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Comment by ilc | Hacker News Reader

Source: Principal Software Engineer, 25+ YOE.

You are far smarter than you think.

Learn to get into flow, and also figure out how to get your state back faster... Once you do, it is a super power.

Simple things like leaving your editor/IDE open, create the same situation you left. I personally use music + IEMs to help me block sound and focus. -30-35 DB off the IEMs, and +70DB off my music... yeah, I don't hear anything.

I learned the editor trick recently, though I'd probably done it un-intentionally for years. I stopped, and I was wondering what the inertia I was facing was. It is only 2-3m to get setup... that's 2-3m to lose my thoughts, etc.

Good luck.

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The reason I love vim and i3/kitty so much as a combination is exactly this. I have 4 monitors in the exact state I left them when I get back, with the last TODO comments I added and what the problem was (that I thought about deeply overnight).

For me the best way to get into the flow is by directly getting back to where I left. If I take time to wake up, make breakfast or anything else I usually lost my ideas already and it takes me hours to get back to them.

If you have a truly great idea. Write it down.

Just writing it down, will help you remember. If not: You have the paper.

>Just writing it down, will help you remember.

This is underrated. And, specifically...writing it down, with a pen or pencil. Typing it doesn't seem to have the same effect, even with some ritual of typing it into a fresh/separate document.

I'll second this. And something I've discovered is that using a good pen makes so much difference in the experience of writing.

I used to use whatever cheap ballpoint was around, and I had terrible handwriting. But on a friend's recommendation I tried a fine point gel pen, the Uniball Signo DX 0.38mm. It's such a joy to write with and my handwriting is orders of magnitude more legible.

There's apparently a whole world of pens (and pen enthusiasts) out there: https://www.penaddict.com/top-5-pens

I use emacs for everything I write for the same reason. Code, email, notes, plans, etc. I do all in emacs. The consistency in editing text helps me focus on what I am writing.

The only other software I usually have running on my work computer is a web browser.

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