Time for #DEVDiscuss β right here on DEV π
Inspired by @inovak's Top 7 post, tonightβs topic is... time management!
Stepping up to any new role indeed brings a host of new responsibilities, and managing time effectively becomes crucial to maintain productivity and balance. Let us know how you manage your time between working, learning, and leisure!
Questions:
- How do you prioritize your tasks and projects?
- What strategies do you use to avoid or handle interruptions during focused work?
- How do you balance ongoing learning and professional development with your day-to-day responsibilities?
- Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?
Top comments (5)
Hey, this is super cool! Thrilled to be the source of inspiration for the #DEVDiscuss topic.
I try to imagine the various responsibilities as an array of games being played at the same time. Every move you make is a move played on all boards. Which moves create the greatest harmony across all games. On how many boards can you play one move that moves you towards your goals on each. Find the synergies!
I use my calendar to block out focus work time. Between four kids, hobbies, projects, and work, the calendar is where the chaos gets organized. I've educated the the folks in my various areas of focus that this time is sacred and is where I generate much of my value. Barring emergencies, it's respected for the most part which is all I could reasonably ask for!
I got into coding as a hobby in college because it was a fascinatingly fun, structured way to express creativity. It tickled my brain in all the right ways. I'm always reading and playing with new tools and technologies. I don't feel like I have to, more like I get to learn more about this stuff.
It's also important to note that, of course, a developer's output is measured in value delivered but the development part of being a developer isn't always hands-on-keyboard adding more lines to a file. Developing is thinking, trying new things, sketching potential solutions, playing on the whiteboard, talking with folks about problems, recalling stuff you've read and refreshing, consuming new material that would assist in the delivery of value.
As long as you're delivering value, what you do to facilitate the delivery of value, even if it's learning, is you're business.
The massive failure was losing myself to overworking for 5 years. I went into more detail in my first post The Guilt of Not Working, but suffice it to say that it's possible to force productivity but it's for sure not healthy and will cost you dearly. It sure did me and I've taken massive steps rebalance things.
Dev productivity, and productivity in general, is a super fun topic. Awesome prompt!
Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?
Too much to tell.
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
What strategies do you use to avoid or handle interruptions during focused work?
Probably the most useful steps were
How do you balance ongoing learning and professional development with your day-to-day responsibilities?
I don't have a huge bareer between my professional and personal life.
What strategies do you use to avoid or handle interruptions during focused work?
The same way Sisyphus roll up his boulder up an hill
Love this!
Feels similar to the philosophy I try to operate by: Alive By Default.
Using this idea, I try to figure out how to establish a minimum speed on the flywheel. Whether it's business, finances, lifestyle, anything. If all the inputs that contributed to the current speed on the flywheel stopped adding energy, how long would it continue to spin.
I handle interruptions like a stack. If the interruption can be handled in less than a minute, I handle it immediately and go back to my work. If an interruption occurred during the interruption, I handle it the same way. On the good days, I can go up to a stack of 3 to 4 interruptions. 4 is my mental load limit.
If the interruption cannot be handled in less than a minute, I create a TODO in my TODO list to handle it later.
I am a big timer person! I set timers for all sorts of tasks so that I can feel a sense of urgency and make sure I am focused during the time I have at hand. I try to also be forgiving with myself when I am having a bad focus day. I know it seems backwards towards the end of trying to be productive, but I find I become even more of a procrastinator when I am so fixated on the fact that I am procrastinating because I begin feeling self-conscious and my brain just takes a turn a bit. When I am able to budget my time to allow for more flexibility/understanding that I may just need more time and breaks for certain tasks, I am more able to get things done because I am putting less pressure on myself!
Short answer is that I just try my best! Long answer is that I lately have been making sure that I am budgeting in at least an hour a day for art time and for exercise time, so that my brain feels more excited to get everything else done! Caring for your brain is such a big system but I find that focusing on small changes helps me.