Hey, I know this unusual for /prog/ but I need some advice.
When I am programming, the slightest distraction causes me to completely lose focus on whatever I was working on. I don't mean someone stopping by my room to ask me a question or something so trivial. I live with 4 other people in the house and the walls are fairly thin, allowing me to hear every conversation being had in the house. I didn't used to have this problem but now I can't focus on any of my work. I tried putting headphones on, but I don't really like programming while listening to music. I was thinking about earplugs but I feel like someone on /prog/ has done serious programming in a much louder environment. Any tips for tuning out background noise?
It takes a lot of discipline, but you can get around it by constantly reminding yourself of what you were thinking about. I often loose focus even without any distractions. It's ok as long as you can pick up where you left off.
hearing talking voices interrupts me too. instead of regular music, perhaps some very ambient music, soft noise, or rain sounds on your headphones would work.
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Anonymous2012-03-04 20:19
Well... you could try and see if you've got ADHD, if so Ritalin may be a decent route. In my experience it doesn't really murder your soul as everyone says, it just makes concentration easier. You may have a problem focusing too much on your work while under its influence. The first few times I took it I ended up completely drained, it was painful.
If the above doesn't apply to you, or don't wish or can't take those measures, try with white/brownian noise. If you are using a Unix OS, try with SoX. You can use it to generate tuned noise continuously or dump a recording into a file. I've found it makes concentration easier.
Unfortunately I haven't found yet a way to cope with my concentration problems naturally myself, so I can't offer much more advice. Some people claim that setting up a reward system helps them beat ``procrastination'', but that's a bit long term, and I haven't come up yet with one which doesn't tire me, distracts me much, or some such.
The pomodoro technique I find to be actually distracting, so I dropped it early.
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Anonymous2012-03-04 20:29
>>5
I had some bad experiences with Ritalin when I was prescribed to it in High school. Made me very irritable and nauseous all the time. My problem isn't the ability to focus in general, just when I can hear conversations crystal clear for hours at a time. I don't have a procrastination problem, I just have to wait till everyone is asleep to focus properly. I will look into SoX/soft noise/ rain sounds though.
Thanks /prog/ for not trolling!
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Anonymous2012-03-04 20:33
Keep this white noise running as background noise. Good quality white noise helps people concentrate and relax.