Well, I'm not a very serious coder: I just work on a crappy programming language.
I'll take the interruptions and discussions involved in a highly social work environment that keeps me from writing code that is not necessary over a silent monastery that lets me build gleaming cubes of intellectual perfection that no one needs or that have been already built. (Caveat: with idiot coworkers, none of this applies.)
Sure, flow is important at times. It's also addictive. Programmers are introverts, undervalue communication and overestimate their understanding of, well, everything.
But I dip in and out of the flow. If I see an IM window blinking, I can ease myself out, get the code to the point at which I can re-enter smoothly, it only takes a minute or two usually. Whereas even "are you busy?", most annoying question ever, is enough to jolt me out.
I'll take the interruptions and discussions involved in a highly social work environment that keeps me from writing code that is not necessary over a silent monastery that lets me build gleaming cubes of intellectual perfection that no one needs or that have been already built. (Caveat: with idiot coworkers, none of this applies.)
Sure, flow is important at times. It's also addictive. Programmers are introverts, undervalue communication and overestimate their understanding of, well, everything.
Know thyself.