How do you motivate?
posted by pete on February 14th, 2009
As much as those “de-motivation” posters are tired and cliche, I really think this one just about sums it up for me:
I am an expert procrastinator. I procrastinate a lot: sometimes to the point of masochism. Luckily I’m also a pretty darn responsible fellow, and coming through in the end is something I’m pretty good at. I spend a lot of time wondering how I can tweak myself into “the zone” even in the face of distractions, Reddit, and Lost. Nothing on Facebook has ever dramatically changed the outcome of my software development, but I often compulsively refresh it just in case someone might have responded to someone else’s status update. It’s silly, but we all do it to some degree or another.
I personally enjoy and benefit a lot from pair programming. It’s not something I get to do all of the time, but a solid pairing session with a good developer gets me results. I love sharing tricks, and discussing code before it’s written. However, there might be more to it than that.
Hampton and I started to speculate that we work best if someone is just there, keeping you on your toes. Someone to chastise you if you check Facebook, even if they don’t know the first thing about programming. We joked about hiring people to just sit there and watch us code. I laughed!
Well, I’m not laughing any more. I tried it, and it worked.
Soft Pairing
I invited a developer friend to come and sit beside me as I worked. He had his laptop, and I asked him to just do what he’d normally do; we were explicitly not working on the same thing. Occasionally something would be discussed, or we’d share a laugh… but for the most part the experiment was untarnished by anything resembling classic pair programming.
During this time, I felt alert and focused. My productivity was about as high as it ever is, and for some reason his presence didn’t bother me. My junk science theory here is that it was the commitment to be doing this thing, putting in the effort to show up — it makes it feel real to your brain. Facebook is captivating when you’re alone, but feels like an embarrassment when someone else is there.
Your mileage will vary, but this “soft pairing” works well for me. I’m no longer thinking that hiring someone at minimum wage to just sit and watch me is a joke; it might well be an amazing investment. Alternatively, you could invite a developer friend to come over, or your partner that never sees you might enjoy reading a book. Hard to say! They have to really get the part about concentration, and it’s possible that your lover quietly chuckling and flipping pages might drive you bonkers.
Maybe this is like having a gym buddy? You agree to meet at a time and go, even if once you’re there, you’re doing completely different things. It’s the statement of intention which compels us not to succumb to distraction.
February 14th, 2009 at 06:04 PM
Interesting concept, but my own small observations make me think that it does work.
February 14th, 2009 at 08:29 PM
This totally works for me. I have an intern mostly for this purpose.
February 14th, 2009 at 08:29 PM
This totally works for me. I have an intern mostly for this purpose.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:39 PM
I wonder how much of any pair programming boost this accounts for.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:55 PM
We call this faux-pairing. Back in the prime years of XP lots of people forced to pair-program by management did this on a regular basis. I still emphasize the productivity aspect of pair-programming with similar reasoning to what you’re talking about.
February 15th, 2009 at 01:05 AM
A gym buddy is there for motivation. They’ll also spot you, discuss diet and your exercise regimen. How many weights and reps, the right balance of cardio. An experienced gym buddy can critique your form and help you avoid injury.
I’m pretty sure a good gym buddy helps you get better results than a minimum wage worker, but YMMV :)
February 15th, 2009 at 01:06 AM
I totally agree; having a colleague sitting next to you definitely changes your working patterns through a combo of guilt, wanting to not look lazy or totally clueless, and finally just falling into that flow groove as a result of not dicking around.
February 15th, 2009 at 03:48 AM
This is one of the underlying assumptions with Coworking—some people really do work better in a crowd than they would in isolation.
February 15th, 2009 at 08:54 AM
This isn’t too different from the conditions in an open office. With someone next to you, someone behind you, and people walking by all day who can all see your screen, a lack of space to accumulate other distracting objects, and a general lack of privacy, focusing is pretty easy. The way I describe it, it seems pretty bleak, but it’s actually kind of liberating.
February 15th, 2009 at 07:09 PM
I’ve resorted to this method to finish my doctoral thesis – I pay some one to bitch at me!
February 16th, 2009 at 12:40 AM
This is what gets me to my workout class. If it weren’t for other people planning to see me there, I’d be a lot more likely to just not go.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Pete remember when we built FACTOR together working in that little office…so much fun and fulfilling. I got to spend an afternoon working with a designer building an application last week and the extra amount of focus and fun with two sets of eyes… I am a big fan of working in two’s.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Come on, I know you Hampton Catlin. You also ABUSE your interns and ask them sexual favors!
February 22nd, 2009 at 08:35 PM
Makes sense to me. I’ve done some good coding and debugging with the QA person who reported it watching over my shoulder. Wasn’t pairing, but it was an effective way of getting the job done.
The week before last week I came across a reference to the Pomodoro technique which was also mentioned at last week’s XPToronto meeting. Basically it’s structured timeboxing – I’ve been trying it this week with satisfying results.
I also use my home router’s management tools to block my machine address from reaching distracting sites during office hours. (6AM to 6PM weekdays.)