Utilising your senses to become a better developer 🖐️ 👀 🗣️
As developers, one of the biggest challenges we face is maintaining focus. No matter if we’re working from the office or from home, we are constantly surrounded by external stimuli which serve as distractions.
This could be a conversation between colleagues, the ping of Teams messages being exchanged, the notification bar showing yet another email, or the post worker delivering those Reese’s peanut butter cups you ordered while you were menstruating/manstruating at the weekend… 🥸
So, when we are constantly being bombarded with a multitude of sensory stimuli while working, how on earth are we supposed to main focus and absorb information?
Let me introduce to you: multisensory integration. This article will use practical examples to explain what multisensory integration is and how you, as a developer, can utilise it to improve your overall focus and learning.
What is multisensory integration?
We perceive the world through multiple senses (e.g. sight, sound, touch, smell, taste). Multisensory integration is the process of combining the information we receive from two or more of these senses, to help us build up a more robust picture of what’s happening around us. 🖼️
Imagine we already ate the Reese’s cups delivery we received this morning and now have to venture to the shop across the street to buy more snacks :(
Imagine now you’re crossing the road and the only sensory information you have is visual (maybe you’re wearing headphones). This is fine — it’s enough information for us to safely cross the road… 🦺
Imagine again that you’re crossing the road but this time you have both vision and sound to help you. Of course, this makes crossing the road a lot easier.
(You may have even been in a situation before where you took off your headphones to cross the street because it made it ‘easier’.) 🎧
The reason it’s easier is because this additional sensory information allows you to make a faster decision on whether it’s safe to cross the road, due to increased sensory ‘evidence’. 🧪
How does this relate to software development?
As developers, we’re constantly having to digest new information, whether this be a new programming language, updated documentation from an old programming language, or the millions of articles we receive in our inboxes each day from all those newsletter we signed up to.
Instead of relying solely on the visual aspect of reading these articles (which, let’s face it, we always have to read multiple times because we lose focus), you could also add an auditory element by using a screen reader.
In doing this, you’re adding another sensory element to your learning, which will result in the information being processed more efficiently.
(You’ll also find that you don’t have to read the same line 5 times to get it to stick…)
The auditory sense is an underutilised one amongst software developers, but it can truly make you a better developer when applied properly.👂
Consider pair programming: in these sessions, you typically explain your thought processes and code logic to colleagues. You verbalise them. In doing so, you reinforce your own understanding and improve your learning.
Other combinations of sensory input such as listening to a tutorial (auditory) while actively typing out code (kinaesthetic), will also boost your learning.
Enhancing Learning through Visualisation
Ok, even writing that subtitle made me feel a bit yoga guru but stick with me here… 🧘🏻♀️
Imagine you have to learn a new software architecture… urgh. Instead of relying solely on the monotonous written documentation, you could create visual diagrams that represent the architecture’s components and their relationships. 📊
The ‘simple’ act of drawing these diagrams engages your visual and spatial senses, helping you create mental models that improve your ability to retain the information. 🧠
Bonus — you’ll have these visual aids as a reference, should you or a colleague require them.
Conclusion
In the world of software development, there are new developments daily. For us, this means that the ability to ingest information quickly (and retain it) is a real competitive advantage. Understanding and utilising multisensory integration is a super easy way to absorb information faster, whether you work in the office or from home. So next time you have to read through some tedious documentation, try using a text-to-speech tool in addition, and be amazed at how much it helps! 💬
