In the last 24 hours, I have probably written more code than I have in the previous week. It’s tested, solid, and ready to roll out. I now know how to get into this zone more easily in future. Even with Fresher’s Flu having an effect on my performance this last week, I’m surprised by my findings.

I’m typing this sat in a coffee shop overlooking Albert Square in Manchester. The sun is just about to dip below the buildings to the West, and the cobbles have that weird liquid gold colour they get in late Autumn evening light. It’s irresistible to sit here and stare and watch Mancunians go about their business. People all around me are talking, laughing, joking, arguing. A couple across the road just married at the Town Hall are having their photos taken, and the crowd is making a little noise.

Meanwhile I’m writing code (and this article), and it’s just struck me that right now, right here is when I am at my most productive.

I always thought my method was the exact opposite of this. Around a year ago, I wrote an article on “The Zone” and at the time observed:

‘Getting into the zone is not always easy. Different people have different techniques, nearly all of which involve a bit of peace and quiet and no interruptions.

…

Once you’re there, the worst thing that can happen is to be interrupted - I frequently shut down mail and IM clients when I want to make progress. When I used to work in shared offices, I would find a quiet corner. I shouted at people who interrupted me with trivial problems and put signs on my desk saying “Please don’t disturb unless building is on fire”.’

The key to my mind has always been to avoid interruptions. Peace. Quiet. That’s all you need, right? Well, not quite.

You see, I am not in a peaceful situation right now. It certainly isn’t very quiet. It’s actually quite a bit of a racket going on around me - coffee machines, frappes being mixed with ice, a dozen conversations, now I notice a kid is being a bit brattish in the corner. Yet here I am, working in perfect flow.

In the last year and a half I’ve mostly been working from home, and I’ve found it harder to get into the flow, the zone has been alluding me. My usual practice is to make sure absolutely nothing can disturb me and then try and work in complete silence. Except that’s really, really hard.

I think the important thing is, I need trivial noise in the background as that forces me to focus and try and block things out. Complete silence leaves a big empty noise in my head that needs to be filled with thought and it’s too easy to lose focus. A mild noise I need to work very slightly at blocking out forces me to really lock into the task in front of me. Hours could pass, and I wouldn’t notice, but for the cobbles dimming outside the window.

I still can’t get into zone thought if even one single phone call or IM message calls me away in the middle of something. Having a direct interruption is as dangerous as ever. So I’ve revised my thinking: “trivial distraction = good, direct interruption = bad”. I am starting to get into the habit of setting my status to “Away” when I’m working so I only get distracted by urgent/important issues.

It really has caught me by surprise though, just how solid the work I produce is when I’m sat in a coffee shop full of students. A year ago when I wrote the first article I would have laughed at anybody suggest anything like it. Now I know better, and will seek out coffee shops and places of mild, indirect distraction as often as possible.