Distracting software engineers is much more harmful than you think
Why software engineers MUST have no-distractions time
I always knew that distractions in the workplace are harmful, but only after reading Deep Work by Cal Newport, did I understand how severe the problem is!
Our work culture changed mainly for the better after COVID-19, but there were also some negative changes - like an increase of 13.5% in the amount of meetings per employee.
So why meetings and distractions are so terrible? And what can you do about it?
Today I’m going to cover:
What is Deep Work
Why it is so critical
So what’s the big problem?
How can you create deep work time for your employees
How to become better at deep work - mastering the distractions
So what is deep work?
The term was coined by Cal Newport, in the great Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World book.
Deep work is the kind of work that requires a big part of your brain power and usually gives some unique value. It can’t be done while distracted! If you can do a task during a Zoom call, it means it’s NOT deep work.
Shallow Work is the opposite - things you can do without engaging 100% of your brain. Things like answering Slack messages/emails, reviewing a document, and so on.
Software engineering used to be a haven for people who enjoy deep work. There is a reason why some people still think that software engineers work alone with their headphones in the basement.
Nowadays, it’s becoming very hard to get those ‘Deep Work’ times.
Why Deep Work is so critical
Working Deeply, is the only way to achieve the famous ‘flow’ state - AKA being in the zone.
In a 10-year study conducted by McKinsey, people reported being FIVE times more productive in flow - meaning that if we could increase the time we spend in flow by 15-20%, overall workplace productivity would almost double.
There is a scientific explanation for that - that involves the releases of norepinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, and serotonin. All five affect performance.
More deep work time won’t only improve the performance of your engineers but also:
Will help them make fewer mistakes, as they’ll be less distracted.
Support their work-life balance - they’ll get more work done in less time, so more free time will be left.
Improve their skills - only during those focused times the toughest challenges can be solved, and the biggest improvements to skills happen.
So what’s the problem?
Remote work should have been an answer to this - no commute, fewer distractions. In reality, only the first part is true.
Since 2020, in addition to the 13.5% increase in total meetings, there has also been a rise of 60% in remote meetings. The unsurprising part is that 92% of people say they multitask during those meetings - and I would guess the number is 100% for software engineers.
There are 2 main problems with that:
1. Work that should be Deep, becomes Shallow
Remember the simple test we discussed above? If you can do it in a Zoom meeting == it’s shallow work.
A great example is reviewing a PR. If you have a busy day filled with meetings, when would be the best time to review it?
During the meetings of course… But reviewing a big pull request should be deep work! Same for bug fixes, or writing design documents.
Doing those tasks during a meeting starts a horrible flywheel:
The quality of the work gets poorer so more problems arise → more meetings are scheduled to address them.
People are being distracted during meetings so no good decisions are taken → more meetings are scheduled…
And it’s not the fault of your multitasking engineers - it’s the fault of your meeting culture.
2. Engineers are not reaching the flow state
It takes 15 minutes just to get going and only by the 45-minute mark (!) you will hit your peak.
Every time you’re distracted, that clock resets thanks to context switching. And since the average employee is interrupted 31.6 times/day, that means they’re getting pulled out of their task work every 15 minutes, making it impossibly difficult to attain a productive flow state.
Do you understand the severity of the problem? 31(!!!) distractions in a day!
It was not just the time in meetings that is lost. Every distraction sets you back 15-45 minutes, leaving you by the end of the day with just 1-2 hours of productive time in the BEST case scenario.
I love this analogy, borrowed from this Reddit comment:
Imagine developers are like miners. digging is our job. Every time you have a meeting, we need to pack our things, and get to the entrance of the mine on time.
After the meeting is finished, we need to walk alllll the way back to where we were working, assuming we even remember the right path...
So if you want us to get you some diamonds, LET US WORK IN PEACE.
In the famous “Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule”, Paul Graham wrote:
When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.
Software engineers need at least 4-5 hours of uninterrupted time a day, and it’s our job as managers to provide it.
How can we create deep work time
Improve the meeting culture at your company
It’s not that hard to fix - you ‘just’ need to get all the managers to commit to basic rules:
Meetings should be effective - obvious right? But still rare… Have a clear agenda, and clear outcomes.
Have a fixed daily time for meetings - and leave big chunks of ‘no-meetings’ time. You can either do no-meeting days, or no-meeting hours, it depends on your organization. That’s what worked for
:
Invite only people who are really needed - this is something that remote work is bad at - it has become too easy to just invite everyone. People think to themselves: “Worst case, they’ll multitask, and be available in case they are needed”.
This is an awful approach! Remember - you cannot achieve a flow state while multitasking.Go async where you can - a big percentage of meetings can be Slack threads, or emails.
Set an example
Once you get the meetings under control, you can deal with the other interruptions.
The best way to create a good culture is to cherish your own deep work time, and make sure your team respects it. I have to admit that I’m still struggling with this one - I schedule focus time in my calendar, and put on my headphones, but I still sometimes check Slack and answer when interrupted.
I know this sets a bad example for my team - deep work time should be sacred, and people should know it’s completely acceptable to not be available in Slack for a couple of hours.
How do you become better at deep work?
So the meetings are under control, and nobody bothers you. Turns out deep work is STILL a hard skill to master.
To work deeply is to focus every bit of brain power on solving a problem. Newport’s research shows that modern life changed our brains. Test yourself - how long can you work without reaching for your phone, or visiting some website?
No distractions means – no emails, no Slack, no WhatsApp, no Instagram, no notifications!
We need to teach our brains how to be patient again. When starting a deep work period, Newport suggests setting a target, something feasible but hard to achieve.
For example - let’s say want to practice, and set aside 60 minutes for deep work, to work on a specific programming task.
After 20 minutes, you get stuck, but you have your ‘non-deep’ time (where you can talk to people on Slack) only in 40 minutes. In this case - don’t break the deadline. Yes, even if it’ll take you longer to solve that problem - you’ll reap the long-term benefits of training your brain.
If you are “nothing-I-can-do-without-help’’ stuck (which should be very rare), you can move the deadline closer (for example 20 minutes from now), but never break the focus time immediately.
Slowly, you’ll improve.
Final words
If you do this one right, I’m 100% sure your team will thank you.
It’s up to you to create a culture that supports deep work, and respects people’s quiet times.
Cal Newport’s book recommendations
If you like the genre, you’ll enjoy some of the books Newport suggests. For an easy way to save them, I created the list in BookWiz for you:
What I enjoyed reading this week
The unspoken skill of finesse by
- this one hit home. It’s a crucial skill I’m missing, Wes provided great tips on how to improve it. Crucial for managers!5 symptoms of a project with a tech-debt problem by
. Simple checklist to see how bad is it in your company.Earth AI by
. Another amazing deep dive article, on a unique company, that combines mining with AI.
That's because humans are social animals, not work horses. We didn't evolve to live in office chairs/desks as we do today, so of course there's a physiological impact. When we're kept from our family/friends for 8 hours of course we'll be mentally preoccupied during work checking our phones to cope.