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[Muz]

Found a nice new trick to keep focus, using music.

1. Set up a playlist of awesome songs that last a total of around 25-35 minutes. I like songs with preconsciously motivational lyrics, like Don't Stop Me Now and Eye of a Tiger, but choose something you like (with lyrics preferably).

2. Make sure the first song in the playlist starts with an instantly identifiable beginning. I tested this out with songs like It's Been Awhile, and this trick failed because the start was too easily confused with other songs. Something like Dammit or Smells Like Teen Spirit works very well. Let's call this the trigger song.

3. Put your favorite song of all time at the end. That song that you'd never get sick of, even after a few thousand times of listening.

4. Every time you do programming (or whatever you focus on most), turn this playlist on. This requires a bit of conditioning, in that it works best with the same songs in the exact same sequence. After a certain point, you'll feel uneasy even with the playlist songs in different order -- that's when it starts working.

5. Stop working as soon once the last song finishes. Do something fun like playing a mini game or taking a small break.


The trick works best with 'sticky' music that you don't feel like changing. This isn't necessarily good music, but music with clear lyrics that you can mumble along to. Stuff like rap and techno is poor because your brain doesn't latch on to it so easily. Celine Dion songs are found to be ideal because it's very clear to identify what goes next. Maroon 5/Nickelback works good too.. the kind of songs that get stuck in your head. But choose something you like, because you don't want to change the playlist.

Whatever you do, don't do other things while the playlist is on. If you need to do something else that requires different thought patterns (e.g. writing emails), turn off the playlist.

After a while, as soon as you hear the starting riffs to the trigger song, you'll be automatically in the mood to do what you usually do, up to the point when the final song finishes. You get an instant focus boost. You'll actually feel an urge to keep doing the normal stuff - procrastination will feel out of routine. Works good for other things too, like exercise.

There's a science behind this, but I'm too lazy to get references, check my facts, etc Those of you who are familiar with the Pomodoro Technique will have a feel of how this works; it's a similar model, but latches on to your brain more tightly and gives you a better sense of time.

Changing the first and final song will often kill the routine, so try to keep those fixed.

[impulse9]

I don't think this will work with me, unfortunately. I always concentrate on the music being played. There's at least some percentage of my brain that latches to it and I can't really help it. That's why I generally can't stand bad music, because concentrating on it seems painful.

Maybe it might work with my drawing sessions, but definitely not with the programming ones. I find music very distracting when programming.

Also, the Pomodoro technique doesn't involve music, as far as I'm aware.

[Graham-]

I find programming with music/distraction is different than normal. You can't store shit in your head and rely on it to be there. So you have to reduce problems to trivial complexity. If you have an idea you express it in code/writing immediately. It takes practice to write this way... but is worth it.

Practice this and the best patterns for coding will emerge naturally, and you'll learn to adapt to the music. If you need to think about your code then it isn't clear enough. Being able to program to music is almost a test of your code's quality. If you can read a function while throwing up and yelling, that's a clear function.

[impulse9]

If you need to think about your code then it isn't clear enough.

I disagree. Not all algorithms are trivial and design especially is what requires the most out of your thought process. If you're not immersed in what you're doing, you're going to spend more time fixing your previous mistakes than making progress. That's what happens to me anyway. If I want to understand how the code works on a deep enough level, I need to practically be the code for the time being.

[Ant]

Yeah mileage may vary of course, I can't code and listen to anything other than calming stuff like rainymood.com. I think the main point of Muz's post is that it can help to create a ritual that puts you in the mood. It could be something simple like dimming the lights and getting a cup of tea to start you off. Music is pretty good since songs last a while and you can control their length.

[Graham-]

@impulse

Well. I usually don't listen to music, for the same reason. ... Sometimes I can't be the code because I've been coding for too long and it's turning into a mess in my head. Music can give the perspective. It's just an option.

[Liosan]

I can't code a for loop if I'm listening to music with lyrics Instrumentals only.

Liosan

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i too can't code at all with music playing. but i also don't have any problem with procrastination (at least when it comes to working on my game -- i procrastinate on other things so that i can work on my game more)

[Oskuro]

Heh, I'm awful for this type of thing.

Some days I can get in the zone and work at 200% even in a crowded Starbucks with screeching tween girls, or with a video playing in the background.

Other days, even absolute silence has me drifting off into other thoughts.

But heck, might be worth a try. What really works for my is going to the office (I really can't work properly from home), having a certain structure and work routine is very helpful, so maybe a work playlist could help too.

[laggyluk]

Same here, really noisy 'starbucks' makes me more focused. And when working on simple stuff (like creating graphics) I launch video on second monitor (well, not in starbucks)

[VortexCortex]

I focus best best with something mildly distracting: Nothing with vocals when coding; No TV, people talking, or music with lyrics.  Perhaps the words interfere with the linguistic side of my brain?  However, when doing art-ish things I can listen to podcasts or even audio-books.

What seems to work best for me when coding is instrumentals, everything from classical music to pounding electro.

Rather than having a repetitious sound track I'll eventually tire of, and then get mired in the trap of deciding a "favorite song" to put at the end: Instead I listen to online streaming stations.  These typically have familiar melodies in an unpredictable order, or even new renditions of old favorites, like

, a cover of various inspiring Megaman tunes (discovered via rainwave.cc - VG Covers station).  Familiar music tends to sink into the background for me, but new stuff may demand too much attention if I end up really liking it.

I may neither need or desire distractions when trying to work out some hard problem (like efficient object space coordinates of picking rays in a hierarchy of planes for a free floating animated 3D menuing system, or modeling a generic bot-part that has style yet won't look too out of place on several chassis), but for most of what I consider normal or easy work I do benefit from a mild musical distraction.

