
Ask HN: What to do while compiling? - demirb
I tend to get distracted and check hn, reddit when compiling. This disrupts my thought line &amp; I sometimes stay on these sites after the compiling is over.<p>What can I do to stay focused when compiling? What do you do to solve this problem?
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Jtsummers
Figure out why compilation takes so long and if there's any way to improve it.

Get compile times down to more reasonable levels. Use the shorter breaks for
checking on things in your issue tracker to start on whatever is next in your
queue.

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afarrell
You can use [https://freedom.to/](https://freedom.to/),
[https://selfcontrolapp.com/](https://selfcontrolapp.com/), or /etc/hosts to
block reddit when you want to work.

You can also listen to Lord of the Rings on audiobook[1] to occupy your mind
while you wait. You're probably familiar with the storyline, so you don't have
to worry about missing something important when you aren't paying attention to
it. Trying to make that time productive is going to lead you to feel frazzled
as you keep context-switching.

[1] [http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Classics/The-Fellowship-of-
the-R...](http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Classics/The-Fellowship-of-the-Ring-
Audiobook/B004FTVZFG)

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cauterized
Technically I spend time waiting for tests to run rather than for compilation,
but same problem.

It's a good time for a trip to the restroom or to refresh your beverage, but
you can't do that every 5 min.

I'll often deal with email (our issue tracker sends email for comments, so
there's usually something to deal with there) or catch up on slack.

There's always something that needs code review.

I'll check some monitoring dashboards for servers I'm responsible for.

And I have project management responsibilities along with the code-related
ones, so I can take care of some of that.

Of course, all of those other than the first require significant context
switching, but so does reading HN.

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douche
As we all know, office chair sword fighting.
[https://xkcd.com/303/](https://xkcd.com/303/)

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applecrazy
Make a coffee for yourself. This allows you to get out of your desk and moving
and has the added benefit of keeping you away from your computer.

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mbrock
[http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com](http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com)

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hsa4wsau4u
I switched to go, which has blazing fast compile times and increased my
productivity at least 10-fold. YMMV

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sfrailsdev
I generally try to write comments and documentation while code compiles.

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yolesaber
Walk around. Go outside. Enjoy life.

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miguelrochefort
This.

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meira
IRC (not focused).

