Software Engineering with Noise

Development is a hobby for me, something I do after work. This is a challenge: you’re a bit tired, a bit unfocused, have to stop abruptly to help around the house or prep dinner.

What I did before (and sometimes still)

99% of the time what I did is ctrl+T (new tab) and press y to trigger a suggestion to open YouTube. There goes the next 10 minutes to search for, find and open a video, scroll around, read some comments, switch to the next. Did I say 10? Oh, its 20 minutes lost now.

Even once you put the right background video now, here’s your next problem: it’s hard to concentrate since someone’s talking into your ear.

Ultimately, I do a zebra-pattern: listen to a video for 10 minutes, switch to code. Code some, reach a milestone, switch to video.

What’s my mistake

I think the problem is a dysfunction in achieving flow state.

Code itself can be not stimulating enough to fill your entire stimulation capacity, leaving you craving for some additional mental load to put you just above the edge of your abilities.

Yet flow state also requires a constant feedback loop. The feedback you are getting is a mixture of code execution logs and totally unrelated speech.

What really works for me

Basically, any lofi rhythmic sounds. Something following a changing pattern which you can predict and adapt your predictions as the music flows.

My absolute top choice is an artist called nervous_testpilot (Bandcamp, Soundcloud). Ironically, one of his EPs is called “Music for Code”.

Second best is brown noise. Brown noise is heavier on the bass side compared to regular white noise which is an equal distribution of noise across all frequencies. It feels smoother.

It may be hard to start as it is much less interesting compared to someone talking or your favourite music. But after a minute you’ll notice yourself working in longer burst with clearer thoughts.