It's as if when I leave my mind with available CPUs, so to speak, that part of me wanders off into more interesting things, so as not to be uselessly consuming power like so many spare cores when playing a single threaded game.  Left unchallenged with mere code-monkey work causes my mind's painter to dream up fantastic landscapes, but modeling blades of wicked grass for said landscape may cause my analytical CPU to start solving the physics problem of 2D gameplay on arbitrarily oriented 3D blades of said grass.

If I find myself outright procrastinating it's usually a result of me studying some interesting scientific findings or marveling at a newly discovered collection of art after racing off on a game related tangent -- Electrical paint that you pour out to make a charging/healing zone!  Oh, What were the components in that paint-on battery tech, again?  Cranking up the volume and filling the screens with code / editing tools does seem to keep me on task.

As with most dealings involving electro-chemical computers: Expect your mileage to vary.

[Belimoth]

I have a playlist that I use for this exact purpose, lots of Gojira.

[Evan Balster]

My workflow involves a combination of the pomodoro technique, herbal tea, and downtempo music.  I've discovered

recently and his music is an excellent example of my working groove.

This is only the surface layer of a series of things I needed to work out in order to reliably get peak performance out of myself.  This imminent layer -- clearing my head, setting a pleasant mood, and structuring my work -- wouldn't be worth a thing if I was in a depression, as I was a year ago.  Maintaining one's physical and emotional health and organization in one's life and workspace make a great difference in how well one can approach one's work.  For instance, being in denial about one's devotion to a project tends to greatly hinder performance on that project.

Be good to yourselves, my brothers.

[Muz]

The Pomodoro Technique actually relies on a ticking sound, using the physical wind up as a trigger, and the ring as the end. That's why a lot of people, including the designer of the technique, insist that it's best done with a physical timer.

To gloss over the science behind it, a trigger and 'reward' (why I suggested putting a good song at the end) is what develops habits. On the right conditioning, a trigger will instantly put you in the state of mind to focus on something, and as you get used to it, the cost of entering that state of mind goes down.

A common example is driving to work. It's triggered by you starting the engine, and ends with you parking. Your brain will immediately start routines to back you out of the driveway, navigate to work (avoiding obstacles and potholes), and even side park with little mental effort. What was complex and costly is optimized. And sometimes if you plan to go the same route to somewhere else, under the same conditions (time, weather), you might accidentally maneuver to work before realizing it.

Programmers often talk about how being 'in flow' or 'in the zone' takes a significant start up time. The idea here is to build 'getting in the flow' into a routine similar to driving, using music as the cues.

I'm was avoiding discussing the science behind it as it's quite a simplification. Can't be bothered to cite things or get in technical arguments about it, but it does work for me.


By repeating the same music playlist, the mental cost of listening to that music goes down, eventually to the level where it's like the hum of a fridge or air-conditioner. Also why I mentioned maintaining the same order... just doing it out of order will be distracting.

You'll still hear it, which is good because I like the subliminal messages posed by motivational lyrics. Or game music. My biggest issue with Pomodoro is that the ring instantly jerks you out of the zone, whereas with music, you'll slowly ease out of it and you'll know when the timer is about to end.

You can do it with something like dimming the lights or listening to rainymood, but you need to have a consistent reward at the end of the routine for it to really work. Stuff like cookies or playing a quick game works too, as long as it's consistent.

[Barch]

For me - I've taken the much more zen route. This works particularly well with much manual work as well as programming. What I do is I open my mouth up extremely wide then quickly take up as much air as possible, Making sure that the breath goes directly to my chest. Then as quickly as it in blow it out and make your mind completely blank. Every thought I blank out with a strong visual of a water drop in a blank room (on emphasis with the sound). Until you are in a state where you can just program. Let the years of calling statements, drawing sprites take over your body - no thought just code.

My explanation of this was through monitoring my thoughts. Eg "I should work on the weather system - I should get some inspiration of the weather system - I should look on tumblr for pics tagged as weather - that picture on tumblr is funny - I'm in limbo"

By getting rid of thought one is able to completely be stuck in one place. Not the thousands of places one thought can take you.

That being said this system is horrible at experimentation, for that I would recommend music  as muz and have something similar in place - motivational vids are good as well.

Disabling the internet works wonders.

[VortexCortex]

Disabling the internet works wonders.

I- I never thought of that!  There's only 12 major backbone routers that all web traffic goes through, if a significant number of people the world over were infected with playing my game software, a strategic concerted timed blast of traffic at a single node might do the trick, then 11 more times, and repeat...  That's just crazy enough to work!

Oh, wait, no I'd have to make the game first.  Damn, almost had it.

[impulse9]

no thought just code

+1

[Pedrosanchau]

As for me, a single song I can use for two weeks is the best.

A single music keeps me away from distraction without being focused too much on it.

Last two weeks of work was made on this:



Meaningful sounds (like TV show or podcasts) really doesn't work for me.

[Impmaster]

Turning off my Airport helps me 100% with procrastination.

[Muz]

Also a nice summary of how the brain learns (pay special note to the graphs):
http://www.slideshare.net/ParkerLe/how-the-brainlearns

It's data from decades ago, and more geared towards learning, but probably applicable to intense focus as well.

Summary:
- We learn best in 40 minute chunks. Too short and we feel rushed, too long and we get tired.
- There's a 5-15 minutes peak of focus in those periods of time (maybe needing a small ramp up time)
- a 'slow' period around 20 minutes in when you're still capable of maintaining focus, but won't really remember anything. Probably best for things like compiling.
- Another smaller 5 min peak of focus (like a second wind) near the end of the time block.
- After that, you should take a short break, from 5-30 minutes.


(maybe I should move this stuff into a tutorial on practical psychology or something )