From ad905a17ebfc4cbb2162db05f6cb713e78b2995d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Craig Maloney Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2018 10:00:37 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] More about breaks / productivity --- chapter05.md | 6 +++++- 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/chapter05.md b/chapter05.md index 24b2d2d..1dd5532 100644 --- a/chapter05.md +++ b/chapter05.md @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Our bodies require down-time in order to be most effective. We need to step away ## Taking a break -Taking a break is more than just flipping to another application. I know my tendency for taking a break is to start checking email or head to one of the various chat programs I have in order to catch up on what's happened since I last took a break. Taking a break can be as simple as standing up and walking from your workspace into another room or area. It gives your mind the ability to completely switch out the context of the area you're in and allows it to focus on the new context and new input. +Taking a break is more than just flipping to another application. I know my tendency for taking a break is to start checking email or head to one of the various chat programs I have in order to catch up on what's happened since I last took a break. But this is not really taking a break as it is trying ti multi-task at my desk. Real breaks require getting up from the computer. It doesn't have to be a large break; taking a break can be as simple as standing up and walking from your workspace into another room or area. But you you need to stand up from your computer from time to time and get a "context switch" (where your mind can feel like it isn't in the same place as it was earlier). It gives your mind the ability to completely switch out the context of the area you're in and allows it to focus on the new context and new input. This can be tricky in an office situation where the expectation is that one must be at their desks in order to be productive. And there are only so many "bio-breaks" someone can take in such situations. How can you give yourself the context switch your mind needs in such situations? @@ -43,3 +43,7 @@ Standing up can also be a good context switch where you give yourself more of a If you have a culture in your workplace that allows you to step away from your desk and walk around that would be a great context switch. Adding a physical component (as much as you can) to your context switch can help your mind to relax and recharge. You'll have to experiment with a few of these and see what works. At the bare minimum you'll want your mind to feel as though it doesn't have to be on all the time. You want your mind to cool down between coding sessions so it can flush it out of "cache" and into longer-term storage. Then when you get back to your coding session you'll be more likely to remember what was going on. + +## Productive thinking + +Next we need to realize that productivity is not a constant. There are days where we will find ourselves generating remarkable levels of code and code quality and days where we'll be lucky if we can string together a coherent comment string. We have varying levels of energy and mental focus available to us per day. It's up to us to look at these levels and understand what our productivity might look like for the day. -- 2.31.1