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I'm a software engineer. I find it necessary to be in flow (aka being in the zone) to get any meaningful work done. I can get menial tasks done while mildly distracted, such as during certain meetings, or while getting lunch ready. But to get real work done, I need a stretch of time. The first 15-30 minutes are for me to gradually narrow my focus down to what I need to do. The next 30 minutes are ramping up as I get reacquainted with everything I need to keep in mind. Only then, about an hour after I sit down, am I actually in flow - able to get work done. I've found this to be my pattern over the years, all the way back to undergrad.
After nearly a year of working from home I have found this to be the biggest challenge. It has two parts to it. First is actually getting that stretch of time during the day. With everyone remote, the number of meetings has skyrocketed. I now spend half of the workweek with a 3-hour block of back-to-back meetings in the morning. The days where I don't have that I have meetings sprinkled throughout the day. This is almost worse, because there isn't a point where I can go heads down on work. Second, being at home has made me less focused. When I do have that stretch of time before me, maintaining my will to focus is much more difficult when a comfy bed is right over there. After all, why not take a nap, right?
I'm grateful to have been in a position to keep my job during this time, so this is first-world of first-world problems. But I know I'm not the only one in this boat.
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priyanshiimehtaa922
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I can completely relate to your experience as a software engineer needing uninterrupted time to get into the flow of work. It's essential for productivity and deep concentration. The challenges you mentioned, especially the increase in meetings and distractions while working from home, can certainly hinder that focus.
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alok
Brandon, that's a great suggestion. I think I'll try that out during the holiday season. Might be easier to navigate since I will be working and most others on my team will not. I definitely like the idea of the buffer zone in between meetings.
And I'm glad I'm not alone, Clive! But yeah, the number of meetings has gone way up. I believe part of it is, for some, a need for human contact. This seems especially true of our more business/sales/marketing aligned teammates.
clive
I don't have any suggestions to offer, alas -- but your pain here is shared by man! I've talked to gazillions of developers doing research for tech stories, and they all complained about meetings breaking the flow state.
I hadn't thought about the way that covid work-from-home is probably creating more meetings, though ... as companies do ever more checking in. Ugh.
Brandon G
It might help to schedule your own "meetings" (with yourself) to block out time in the calendar. I also always had a rule to not accept meetings 30 minutes before, or 30 minutes after another meeting - to prepare and then to wind down from or "synthesize" the previous meeting.
These buffers and ghost meetings helped me a lot in the past for numerous reasons. From the other side it might not seem like a big deal to have meetings back to back, because it's not happening to them at that moment -- but everyone understands. And if you say, "I have a rule..." people tend to respect that. Worst case, communicate your stresses to everyone openly and ask them to calm it down a little with the meetings :)
In any case, the hardest part as always is managing expectations