Death by a thousand distractions

Sunday: The optimist stubs a toe

Sunday night - the time usually reserved for dreading the week ahead. But for once, I was actually looking forward to it! I had some product work lined up that had me excited: building new features for our app that we expected our customers would genuinely love, and the technical stack I was going to use had me grinning from ear to ear. I felt a powerful sense of enthusiasm for what lay ahead. Little did I know what the realities of modern tech work had in store for me.

As I was eagerly thinking of all the fun I was going to have and getting ready for bed, I made the fatal mistake of checking my email. Three hour-long meetings were staring back at me from my inbox, all booked for Monday morning, back to back. Excitement instantly turned into anxiety. Why did I check my email before bed? Now, I’m stressed and probably won’t sleep well. But hey, the afternoon still looks open; maybe I can get some coding done then.

Monday: The unravelling

Monday morning arrives, and I find myself staring at the clock, counting down the minutes until my first meeting. Despite my initial excitement for the week, I now feel a strange reluctance to jump into any work. “What’s the point?” I think. The 3-hour back to back meeting extravaganza kicks off in 30 minutes, so I decide to catch up on some emails and Slack messages instead.

As soon as I open up Slack, I’m immediately bombarded with unread messages and ever growing threads. Someone’s having issues with a feature I worked on, and they need my help right away. A few other colleagues also have questions, and before I know it, I’m knee-deep in troubleshooting and trying my best to help. The minutes slip away, and I desperately scramble to grab a coffee before the first meeting begins.

Three hours later, I emerge from the marathon of meetings, utterly drained. I replay the conversations in my head, trying to recall anything productive that came out of them. It’s all a blur of voices, agendas, and decisions that, in the end, could’ve been resolved with a few thoughtful Slack messages. Worse, I’m not even confident my input was correctly interpreted - I’ll likely have to follow up later.

It’s lunchtime now, and despite an afternoon free of scheduled calendar intrusions ahead of me, I feel exhausted. My mind is cluttered, my motivation has all but boiled away. Coding? Maybe after a break. I promise myself that after lunch, I’ll finally get to the work I was so excited about. A promise that proves impossible to uphold.

Tuesday to Thursday: The grind

The rest of the week unfolds in a fuzzy mess of interruptions. Tuesday morning kicks off with another string of meetings, each one flowing manically into the next. I try to carve out time between them to start on the coding I was so eager to dive into, but the constant ping of Slack notifications keeps pulling me away.

Every time I attempt to focus, another message demands my attention. A bug report here, a quick question there - each interruption shatters what little concentration I can muster. I feel like I’m playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, with no time to fully immerse myself in the work that truly matters.

By Wednesday, the fatigue is setting in. My initial enthusiasm has been sliced away, replaced by a growing sense of frustration. All these meetings seem to serve no real purpose other than to fill up my calendar, and the constant context switching leaves me mentally exhausted. Even when I manage to find a quiet moment, my mind is too cluttered to get anything meaningful done.

Thursday comes and goes, and with it, any hope of making significant progress on my project. The week has become a blur of meetings, Slack messages, and unfinished tasks. I’m barely keeping up, and the excitement I felt on Sunday night is a distant memory.

Friday: A glimmer of hope

Friday arrives, and I choose to make a final stand for my sanity. After the chaos of the past few days, I decide that enough is enough. I block out my calendar for the entire day - no meetings, no interruptions. This day is reserved for coding, and coding alone.

To make sure I can focus, I turn off Slack notifications and set my status as do not disturb. I let my team know that I’ll only be checking in at lunch and once in the afternoon. Surprisingly, they’re supportive; some even applaud the move. It feels good to set these boundaries, but a part of me is still panicked and edgy - what if something urgent comes up? What if I’m needed?

After reigning my FOMO (fear of missing out) anxiety in, I sit down at my desk, open my code editor, and… nothing. My mind is showing a flashing battery icon with a strike through it, completely drained from the week’s relentless interruptions. I stare at the screen, trying to force myself to find the energy to dive into the work I was once so excited about. But it’s no use. The week has wrung me dry.

I push on, determined to salvage what I can of the day, but the joy and creativity I usually find in coding are nowhere to be found. Instead, it feels like a slog - just another task to get through.

Sunday night: A new resolve

And just like that, it’s Sunday night again. But this time, the excitement I felt a week ago has been replaced with a sense of dread. The thought of facing another week of constant interruptions and unproductive meetings is clawing at my very soul. Yet, amid the fatigue, there’s a glimmer of hope.

While the past week drained me, something about Friday felt “right,” even if it hasn’t paid off just yet: boundaries. I realise that while I can’t control every meeting or Slack message, I can control how I respond to them. If I want to carve out focus time for the truly important work, I need to plan my calendar upfront and set clear expectations with my colleagues.

The week ahead might not be perfect, but I’m adamant it won’t be a repeat of the last. I’ll protect my deep work time, communicate my needs, and encourage others to do the same. Maybe, just maybe, next Sunday night will feel a little more hopeful.

How does this resonate with you?

Does this story resonate with you? How do you protect your focus and maintain your energy in a world rampant with interruptions? Please, let me know!