242 years ago the American Declaration of Independence was signed, and with it, a new paradigm for governance came into being. This government has experienced many highs and many lows, it continues to evolve and adapt. Yet, throughout it all, the underlying notion that people have a right to exert autonomy over their lives and can construct lives that are meaningful for them, in all of our myriad ways we interpret meaning, remains a fundamental foundation.
242 years after American independence, it is now time for programmers of the world to declare our independence and institute a new golden rule for our industry. Just as the colonists sought freedom from an oppressive ruling authority across the ocean, programmers of the world seek freedom from unnecessary interruptions that reduce our productivity, destroy our thought process and, in general, disrupt the work flow.
Yes, I am talking about the most insidious of issues plaguing our community:
The Headphone Interruption™
We all know it. We all have experienced it. You are in the zone. Your headphones are pumping the sounds into your ears that motivate and keep you focused, whether that's an NPR podcast, metal, jazz, country, or whatever gets your coding groove on. Then you feel it. The eyes of someone wanting to get your attention are burning a hole in the back of your head. The sounds of someone saying, "excuse me?," "excuse me?" starts to filter into your consciousness. Then it escalates and the tap on the shoulder is next. If none of those elicit a reaction, your headphones are lifted off your head.
You turn to face the person who so desparately sought your attention. It must be truly important.
- "Just wanted you to see those rain clouds outside. It looks like it's going to pour today!"
- "Can I pick you up something from the break room? I'm going to go get a coffee."
- "Any plans for the weekend?"
- "Is that English on your screen? It looks like it's from the Matrix!"
- "Did you know {random co-worker} is going on vacation soon? How lucky!"
These are all real world examples from the field of The Headphone Interruption™.
So, friends, on this day of barbecues, flag waving and reveling in the American experience (with apologies to my friends from other countries) let us declare and proclaim a new golden rule for programmers around the globe.
If the headphones are on and it's not an emergency, it can wait.
To all of our non-programming colleagues, we affirm that we like you, we like talking with you, we enjoy our coffee breaks and spending quality time together. The headphones are not a sign of our dislike of you at all. Rather, they are a necessary instrument to allow us to focus in the open floor plan offices of our modern era.
If we will it, it can be more than a dream. We can make this a reality.
Headphones on? It can wait.
Latest comments (42)
A picture is worth a thousand words:
moertel.io/post/146670221119/codin...
If you need to be in the "zone" to be efficient at coding, your software probably has design issues. I avoid the "zone" because the code I produce when in it has the tendency of being overengineered and badly designed. I embrace Test Driven Development instead.
Moreover, being interruptible is not a bug, it's a feature. 😉
Hate trying to code in our noisy shared office.
I have some nice closed-back studio headphones, but even they get hot and uncomfortable after a while.
At home, my wife & I share a long office room with two desks at each end. We have an unwritten rule that we don't even talk to each other until lunchtime as we are both 'in deep flow' during that time.
She's really good to me, one day last week I was so deep in code she just left me alone, brought me some easy-to-eat lunch, and went away again. And now I must get out on my bike before it gets dark!
Do you guys read Cal Newport by any chance?
I think the issue could be solved in a meeting if people just talk about it.
The Headphones rule can have a process that says if you need me, let me know on Slack and then give me five minutes to decompress out of my zone and I'll walk over to you. That way I can safely land on my own before shifting gears.
I'm with the headphone rule in spirit. But it's like attempting to combine two unrelated values into one property or field. One property can't specify "I do|don't want to listen to music" and "I do|don't want to be disturbed." What if I don't want to be disturbed but I don't want to listen to music either? A "do not disturb" flag is good. Having to wear it on my head - not good. I'd prefer a literal flag or indicator on my desk, combined with a Slack/Teams/Skype status indicator.
A few related suggestions:
If you need something from me and you message me, just say what you want. If that feels impolite then preface it with "Hi, Scott." But please don't just send me a message that says "Hi." Now I can't help you because I don't know what you want, but I also can't resume what I'm doing because I know your actual message is coming in 10-60 seconds. (If you really want to send the greeting as a separate message then consider typing the second message in Notepad and copying it so you can paste it right after you send the greeting.)
If you're a manager or Scrum Lord, never, ever tell me that I need to go to someone else's desk and stand behind them to get them to do what I need them to do. If that's how you interact with others then you go do it. I don't stand behind people and pressure them. If you have to go stand behind them then perhaps you'll figure out the underlying reason why it's difficult to get things done. That's ideal, because as a manager it's your problem to solve anyway. Telling me to stand behind them isn't a solution. It's an admission that you've accepted failure as the norm and surrendered. (I'm writing a whole blog post on this.)
Don't whistle in or around my workplace unless there's something seriously wrong with you. It's very distracting. Do you know that we can hear you? If you can't survive a few minutes at a time without the sound of your own whistling then please record it in a more appropriate setting (which is not the men's restroom) and then play it back for yourself with headphones.
And please keep your headphones at a private volume. If you can hear them when they're not on your head, everyone else around you can hear them too. The point of headphones is to play music privately without disturbing others. They're not portable speakers that sit on your head for convenience. You'll just go deaf and then you'll turn them up even louder.
I love working remotely because no one pings me physically. Even if someone pings me virtually, at least I have controll over it.
desperately*
For me, It doesn't even need a pair of headphones. There was a day I was so penetrated in a difficult code to me, and I have the extremely annoying habit to only think out loud (I call it "talk to the second me") and when I do it, it's so difficult to get out of this "reflective zone". Ok, I was in one of these "reflections with self conversation" when a college colleague tried to grab my attention. I continued on the code. She tried one more time. I continued, until she lost her mind and shouted out. Everyone in the room laughed so much.
desperately*
I disagree, I don't focus well with headphones/music on. A good office should rather have various flexible "spaces" — from an absolute silence space, to a "library sound level" space, to socializing spaces. The ability to work away from the office helps as well of course.
Even glancing at somebody the wrong way can break their concentration - I know the feeling. Maybe I thought just of something cool I wanted to share with you, and then thought better of it when I noticed your headphones, but we already made eye-contact, so...
Maybe we need an official hand signal that means "no worries, it can wait, keep working!" to avoid misunderstandings? ;-)
Irrelevant of headphones it can always wait. If it cannot wait then you have one more problem to fix: the problem of not being able to handle urgent matters without interrupting people in their activities.
So true, but it's forgettable for junior folks. :)
Was just talking to someone about the importance of boundaries. I work from home, but I still have to tell my family. Door closed, business is happening and I need some space. :) Might should just change it to headphones on!
I think the thing that can get me the most is that most places nowadays have their own chat system up. Like Slack or something similar. Yet it is like we just skip it. To be asked a question that really only has a yes or no answer and to not just message me is frustrating. If I see after a few messages that we can't figure something out through messages then I'll tell you to come over or I'll gladly come over.
Most of my co-workers seem to get my signs. No headphones in, I'm wide open. Only 1 headphone in I'm open but trying to concentrate. If both headphones in, just message me. Person who works next to me does the same thing really. When I see he has both headphones in I either just see if it's something that can wait or message him.