How do you deal with the more mundane parts of programming tasks?

Question

My experience as a developer is that many projects or tickets are a mix of a short and focused very interesting task (e.g., designing some API or a platform to solve something) and a lot of repetitive and mundane tasks that cannot be automated (such as certain refactorings to use the API or platform, implementation of certain tests, some GUI handling, etc). I believe that this is the nature of our profession, unless we are high-level architects or managements and can delegate this work.

The only item in my personal arsenal when dealing with these tasks is to devote some of my attention to radio or audiobooks (preferably not in English as I find it hard to concentrate on two "streams" of English at the same time). I maintain sufficient attention to carry the task and don't lose concentration as fast.

I'm wondering how others cope with these and maintain concentration.

Answer 1

"a lot of repetitive and mundane tasks that cannot be automated"

I find it very smoothing and comforting, which is why I love programming so much.

"a short and focused very interesting tasks"

Which is why I LOVE PROGRAMMING so much!.

Therefore, it is easy to concentrate on the details. It is just a game, puzzle if you will, that I love to play.

Answer 2

Compiling is mundane, so I deal with it like this:

But actually, I listen to music when I am doing something repetitive. It helps me get in the zone. Something else that I also do is taking short breaks. Either to clear my head and walk around, or to focus on something different for a while - like read a bit of a programming book (currently I'm reading Effective Java 2nd ed, and Clean Code), or maybe check out a programming blog, or even check out youtube or something silly for a while. It ensures that I don't get too bored and annoyed and clears my head enough to get back to the mundane task and knock it out.

Also, if it's automate-able, I'll write a script for it :).

Answer 3

Anything that I have to do more than once, I automate.

Thus, my mundane/repetitive tasks turn into automation tasks, and I never have to do anything more than once.

Answer 4

As has been said already, "Anything that I have to do more than once, I automate."

However, there are mundane or boring tasks that aren't 'automatable' (or would take too much effort, or whatever). Most of the time while I am programming, I have several windows up. If I'm working on my own linux boxes I'll have up at least one terminal, several emacs windows, and firefox. At work I'll have firefox, thunderbird, visual studio, and sql server manager.
The common thread here is firefox - I have several tabs within the browser that I keep open, and on the long boring repetitive tasks not only will I have music playing, but every few minutes I will flick to my gReader, personal e-mail, or a forum. It may not sound like it does much for concentration, but the way my mind jumps around when I'm dealing with a mundane task it's already pretty much a subroutine; doing relatively thoughtless things such as forum-going, deleting unwanted emails, or reading my latest nerdy rss entry keeps me from becoming so bored I just stop, and also lets my mind chug away on the details of the task at hand.

Answer 5

As an almost aside, you may have adult ADHD. Thought about getting tested? It's not really a stigma anymore and there are many ways to deal with it. ADHD is an evolutionary trait, not a biological defect, that sometimes leaves those with it at a disadvantage in some areas, and many advantages in others. Repetitive work is one of the former.

-Oisin