I listened during my commute to the latest HanselMinutes. This time it was a bit different. Scott talked Tim Ferriss, the author of the best seller “The 4-Hour Work Week“.

One of the things Tim talked about why working on email on a plane is more productive than doing that in the office. The two reasons, there are no replies coming in sidetracking you, and the second was that the environment confines you – you cannot do anything, so you focus on your work.

I see the resemblance to a couple of agile methods here – Setting up a fixed iteration confines you, and make you focus on the iteration goals. Also, in pair programming the pairing “confines” you and focuses both persons on the work.