TL;DR style notes from articles I read today.
5 developer environment hacks to increase productivity
- Use iTerm2 or Bash to know which Git branch you are working on and its status.
- Use Tmux to manage multiple window splits with fast shortcuts and hot-keys. The screen function also lets you suspend sessions and return to them later.
- Shell Aliases are handy to remember the syntax for tedious commands and long-winded texts.
- Organising code directories helps differentiate between cloned repositories and something you might be tinkering with locally.
- Ripgrep is way faster than git-grep and can blaze through lines and lines of code to find what you’re looking for quickly.
Full post here, 4 mins read
Become a better developer by mastering the superpower of deep work
- Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task, to produce results in less time. To develop a good deep work habit, add routines to your work life.
- Check your agenda for important meetings and plan your day’s deep work sessions, breaks, and shallow work.
- Arrive at work well before colleagues, when there is no noise, no meetings & no demands that require context switching.
- Once your teammates arrive, take a social break or do some shallow work - answer emails, check feeds, engage in the daily scrum. Then tackle another deep work session.
- Create a shutdown ritual to end the day - answer important emails, update task statuses and do small tasks that help you prepare for tomorrow.
- Once you leave, practice stopping to think about work. If you can, turn off work-related notifications.
Full post here, 15 mins read
How to be a rock star developer
- Write utility code that can be used by all and collaborate with other developers on projects beyond your scope of work.
- Don’t give in to FOMO. Spend time doing the essential work that gets you real results.
- At crunch times, rise to the occasion with a leadership mindset to rally, organize and collaborate.
- Try to be essential but not indispensable. Indispensability eventually leads to burnout.
- Focus on your work integrity, adaptability and the desire to do excellent work.
Full post here, 5 mins read
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