I really enjoy my job. I understand some people code for food, and it’s fine. But some passionate people are also frustrated. For them I’d like to share some tips. I think most of them can be applied whatever your job is, but I can only testify as a developer.
Ease of mind
I need to be focus on the problem to solve to be productive. Thus I use several techniques to free my mind at work:
– I don’t hesitate to interrupt myself to fix an important personal problem
– I try to do 1h of workout per day, just before lunch
– I strive to avoid misunderstanding with my co-workers and customers using a lot of communication (never keep a hard feeling for myself)
– I may practice some meditation on very bad days
Small cognitive load
When a problem is too hard, I fix an easier part of the problem. Then I iterate until the whole problem is solved. Practices like TDD and EventStorming are a concrete implementation of this concept.
No need to be a genius to fix pretty complex problem thanks to this method. It requires “only” discipline and practices.
Focus sprint
I avoid multi tasking as much as possible. I saw several times that multi tasking is the best friend of workaholics. It is tempting to show how busy we are, but most of the time, it is just bad time management.
My strategy is to work less, but with high focus.
I use pomodoros to time-box 25 minutes sprints. During a sprint, I have a headphone on my ears and all notifications are shut down. On a typical day, I achieve 6 to 8 pomodoros, the rest of the time I manage interruption.
Sharing
I do one pomodoro each week to share on my blog and on StakOverflow. I’m also really involved in local communities in Lyon. I attend 4 to 8 conferences per year (mainly in France but also in Europe).
I learn much more since I took this habit to share. Sometimes I’m wrong. Sometimes I sound stupid. And I know my English is far from perfect. But it’s fine as long as I learn something on the way.
Getting out of our comfort zone
“If your the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room”
Look for something to learn in the place you are, or go somewhere else. There is always something new to learn in our amazing job: a domain, a language, an IDE, a method, a paradigm…
Whatever it is, it will help you to be a better programmer.
I’m use to track my goals, and to evaluate them twice a year to see if I’m still moving forward to my path to become a software craftsman.
Have fun
Thanks to remote working 4 days per week, I can spend lots of time with my family, without give up workouts, video games, side projects, conferences and user groups.
Working is not your life, it’s a mean to enjoy it. Thus take time for your family, friends, and to have fun. There is no way to enjoy your job if you can’t enjoy your life.