I am going to break down what helps me most to stay productive throughout the day.
It's a ToDo list 📝
Not just any ToDo list, I need a daily ToDo list 📆
Why first?
Because without a deadline, I am never going to accomplish any task.
If the task looks big and I am afraid of the complexity, break it into small tasks and do it one by one.
So when I finish/tick off the task and review completed tasks in my ToDo list, I will gain confidence, empowerment, happiness, and, most important, I will increase my productivity level too.
Time flies while you're having fun, but then one day your bio says something about being a 30+ year veteran in software engineering. Still, I've not seen it all, let alone done it all (yet).
Yes, task lists help with immensely (I like old fashioned pen and paper the best).
However, for me there is something more important, at least for coding - eliminating interruptions and distractions. That means closing down the mail client, putting the phone into flight mode, closing the door, putting out (figuratively) the do not disturb sign, and asking/making people to respect that.
I don't code 100% of my time (not even close, anymore), but when I do, I ensure it's going to be in focused sessions.
Never tried napping. I imagine I'd just wake up all confused.
The original reason for exercising at lunchtime was all about ... well, doing exercise. I couldn't squeeze it in to any other time in the day. I then noticed that I felt awesome afterwards, and that those were my most productive afternoons. So really it's just a fortunate side-effect.
Whether you wake up confused or refreshed and ready to go depends on in which sleep stage you wake up in (light, REM or deep).
If you wake up in REM, you’re going to be slightly confused.
If you wake up in deep, you’re going to be completely confused and feel very bad until the end of the day.
If you wake up in light, just before starting to fall in deep sleep, you’re going to feel refreshed, and ready to go.
When I need a nap like this I use an app that detects my body movements (using accelerometer) and wakes me up roughly in 15-20 minutes at the right moment when the sleep stage is the lightest. Here is one such app for iOS.
I believe that long to-do list should only live in the backlog, the day to day to-dos must be short (3/4 main goals per day) with that we can adjust our to-do in case of emergency.
Having a good night sleep. As a non-coffee guy this is crucial for me.
Knowing what to do from the night before.
Being able to do a few chunks of time blocking work. I have noticed that 4 45min chunks of fully focused work can lead to enormously higher output comparing to those who don't.
I have a whiteboard on the wall when I look up and towards my right.
It's right there in my face. It works so much better than having a ToDo app somewhere, which I don't always remember to open.
So the whiteboard is like a goal post for me.
I get a tremendous rush when ticking something off!
Smaller more fine grained lists are written on paper.
You see, I don't like having pieces of paper lying around, so I try to go through the paper list as quickly as possible.
Having a physical whiteboard is a great way to stick to a goal -- people, perceive the information better when it's visualized and works as a reminder 💯
"I get a tremendous rush when ticking something off!"
I have the same feeling, especially when I can add tomato-emojis to the completed task as a spent time counter 🤭
When I am working on a project for a client I usually like to work close to the trello board that I create for the project, and I always try to reflect the current changes I’ve made and how it affects the project as a whole. It’s easy to lose sight of the end game if you aren’t keeping track of your progress. This is very similar to the task list that you are talking about.
It’s the same thing we do with my co-maker. All our work items in Trello and we update it very frequently, like 20-30 times per day (adding new tasks need to be done, changing existing one, completing them, rearranging them, adjusting self-imposed deadlines, etc.)
Software Engineer @SciFY.
Live to learn something new -and write cleaner and more sustainable code- every day.
Passionate with learning and discovering new technologies, history, and psychology.
Software Engineer @SciFY.
Live to learn something new -and write cleaner and more sustainable code- every day.
Passionate with learning and discovering new technologies, history, and psychology.
Very good, this looks a best way to finish somewhere task, i try to use this way for execute my tasks on my job, in the beginnig where everything looked very hard, i followed this steps and everything was be ok in the final haha, sorry, my english is so bad haha, hugs from brazil !!!!
Do you use the basic Pomodoro technique (focus time + breaks), or are you using an advanced version, where you add a micro-planning session every few Pomodori?
(micro-planning results in a set of actionable tasks, each one can be completed in 3-7 minutes, and you plan how much tasks, and in which Pomodoro you’re planning to achieve).
And the more work you need to do (or the harder it is), the more exercise you need to get on that day. It’s counter-intuitive (because if you have a lot of work, how do you find time to exercise more?). In reality, if you have a lot of work to do, you cannot not exercise. The ratio that I use is 20 minutes of exercise per 6 hours of work.
