Programming is my crack, so usually I am trying to sell my addiction to my friends, if I am not programming it is usually because I am too busy talking about it (or playing with the cat)

Learn and understand something new => Talk about it for 20 mins => Repeat

Am I the only one who requires it to be - quiet - ?
No music, no TV, no distractions.

I get the most work done when I have something to listen to. I like talk radio style podcasts.

I just try to focus on it. But it rarely works. At best, I'll drink coffee.
Today, a fight with Blender! I have been using it for like 5 years and it still feels to me it's the most ankward thing on earth. Of course it's just me but...

Sometimes, I just need a good spiral notebook or scratch paper and a quiet room to think in. Then I go back to the computer after that moment of clarity, and I do nothing.

Having my midi keyboard beside me usually helps. if not, than some internet talk radio to massage the mind.

If I work in total silent, I start to talk to myself louder and louder (mostly gibberish or gibberish with cursing words or about fictional characters with unorthodox sexual habits).

So I rather listen to Voivod...

Usually when i dont have motivation to program its because i dont know how to write some thing properly (need to design a new set of classes etc.) so i browse forums until ive come up with a solution... takes days usually :c

I normally never listen to techno or dub-step, but actually like them when coding for a bit of mindless energy.

If you don't know about them already then check out the Going Quantum podcasts; pretty much my standard listening at work when coding.

[quote name='Ravyne' timestamp='1344836253' post='4968960']
I do cocaine.

Suddenly LOC becomes a whole different project metric...
[/quote]

And, interestingly enough, I bet "Lines of Cocaine" is actually a better metric of productivity than is "Lines of Code"

But what I *really* do is music. Generally something high-energy, and which is relatively mindless or something I'me too familiar with to become mentally engaged in. Otherwise it would become a distraction.

My modern music habits make this more difficult -- With media players or services like spotify its tempting to build large playlists or to skip tracks you don't feel like listening too, which takes you out of your work and makes it harder for it to just be background noise. When I was programming in high school I would frequently code for 8 or 10 hours listening to the same CD and completely ignoring it.