5 Simple Things Highly Productive Developers Do

Void⚡ - Dec 11 '22 - - Dev Community

I have spent fair share of hours trying to improve my productivity, rather than actually doing the things I wanted to be efficient on.

And then I realized this...

Ultimate developer hack is saying no

Here are my 5 simple habits that actually boost developer productivity.

Let's get started.

TL;DR

Track Time ⏰

Monitoring your time will make you aware of your unproductive habits.

If you constantly wonder where all your time went, this exercise can immensely help.

Create a spreadsheet and for each task log it’s:

  • Start time
  • End time
  • Total time
  • Break time

End of day, flag unwanted tasks and delays. Avoid them the next day.

Repeat this exercise until you are satisfied with your workday.

Task excel sheet

Aggressively Prioritize 📌

Working hard ≠ Working smart

Goal should be to maximize the value of your effort.

Use “Eisenhower Matrix” to create a prioritized todo list.

Categorize tasks into following:

  • Urgent and Important → Do them next
  • Urgent and not important → Delegate
  • Not urgent and important → Schedule
  • Not urgent and not important → Eliminate

Focus only on one task at a time.

Eisenhower Matrix

Remove Distractions 🔇

Once distracted, it takes ~23 minutes to regain focus.

Creating a schedule is irrelevant if you don’t protect it.

Some hacks that I use:

  • Disable notifications
  • Using noise cancellation headphones
  • Keep my phone on airplane mode

Notice what is distracting you. Get rid of it while working.

Automate Repetitive Tasks ⚙️

Automating tedious chores lets you focus on higher value work.

Reflect on your development workflow and ask — “what can I automate?”

You can set up automation for:
→ Documentation
→ Release notes
→ Code reviews
→ Tests

Choose tools which work best for your tech stack.

Take Regular Breaks ☕️

You can’t focus for long hours straight.

Short bursts of work are far more effective.

One technique which is popular among developers is — “Pomodoro technique”

You take:

  • 5 minutes break after a 25 minute work session.
  • 15-20 minutes break after 4 work sessions.

Use pomofocus.io as your pomodoro timer.

pomofocus.io

Wrapping up 📝

Hope these tips will help you in increasing your productivity.

Also, share in comments your best developer productivity tip.

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