# The expensive extra step

> The costly part of checking a long-running job is not the few seconds at the terminal, but the attention held between checks.

- Published: 2026-08-09
- Author: PingRoom
- Theme: Better work
- Topics: developer notifications, long-running jobs, attention
- Canonical: https://pingroom.io/stories/the-expensive-extra-step
- Cover image: https://pingroom.io/stories/the-expensive-extra-step.webp
- Cover description: A person at dinner separated from a waiting terminal by a long red path

The developer said checking the terminal took only a few seconds.

He was right.

Open the laptop.  
Switch windows.  
Read the output.  
Return to dinner.

The check was cheap.

Remembering to check was expensive.

Part of his attention remained beside the terminal even when the rest of him had left.

Then the job learned how to reach him.

The product did not save four seconds.

It returned the hour between checks.