Are You Distracted?

Wow, time flies. I forgot how much I could like going to work and getting into debugging on a tough problem without all the distractions.

What’s interesting is that the things I thought I would miss (daylight, large monitors) are not nearly as important when I have this ability to concentrate. I didn’t even know how much I needed it.

Which brings us to yet another factor that motivates us: what we need to do our best. When circumstances led to an environment in which I couldn’t concentrate, I focused on something I had some control over: where I sat relative to the windows.  I then became convinced that this was a very important part of my happiness at work. When I was looking for a new job, I thought this was something to consider.

Now that I have what I really needed, I can see what happened. But how long would I have gone on thinking that it was about windows?

Here is the thing: we get distracted. Sometimes literally, with interruptions and noises and discomfort. Sometimes by ideas that are off-base, by thinking that we need something that doesn’t really get us to where we need to be.  And 99% of the time, we’re left to figure it out on our own. Nobody is there to tell us we’re off track.

This is why I would love to have a mentor. It’s my big dream, you know, to have someone to ask about job stuff. How do I get a job with an office? What should I be learning? How do I get to do what so-and-so does? Maybe I’m the only one who feels like I’m out there on my own. Maybe not. Maybe I just haven’t been in the right place at the right time.

In the meantime, we can try. We can try to think about what we really need to do our best. We can try to ask for it, create it, invent it – whatever it takes. We can try to help ourselves. We can try to find the right path for who we are.

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