free up your mood and mind both.

Perfect plan: Try to plot everything in ypur brain or make note of everything first you want your program to do. Note and work everything in steps. Don't mess up everything. 'First I'll do this then add this...' just like fixing building blocks. Sometime you can have something to program which shall not be possible by conventional way (the way you learned or you know). So try posting questios related to that on stackoverflow.com . It will help you immensely.

Stubborness: Never give up just because it's taking time to implement. Stay stubborn. Try out every possible weapon first. It may take some time but trust me it's possible. Just search over the internet if you aren't able to work out and you will surely get your way to success.

Segun Bright · Answer

I use a mix of white noise, ambient noise and soft music to help me concentrate on day-to-day coding.

I don't know why or how but I always hit my highest productivity numbers whenever I work listening to John Mayer's Paradise Valley.

Diane Ulrich · Answer

I work best with some soothing background noise, like the sound of the UPS rhythmically beeping because the battery needs to be replaced.  I better get that done...right after I finish this section of code.

I can concentrate best first thing in the morning, before my mind gets cluttered with other things that happen throughout the day.

Akshay Varshney · Answer

As a beginner in coding, we struggle a lot to build consistency, and due to which we lost our pace. In the start, things look favorable to us so we did it consistently but when things become slightly complex we start losing our way. I also struggled a lot to build consistency and it's ok if you also do. Coding is like a marathon of sprints. I think there are a few things that we need to understand while studying coding.

I would recommend everyone to follow the 100dayofcode challenge. But the question here is How to focus for at least 1 hour/day continuously and that too for 100 days?

If I plan to have a long coding session for around 3-4 hours continuously then after some time I will definitely get bored with my studies and I may start to play movies, start thinking about something else, or maybe start checking social media. It's like I study with my laptop open but my mind is somewhere and this was really the root cause of my problem. What is the threshold? what should be enough for me. So I have to identify this threshold limit. But how to identify this limit let's find out...

Building 1-hour consistency at the very start is not an easy task. So what I used to do is I started with short sessions. Like I do coding for around 30 min then I take a short break of 5-10 mins then come back for another 30 min. In this way, at my initial stage, I completed 1 hour. After around 7-10 days when I start to feel comfortable, I kept increasing my timelimit by 5 mins until I reach my threshold. I have 2 sessions of 35 min followed by a 10 min break in between. In this way, I am tricking my brain to get comfortable with coding, brain now coding is your thing & you have to learn it so please cooperate. Follow this until you find your threshold limit.

If you start directly with 1 hour then I know we will be able to focus for the first few days but after some days when things start getting out of our way, we start losing consistency.

When I am sitting down to study I have some specific rules.

What are my rules to study?

1. I am working it means I am working period. Not allowed to do anything like I kept my mobile phone in another room. Turn off email, social media notifications from the laptop if possible.
2. Plan to start with a short 30 min session then start adding the time until you reach your threshold. My threshold was 1 hour 20 min.
3. If you have a break that means you have a break, no coding in your break. Like, suppose 30 min is over you should get up from your desk and do what you want to do in your break. It's like forcing myself to step away from the screen when the break starts.
4. Decide what time you will sit for study. Try to follow the same time for a few days and after some days it will become your habit. My time was 8:00 AM- 9:15 AM & (9PM-10PM)
5. If you find to struggle a lot with the motivational side then start Listening to some podcasts when you get time. I don't know but listening to them will give me some energy and I feel energetic.
6. If possible try to have some meditation or yoga before your study session.
7. Whenever you get the free time it doesn't mean that you have to think about coding all the 24*7. Try not to think about code each and every time your brain will break down. The brain is only a muscle so it also needs some time to relax.
8. When I get bored with my regular studies then for a change I used to do some side projects as my hobby. Like I was learning DSA, whenever I feel too tired to do DSA and feel like not studying I move to my side project. This will give me a change and the next day you can pick what you were studying with much more energy.
9. Sharing progress with someone will give you motivation. Strongly recommend sharing your progress with friends or on Twitter/Linkedin. Don't think about what other senior developers will say.
10. No longer distraction, Simple to understand but harder to implement.
11. You should enjoy the process of coding.
12. Set goals for every single day. Make sure your goal should be realistic.
By following this process after around 1.5 months I was focused to do coding for at least 1hr each day

Some reasons for your struggle:

1. Don't go for a longer coding session in a day and skipping the next few days.
2. Try not to think about code each and every time your brain will break down.
3. Unclear boundaries between work and break.
4. You enjoy coding but don't enjoy the process it could be a lack of boundaries.
5. You have unclear goals or your goal are unrealistic.
6. You are working with a lot of distractions.
It's all about tricking your brain to learn discipline. Hope this will help you reach where you want to go. You can apply this to whatever you are learning if it works for me then it will work for you as well.

Happy 100daysofcoding...

Thanks for reading :)

Christopher Reiss · Answer

When pouring a cup of coffee, add the cream and sugar first.   Pouring coffee on top takes care of stirring.   (Thanks to DD for showing me this.)

When throwing out a plastic bottle, squeeze it smaller and tighten the cap.    The vacuum holds - you don't have to empty the recycle bin nearly as often.

For guys : get a shoebox.   At nite, put everything you have on you in that shoe box (keys, wallet, glasses, phone.)   Never put these items anywhere else.   Now you're ready to fly out the door in the morning.   (Women solved this long ago with purses.  I believe this is why ppl joke that guys can never find stuff and women can.)

[edit]  Oh - I should add : Turn facebook chat off.   And ... close that Quora tab :)

[yet another edit] The biggest time hack of all, if you live in an urban area, get a motor scooter.   In most cities, a motor scooter with an engine 50cc or less is not a motor vehicle, it's legally basically a bicycle.   Meaning you can park it on the sidewalk (chain up that thing up!).    Also, of course, you can slip right through a traffic jam.    This can save an hour a day or more.