Yes, paradoxically you should take more time away from doing the work that consumes that time.
To wit, productivity can be analogous to sleep-Just because you got 9 hours of sleep, doesn't necessarily mean it was quality sleep. The same can be said of productivity, especially in the context of software development.
how do you find time to exercise more?
It's not so much about "finding" the time, but more about maximizing my time. I really try to create systems in place: physical, mental, social, and even software systems 😉 to achieve more with less. Maybe a twenty minute workout can be more intense than another persons hour workout. Maybe by prioritizing and grouping tasks in such a way helps with context switches.
I would argue that exercise should garner more attention and importance for this type of career, because it not only helps with being productive that same day, but it also helps manage stress over long periods of time that helps avoid burnout. One of its biggest attributes is the ability to help mitigate the damage being done to the body from the result of many hours, days, months, years in front of a keyboard and monitor.
Thanks! Good question, you can relate the task on your hand with somethings that excite you. For example, I want to do my favorite sport earlier today, so I have to finish this sooner.
It keeps evolving, nowadays I have a three-way approach.
I'm on the pomodoro technique, and each day after checking my calendar I have a target saying I want to finish N pomodoro on this and that topics
I have a task list, I can pick whatever from it when needed
Each evening I set three goals for the next day. Not more, not less. I communicate it with my accountability partner and I reread/repeat it in the morning.
This works quite well. I know, I cannot just do nothing, because I have targets to achieve every day, even though I would prefer to take a nap on my desk. :)
Todo lists, noise cancelling headphones, staying hydrated and recently started turning off all social media notifications (including texts), which helped a lot too.
I am going to break down what helps me most to stay productive throughout the day.
It's a ToDo list 📝
Not just any ToDo list, I need a daily ToDo list 📆
Why first?
Because without a deadline, I am never going to accomplish any task.
If the task looks big and I am afraid of the complexity, break it into small tasks and do it one by one.
So when I finish/tick off the task and review completed tasks in my ToDo list, I will gain confidence, empowerment, happiness, and, most important, I will increase my productivity level too.
I will be in momentum to proceed further 🌟
__
Photo by Moose Photos from Pexels
Yes, task lists help with immensely (I like old fashioned pen and paper the best).
However, for me there is something more important, at least for coding - eliminating interruptions and distractions. That means closing down the mail client, putting the phone into flight mode, closing the door, putting out (figuratively) the do not disturb sign, and asking/making people to respect that.
I don't code 100% of my time (not even close, anymore), but when I do, I ensure it's going to be in focused sessions.
Thank you very much for your reply! 🙂
When I have worked at the previous company, we had "core hours," which were dedicated to Deep Work sessions.
Great question! I've tried a number of things over the years. These have been the most successful:
Learning to say 'No'. It's the quickest way to get your time back. (But do it nicely!)
Exercise at lunchtime. With it, the afternoon flies by; without it, the afternoon draaaaags.
The Pomodoro technique -- i.e. 25-minute blocks of work -- can help, although interruptions can stop that
Don't attempt to multitask. I'll just end up doing two jobs badly.
Never waste time writing a long email. No one wants to read it. (This is a new one for me, and it's made a big difference.)
Start the day knowing what jobs need to be done -- as you say, a ToDo list.
Thank you very much for your tips! 🙏
Have you ever tried to take a nap during lunchtime instead of exercising?
I noticed that some of my ex-colleagues do that and then feel much more productive.
Never tried napping. I imagine I'd just wake up all confused.
The original reason for exercising at lunchtime was all about ... well, doing exercise. I couldn't squeeze it in to any other time in the day. I then noticed that I felt awesome afterwards, and that those were my most productive afternoons. So really it's just a fortunate side-effect.
Whether you wake up confused or refreshed and ready to go depends on in which sleep stage you wake up in (light, REM or deep).
When I need a nap like this I use an app that detects my body movements (using accelerometer) and wakes me up roughly in 15-20 minutes at the right moment when the sleep stage is the lightest. Here is one such app for iOS.
I see a lot of comments around a TODO list but none around prioritizing your TODO.
My list is long so I usually have to say yes, later to a lot of what's on the list, and pick the most critical ones on it for the day.
You are right! Prioritizing before performing is crucial 👍
I believe that long to-do list should only live in the backlog, the day to day to-dos must be short (3/4 main goals per day) with that we can adjust our to-do in case of emergency.
