Ask HN: Deep work while waiting for builds?

[lwilld]

I've been greatly inspired and influenced by the Deep Work [0] approach to my workday, and find myself able to really get into a flow and work effectively when I follow a Deep Work approach. I was also reminded of this when I saw this checklist [1] on HN recently.

I'm lucky enough to be work remotely with most of my colleagues in the US (I'm based in the Philippines), so I have a lot of control over my interruptions and can get a lot of work done in the morning while everyone else sleeps.

However, every time I get back into a deep work routine, I get distracted while waiting for builds to build, tests to run, etc. Sometimes it can just be 1 - 10 minutes, and in that time I can find myself on HN, instincively checking twitter or my email, and getting completely out of the flow.

For example, right now I'm waiting for a rather large Dockerfile to build and decided to write this post. I normally struggle the most when I have to do DevOps tasks (e.g. setting up CI pipelines, waiting for terraform to deploy only to tear down a deployment again).

Does anyone have advice for how to maintain a deep work "flow state" while waiting for random amounts of time? What do you do to maintain your focus?

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692

[1] https://doist.com/blog/complete-guide-to-deep-work/#Choose_Your_Deep_Work_Strategy

[leksak]

Depends on the project. Either cut down on build times (always valuable) or have two working copies of the project so that as you build the one you can continue your work in the other on the assumption that what you did works. This is something you can accomplish by having your own remote to push to. Of course, this may be difficult with devops-y type things.

Or change your habit, instead of going to HN, twitter or email, what else would you rather do? What can you do with just pen & paper in that time?