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...

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

Let's get started.

TL;DR

• Track Time ⏰
• Aggressively Prioritize 📌
• Remove Distractions 🔇
• Automate Repetitive Tasks ⚙️
• Take Regular Breaks ☕️

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.

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.

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.

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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