Definitely. but it’s still a TODO list, just in the future. It’s important to choose what to do now and today.
Agree!
Having a good night sleep. As a non-coffee guy this is crucial for me.
Knowing what to do from the night before.
Being able to do a few chunks of time blocking work. I have noticed that 4 45min chunks of fully focused work can lead to enormously higher output comparing to those who don't.
You probably are going to enjoy this night routine then.
I will check it out. Thanks Ilona.
The world famous ToDo list.
I have a whiteboard on the wall when I look up and towards my right.
It's right there in my face. It works so much better than having a ToDo app somewhere, which I don't always remember to open.
So the whiteboard is like a goal post for me.
I get a tremendous rush when ticking something off!
Smaller more fine grained lists are written on paper.
You see, I don't like having pieces of paper lying around, so I try to go through the paper list as quickly as possible.
And coffee!
Having a physical whiteboard is a great way to stick to a goal -- people, perceive the information better when it's visualized and works as a reminder 💯
I have the same feeling, especially when I can add tomato-emojis to the completed task as a spent time counter 🤭
haha, yes, I can add tomato emojis to the whiteboard too, I use RED marker :D
For more motivation ✌️
When I am working on a project for a client I usually like to work close to the trello board that I create for the project, and I always try to reflect the current changes I’ve made and how it affects the project as a whole. It’s easy to lose sight of the end game if you aren’t keeping track of your progress. This is very similar to the task list that you are talking about.
It’s the same thing we do with my co-maker. All our work items in Trello and we update it very frequently, like 20-30 times per day (adding new tasks need to be done, changing existing one, completing them, rearranging them, adjusting self-imposed deadlines, etc.)
Slack? 🤭
Indeed, this messaging app integrated well with many 3rd party apps (like Google Drive) so I can search for shared documents there as well :)
👍
Very good, this looks a best way to finish somewhere task, i try to use this way for execute my tasks on my job, in the beginnig where everything looked very hard, i followed this steps and everything was be ok in the final haha, sorry, my english is so bad haha, hugs from brazil !!!!
"Divide and Conquer," but only problems and challenging tasks! 💪
Greetings from Berlin! 👋
Pomodoro technique is a good choice to stay focused on something big and unpleasant
Do you use the basic Pomodoro technique (focus time + breaks), or are you using an advanced version, where you add a micro-planning session every few Pomodori?
(micro-planning results in a set of actionable tasks, each one can be completed in 3-7 minutes, and you plan how much tasks, and in which Pomodoro you’re planning to achieve).
I have used basic
Exercise
🏋🏽♂️🏃🏽♂️🏊🏽♂️🧘🏽♂️
Get the heart and dopamine going
And the more work you need to do (or the harder it is), the more exercise you need to get on that day. It’s counter-intuitive (because if you have a lot of work, how do you find time to exercise more?). In reality, if you have a lot of work to do, you cannot not exercise. The ratio that I use is 20 minutes of exercise per 6 hours of work.
Yes, paradoxically you should take more time away from doing the work that consumes that time.
To wit, productivity can be analogous to sleep-Just because you got
9hours of sleep, doesn't necessarily mean it was quality sleep. The same can be said of productivity, especially in the context of software development.It's not so much about "finding" the time, but more about maximizing my time. I really try to create systems in place: physical, mental, social, and even software systems 😉 to achieve more with less. Maybe a twenty minute workout can be more intense than another persons hour workout. Maybe by prioritizing and grouping tasks in such a way helps with context switches.
I would argue that exercise should garner more attention and importance for this type of career, because it not only helps with being productive that same day, but it also helps manage stress over long periods of time that helps avoid burnout. One of its biggest attributes is the ability to help mitigate the damage being done to the body from the result of many hours, days, months, years in front of a keyboard and monitor.
Your brain loves exercise
I focus more on the mental state and health, since productive tools are very accessible nowadays.
Hey, Kane,
This is fantastic! How do you get motivated?
Hey Ilona,
Thanks! Good question, you can relate the task on your hand with somethings that excite you. For example, I want to do my favorite sport earlier today, so I have to finish this sooner.
It keeps evolving, nowadays I have a three-way approach.
Todo lists, noise cancelling headphones, staying hydrated and recently started turning off all social media notifications (including texts), which helped a lot too.
Closing Slack.
Keep my phone away.
Not going to office.
In that order O:)
I totally understand you 😂
Sleep. And that makes me productive at night 😊
NightOwl.