[nick-garfield]

This was an amazing post!

100% spot on that the external distractors are easier to manage than the internal ones. A buzzing phone, tempting social media websites, and loud rooms all tend to be relatively easy problems to fix. As for internal distractors, I feel like telling a personal story after reading this.. There are two internal distractors I've recently noticed myself struggling with:

1) A busy mind.

I often find my brain meandering on ideas or conversations completely unrelated to the work I'm trying to do. Daydreaming, imaginary arguments, and unnecessary tangents all tend to creep in (esp in the afternoon for some reason). I'm glad this post touched on Zen Buddhism and the beginner's mind. At risk of proselytizing, I have to say the best way I've found to manage a busy mind is through meditation. Consciously setting aside 10-15 minutes everyday to practice letting go of thoughts has helped build a (tiny) mental muscle which I can sometimes use to bring my focus back on the things in front of me.

2) Alcohol.

This is a bit of an external distractor, but also an internal one. In college, I was able to stay up all night drinking and coding. No longer! I find it amazing how insanely less productive I am even after a single glass of beer. I now get tired shortly afterwards and have immense difficulty focusing. Perhaps as the article mentions, the alcohol is wrapping up my ego in the task at hand. I don't have a drinking problem, but I now solve this by consciously deciding how to spend my next couple hours. "Am I going to grab a drink and take an extended break (perhaps for the rest of the day)? Or am I going to grab a water/tea and continue working?" Gone are the days when I could reliably reach the Ballmer peak (https://xkcd.com/323/).

[the_arun]

For alcohol, throttling the bottles worked for me. I consume one particular day of the week instead of any random day. I consciously say no to any urges/temptations in between. This has helped me to control my habit.

For controlling distractions, other hobbies like music or something else apart from programming keeps me ticking.

For internal distractions - I agree with the post. Separate me from problem I am trying to solve.

[yetihehe]

> Alcohol

I've found that I almost can't program anything sensible after even very small amounts of alcohol, even half a beer or 25ml of vodka is enough. It's either alcohol or programming for me. I don't drink too often, but when I do, even after large amounts I don't have hangover and I remember having memory loss only once.

[davio]

One of my teammates said he thought he coded best with a slight buzz, but who knows - maybe he was just creating tech debt and vulnerabilities at scale.

[polishdude20]

For me, having one beer when coding helps because it removes my discomfort of sitting in a chair for very long. If I've been sitting for a while and coding, my mind is willing but my body is complaining about the discomfort. A bit of alcohol goes a long way to help that.

[TigeriusKirk]

Interesting. I'm in my 50s, and I've found the Ballmer Peak to be a real thing for me ever since college. It's consistently been 2-3 beers. More than that brings a very steep dropoff in productivity, but I wonder if those 2-3 beers are de-egoing my programming. I suspect in my case they are.

[Mo3]

I'd strongly tend to say "No" - alcohol is liquid ego, in my experience. Even a single beer will diminish awareness and consciousness.

[snarfy]

> Daydreaming, imaginary arguments, and unnecessary tangents all tend to creep in (esp in the afternoon for some reason)

And then

> 2) Alcohol

Have you had your B12 levels checked? You might want to try a supplement.

[caogecym]

Make sure you stay hydrated, alcohol can dehydrate you.