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Boyan Iliev
Boyan Iliev

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5 Tips On How To Stay Motivated And Productive As A Developer

Introduction

Whether you are a senior developer, or you have just started getting into code, there comes a time when you start losing motivation. It is normal to lose motivation and that lack of motivation can sometimes stick for a long time. Unfortunately, there can be hundreds of reasons that can make you lose motivation. For example, you can't get your code to run the way you want it to. This happens to a lot of us and it can be hard to get back to being productive.

In this post, I would like to share with you some tips that you can try to help you stay motivated or get that motivation back.

Stay off your phone

It's no secret that our mobile devices are very addictive. Of course, some people can't afford to stay off their phone because it is connected with their work. But for most of us, it is a big waste of time. When we surf the internet we can really lose motivation. Spending way too much time on social media, YouTube, or Netflix can make us lose motivation and even make us depressed. This is why when you start feeling down and feel that you are getting a little unproductive, just leave your phone at the other end of the room. Or just try to stay off of it for as long as you can.

I noticed that this really helped me to be more concentrated and made me enjoy much more the time I spent coding.

Set mini-goals for you to complete

If you don't have a daily to-do list, I highly recommend that you make one. You can add in it all the stuff that you want to achieve the next day. So the night before you go to bed make a list and add a few small tasks to it. Some that will be helpful for you, but at the same time not that hard. When you finish one of those tasks and see the progress that you've done when crossing it out from your list will give you a boost of motivation.

Also, I would recommend that you try to complete the hardest tasks first. I personally prefer to get them out of the way first and then do the other stuff.

Wake up properly

The worst thing to do when you wake up is to get straight away on your phone. You've just slept 7-10 hours and you're body is dehydrated and your brain is confused. And it's not the best idea for your eyes to be staring at a screen before they have even opened up yet.

I would recommend that you lay in bed for 5 minutes so that you can fully wake up. Then go drink as much water as you can so that you can hydrate after a night of sleeping. Try to stay off any screens for as long as you can in the morning so that your body and mind can get ready for the day. You will feel much more energetic and will have all the power to do all of the stuff that you have to.

Surround yourself with tech-related stuff

Try to make the stuff you do during the day as connected to web development as possible. Seeing what other people create and the knowledge their share on all the different web dev community websites really makes you feel like you are a part of something big and lift you up. Try to chat with as many developers as you can. We have such an amazing community that just by getting surrounded by it can give you the motivation you need. Some of these sites are the DevDojo website and DEV. Also, another cool thing is the daily.dev extension.

Try sharing some of your knowledge or share a project your working on. See all the feedback you get. You can learn so many things that way. Or you can help someone else learn something. It's really fun and it can really boost your motivation and productivity when you see other developers that have the same interests as you.

And finally:

Look back at the things you have accomplished

When you think that you are stuck and can't get anywhere, for example, if you don't know how to get your code to run properly, just sit for a moment and think of how you used to be when you started programming. Think of all the progress that you have made in the last couple of months. This can boost your motivation and productivity by seeing how far you've come.

Conclusion

These things have really helped me stay motivated and productive. I kept losing motivation because I had to study for my exams and then I couldn't get motivated to code. When I started using these tips, I became more motivated than I have ever been.

I hope that this post has helped you get more productive and motivated!

Oldest comments (3)

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bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

Great tips! Setting mini-goals works very well for me! I tend to add things that I've already done to my to-do list as well, that way when I look at my to-do list at the end of the day it keeps me more motivated.

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dev_emmy profile image
nshimiye_emmy

Great article thanks!

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boiliev profile image
Boyan Iliev

Thanks! Happy to hear that!