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By Ram Kezel
You are good with code. There is no doubt. But any developer can write code. The tricky part is to get things done on time. Since developers are skillful , you might think that they know how to handle their time. But what’s up with all those missed deadlines? In this article, there are time planning tips for developing tasks. Pick one or combine several and increase your productivity.
#1 Tip: Check Your Current Situation
Before starting to change your work-life, check what actually needs to be changed. You shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. The best way to identify your challenges is to track your time. Once you follow all of your work and distractions, you can begin to see the patterns.
For example, Entrepreneur states that “Email may be one of the biggest time-sucking black holes.“ Email can be essential for your work, but it shouldn’t become a distraction. Understand what steals your time and eliminate it.
#2 Tip: Take Care All The Clutter
Apply this step to both inside and outside of your computer. Take care of your work computer desktop, files, and folders. Double-check your online reminders and notifications. It would be best if you’d turn them all off.
Then clean up your desk and surroundings. It might seem like a technicality, but it affects you more than you think. Arnas Stuopelis, chairman of hosting company Hostinger , gives a great example: “When you’re trying to concentrate, and there is a mess on your desk, it will repeatedly distract your attention away from the code. You might notice notes from previous or upcoming tasks, and they will drag you from a current one.”
#3 Tip: Fourth Tip In This List Is To Make A List
In a tidy workplace, take care of the clutter in your mind. Remember all the tasks you have to do and write them on paper. It frees your mind. You can see the real volume of your workload on a sheet of paper, and you don’t need to worry that you might forget something.
Online time-planning tools are also an option, bet there is something special about writing things by hand. Or at least no app that could replace the feeling of crossing-out a done task. It can also work as motivation. Forbes states, that: “Aside from keeping you focused, this also motivates you as you are able to see what you have already achieved, and what remains.”
#4 Tip: Take Care Of Your Tomorrow Today
This tip is like the previous one, but this time you write a list for the next day. You might think that you have all your necessary information on your Google calendar, Slack, or Trello. But checking them all between the tasks is time-consuming.
Alan Carniol, in the FastCompany article , suggests planning the next day before you leave work. “Spend the last 15-minutes organizing your office and composing a list of your most important items for tomorrow,” – says Alan. This way, your mornings can be way more productive when you already know your plan for the day.
#5 Tip: Start With The Frog
Mark Twain has said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” In other words – take care of unwanted tasks first thing in the morning.
If you keep avoiding them, it can increase your stress levels and affect your productivity. Once you are done with those displeasing tasks, you can turn that feeling of achievement into motivation for the rest of your day.
#6 Tip: Don’t Forget That You Are A Human Being
When writing down your tasks and planning your time, remember to see yourself as a human. When estimating deadlines, people tend to count their time like they are robots, who can work non-stop. But don’t forget that you get distracted, you need brakes and so on.
Miran Brajna brings attention to the fact that “If you’re working at an agency, you usually work between eight to ten hours per day. But out of those hours, approximately only six hours is productive feature-wise.“ The same goes for those who freelance or work with different agreements. People can’t be productive 100% of the time, and it’s OK. Just don’t ignore that.
#7 Tip: When Possible – Delegate
This tip applies to those in teams. And just before you say no, there is a quote from Rick Beley’s article “Delegation As a Developer: Building the Next You”: “Perhaps we just don’t have confidence that a team member can execute on this task as well as we could. Sound familiar? If we avoid these traps, our team gets better through delegation, and we in effect scale upward.”
It’s natural that you might think that there is no one else who would do the task the same way as you would do it. And you might be right. But if your colleague can reach the same result with a different approach, it’s not a problem. Let yourself get more time with delegating tasks, and let others grow when executing those tasks. That’s a win-win situation.
#8 Tip: Be Skeptical About This Article
Even though all tips in this article are proven, not all of them are suitable for everyone. So the first step for you is to understand you! Be skeptical and think about your individual situation: do you work solo, or with a team; do you like slow or fast work pace; do you seek purpose or only income, and so on.
Or you can make a shortcut and check Business Chemistry , a book by Kim Christfort and Suzanne Vickberg. Within the book, there are the 4 primary Business Chemistry types:
- Pioneers, who value possibilities and spark energy and imagination
- Guardians, who value stability and bring order and rigor
- Drivers, who value challenge and generate momentu
- Integrators, who value connection and draw teams together
Think which type suits you, and pick those time planning tips, that match your work style best. As a developer, you are capable of handling complicated challenges. But if you would put some thought into time planning, your productivity can skyrocket. All those tips work well together, but you can implement them separate as well.
Just get to know you, and what might work best for you. Track your current situation for a while and decide on what you want to improve. Start from improving your workspace, both inside and outside your computer. Start making lists, prepare them for the next day, and execute them, starting with the most unwanted tasks. When planning your time, note your distractions and breaks. And if you have your team, share your workload with them.
Ram Kezel is the Public Relations Coordinator at Hostinger
