Subj : Re: Constant interruptions and left brain - right brain thing
To   : comp.programming
From : Russell Shaw
Date : Wed Sep 28 2005 02:33 pm

Anon wrote:
> I've read several times lately on the web and in books about how coding
> requires left brain and when interrupted it knocks you into right brain
> mode. It then takes some time (1-2 hours) to get into proper left brain mode
> again. I've felt that way for a long time (not sure about 2 hours but after
> a minor interruption (even if it's only for 1 minute, or a phone ringing) it
> knocks me straight out of concentration and it takes me at least 5 minutes
> before I can start to code again (much longer to reach full speed). Plus of
> course all these interruptions when halfway through writing a line of code
> or SQL statement all increase the chances of bugs particularly if when I
> come back the line or function looks at first glance to be finished when it
> isn't. I may even have totally lost my position in the code (or even forgot
> what program I was editing) as a result of being called into a meeting
> suddenly on my way back to the office from some other department and the
> meeting in question involved an RDP session into my PC to view something on
> there (which happens to rearrange all the window sizes, which monitor they
> appear on, etc).
> 
> Anyhow, just wondered what the level of interruptions is like elsewhere,
> really. Generally, the longest block I have in a typical day without an
> interruption is about 40 minutes. The majority of these come from either the
> IT manager or one of the other developers (I am one of 3 in total at my
> company). Requests from the IT manager are mostly minor alterations
> requested for programs (change of some text somewhere on the user interface,
> change of wording in an automated e-mail, etc) and from one of the other
> developers requests for help (sometimes database related but mostly obvious
> problems that I'm sure he could fix himself if he spent another 2 minutes on
> it). The other developer does not require assistance anywhere near as much.
> 
> I've asked them both to e-mail me these things instead of just standing next
> to me and talking but it never seems to happen (and in the IT managers case
> he's usually too busy running around the different departments to get to a
> PC and send an email anyway). E-mail doesn't really bother me at all as
> there's several different points throughout the day when I'm between tasks
> and can read/respond without losing track of the particular feature /
> function I'm working on.
> 
> So, what's typical elsewhere, and any advice on dealing with the problem?
> I've also posted a typical work day in a separate post here.

Maybe you have some aspergers (like me;), or just plain monotropic;)

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-61501.html

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