Thinking

There is one thing I am having a hard time with here. It is trying to accept that "thinking isn't work". Did I say that right? What I mean is no matter how much I know thinking is work, others will not accept it.

Let's start with the basic concept that time is not always interchangeable. Even having someone recognize that time matters is difficult but trying to explain that this 30 seconds was really worth five, 10 or 60 minutes is virtually impossible.

Really, I am not trying to spend a lot of words getting to my point but translating from "how it works here" to how you might feel is not that easy. It should be but it isn't.

Let me offer an example. Let's say I am designing an electronic circuit. I need to think about the inputs, the outputs, components with their relative costs and availability, size, and a lot more. Getting ready might consist of reading a lot of data sheets, checking to see what components I have and what I can buy and looking at schematics of other things. Let's call this "loading up the parameters".

I then start mentally evaluating options with possibly some scribbles on scratch paper. Some ideas could become schematics with comments. Others will be rejected. At this point, most of the parameters are in thought processes. And note that this is no different from lots of other things such as designing or debugging a computer program or even writing an article.

Enter the 30 second interruption. It usually starts with "can I interrupt you" or "can I ask you a question"? At this point, it is too late. Some number of those parameters that I am juggling fall on the floor. I have lost my train of thought. I will have to back up and re-think a lot of stuff.

I expect most of you reading this will now understand the problem. Back in 1979 I had this problem. I worked at home and much of the time there were two kids there as well. Being the only adult that was home, I got a lot of interruptions. My solution was a two-sided sign on my office door. Green was "ok to interrupt" and red was "unless someone is bleeding seriously, go away". It worked fine.

Jump forward 30 years and move the location from Olympia, Washington to Estelí, Nicaragua. The same solution does not work. It doesn't even work with adults. Those kids in Olympia seemed to understand because they sometimes had schoolwork that required some uninterrupted thinking time. Here, even if there was such schoolwork, as generally time doesn't matter, they can just restart.

I am not writing this to complain (or at least that isn't my primary goal). I am trying to find a solution that works. Two days ago I yelled at the wrong person because another person had interrupted my train of thought quite a few times while I tried to solve a problem.

In this particular case, I wasn't in a locked room with a sign. There were people around. I was working on a problem with a "planta" (portable gas-powered electric generator). The issue was much more of "Phil isn't saying anything so I need to contribute". I was, of course, putting together a mental picture with all the options.

His contributions were on the "already thought of that" list or just totally off base based on what we already knew. While that doesn't seem horrible, he was there to see that I had already considered that if he was willing to think rather than just fill silence with words.

The perception is "Phil can't work with others". The reality is that "Phil stopping to think is not compatible with others". Unfortunately, there are just some situations where thinking is pretty close to a requirement. As a step to address this, I have tried writing down the information. For example, doing a drawing related to the construction of a dome to show where the plumbing, windows and such are to be located. The result was similar—I could point to the drawing and show them what they were doing didn't match but nothing more.

Note that this is a typical experience. This is not always the case. I can name a few people that get it. That is, can see that I am occupied without having to ask. And those people vary in age from seven up. But, more often than not, interruption is the rule rather than the exception.

When I moved here my goal was not to be a hermit. I have things to contribute and would like to do that. Is there a solution or should I just become that hermit and write things for those that actually can learn from reading about what someone thought about?