There lies the problem. If its some unrelated people discussing stuff that doesn't interest us then its just background noise and get filtered out. But in office space it is exactly the opposite. You sit around with people who are doing similar work and most often what they discuss is directly or indirectly related to you/your-work. This is a problem.
Another thing i notice is that concentration is multi stage process. Sometimes when you are between something then its easy to get into the zone. But at times when doing some meta thinking, analysing where your thought process is correct or when trying to get grasp over a difficult problem, where again you have do analyse your thinking, it requires conscious effort to stay focused. If the environment is conducive then it becomes that much easier.
I can't not pay attention to background noise. It doesn't matter how irrelevant it is, or even if it is speech or not. I also always have to be on guard all the time in case some actually does try to speak specifically with me. Thus, I live in constant fear of interruption.
I'm not convinced many do that effectively. Definitely not with ADHD, which seems highly overrepresented in dev and IT generally, as there's no filter.
ALL distraction and noise is distracting to me though meds mitigate, as is happening to glance at my coffee mug, or noticing some movement as someone goes to the kitchen. If it's a small group, 2-4 is my preferred, conversation seems to settle on discussion of ideas, design and relevant topics, and settles into a rhythm. I prefer having someone to bounce ideas off. Much of the time the group is head down working - sometimes a little too much such that you start to feel it's getting unnaturally quiet round here.
If it's a large open plan space with all functions, or a small group of disparate workers, now everything is a distraction and pulls me out of focus all the time. There's no natural rhythm, or quiet spells, tied to the work. My focus is pulled to the support call, or the different product, or the discussion of golf (A game I have no interest in) way over there.
I know non-ADHD people have a filter, but they usually seem similarly affected, just not quite as much. Before meds I would be distracted by them being distracted. Fun times. :)
For me it's like I don't have as much of a "middle ground" like most people. Either I'm social engaged with people around me and tossing ideas around, or I'm super-focused and completely absorbed in work to the point of completely ignoring coworkers (which again doesn't go over well). Medication helps bring that filtering function from a step-function to more of a smooth "sigmoid" function. It's more for other people though than myself.
Making usage of those distracted times by communicating necessary details or help arrange effective sharing across projects helps a lot too. That "distractibility" can be a boon at times if honed. Still I like to put focused project work at night when others aren't around, but that's hard to maintain.
I don't have much middle ground either, and knowing I depend on external factors for motivation is why I like small groups. The peer pressure of 3 others having a quiet productive hour is assistive. The natural rhythm of breaks gives plenty of chances to ask the nagging question about the API you're writing etc. Meds mean I can be productive in that, not pick up every distraction, and I'm not depending on locking myself away behind headphones and tunnel focus on screen. I could be wrong, but it feels most productive for everyone.
I've found the distractability, and lack of patience with interests a huge help over the years, so long as I don't get carried away. Ended up collecting a bit of knowledge of a ridiculous range of fields and IT sub-niches. Lost count of the times it's helped me see the big picture, or the question no one else knew to ask. The downside is I've probably had more hobbies and interests - for a month or two - than everyone else in the office put together. :) Yep, for when you need to just produce, when the world and phones are quiet, nights are excellent.
In an open plan, that expectation is nearly 0%. Even if you're wearing headphones and wrap yourself in custom made police tape labelled GO AWAY, someone will still come up to your field of vision and poke you in the shoulder.
His manager told him that he's "unapproachable". LOL!
If you have a noisy environment, you probably shouldn't hire people with ASD/AD(H)D for example.
Pointy-haired bosses who can't tell what their reports are doing are more of a hallmark of cube farms than open offices.
Which may be illegal to do as it's disability discrimination in many countries.
Edit: Of course sufferers are under no obligation to mention ADHD prior to hiring.
If your brain is not working right it should be retrained so that it is. This site is supposed to be full of programmers and engineers. How the fuck can anyone in here not know how to reprogramme their own brain?
Chitchat in an open room filled with developers and their challenges is different to the drone of a loud machine, or chatter of factory workers whose interests might not overlap with yours. It's a bit like having the internet at your fingers - far too easy to be distracted by interesting chatter.
Your advice seems to advocate throwing people into the deep end and taking a sink or swim approach. Train people to concentrate until it's something that's familiar and available to them on demand, and then they can do it in the face of distraction.
That you managed to make it work the way you did is great. Some people may have much more trouble than you did in similar circumstances.
Or, you know, don't put them into a situation where they need yet another skill. Just give them a frickin' office.
Can you point at specific resources (name of the discipline, quintessential book about subject) for learning how to practice deep concentration, even in the face of very suboptimal environments?
There are many, many books. See Mindfulness in Plain English[1] for a good one that's available to read free online.
1. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html and more directly http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe1-4.html
Meditation is something different -- actually I find it has adverse effects on critical thinking.
The only thing that works for me is (courtesy Feynman):
1) State the problem.
2) Think hard.
3) Write down the solution.
I cannot do these steps for programming or math in "any environment". I could write Koans though.
If another person is extroverted, perhaps even to the point of being hyperactive, then meditation (as you described it) may help.
In general I see very little connection though between meditation and intellectual output. Many famous people who are known for taking to Buddhism did so after accomplishing their major works.
I also doubt that meditation, even if it leads to a rested mind, helps focusing in noisy environments.
[same person as above -- sorry dang!]
Why do you maintain this?
> I cannot do these steps for programming or math in "any environment".
I have noticed that sometimes, when I'm really deep in flow on a problem, I can power through people starting a conversation standing right behind my back. I can't get into a flow state with such distractions, but sometimes I can maintain it. I imagine you've had similar experiences.
What if you had explicitly practiced concentration to the degree that you could enter a state of flow in those circumstances? With training, is that possible for some people? Most people?
I hate slacking at work. Actually don't count it towards my hours unless it is compile time or reading something useful (biggest trap for me).
Yet what helps me is just removing 1. the interruptions (noise is OK) and ideally 2. the risk of interruptions.
1. helps me concentrate eventually. 2. helps me concentrate almost immediately.
So, no, privacy won't make me slack of and browse HN, that is what I do when I cannot do anything else but want to be in front of my PC anyway.
We should recognise that the same self discipline stopping oneself from checking reddit every 5 seconds is closely related to the ability to retain concentration.
The office I program in now is kinda quiet, but not quite. There's a someone who plays with something that makes a random clicking sound and another person who snorts their phlegm backwards up their nose and another who constantly snacks. This near-silence but with very annoying sounds at random intervals I find very difficult to filter.
On the other hand I can program just fine in a noisy cafe or a building site (which I have done).
While pressure helps and you won't sweat the small stuff, at some point you just wanted some peace and quiet and think about the problem
I think I did some of my best work when assigned a desk essentially in a corridor. A constant stream of people behind me, no privacy, noise etc. There was no half-concentration which privacy can encourage e.g. flicking to email/web every 5 mins. It was either get 100% wired in or don't bother trying. Concentration is partly a learned skill and being an environment of disruption is a training ground. Concentration begets concentration - if you have deep focus on a piece of work and made great progress, its much easier to get back to that state than if you have been farting around at the surface. If you have allowed yourself to indulge in "semi-work" then you are not like a rested athlete but an unfit one - you will have to train yourself back up to high-productivity.
The really tough environments have been temperature extremes (your mind/body just stops functioning), noise at the truly headache inducing level (sitting 10m away from a drive-train rig the size of an Olympic swimming pool) but the worst of all for me is emotional noise e.g. people bickering. Trapped in a small office with unpleasant people is where I say "never again".