Ask HN: How do you deal with interruptions while working?

Tend not to undertake "hard" things that will require hours of deep thought when there's a good chance of interruption.

After years of effort I've got to the point where I can pull my head out of a fun problem, let the dogs out or similar, and go back to work. If that errand chains out to something requiring real thought, I'm likely lose where im at in the problem, and need a while to get back into it. or do whatever the interruption required in an utterly half arse rush that I come back to later and go "WTF did i do here?"

I've got unpredictable medical issues that count as interruptions and some days keep me for aspiring to real work, regardless. Other times I can be rolling on something and realize I'm pushing myself in ways that have hurt me before. Sometimes I have the wisdom to stop then.

I commonly will drop a comment where i stop or in a "notes" file parallel to the project.

    # XXX smak template on here with which varbag?

or something that helps me see what i was thinking and where when i come back to it.

I try to write down what I was going to do next before stopping, but I’m not sure how much it helps. It’s a heavy hit, and I get a little frustrated when it’s not an emergency and it keeps happening.

Also: When you can't avoid interruptions how are you resuming your focus when you get back on task?

By decreasing my work quality/quantity