How I Boost My Productivity as a Programmer
Keeping work-life balance as a programmer
Hello, Everyone!
My profession requires me to develop myself, boost my skills, and improve my knowledge every day.
But honestly, this article is not only about my profession, but also about time management, consumption of information, and becoming a better version of yourself.
So here is a list of productivity tips or habits that help me be more productive both personally and at work.
Keep Balance
There should always be a middle ground in your productivity, as everywhere. It’s important to keep your eagerness to learn but still prevent yourself from burning out.
To do so, remember to have rest and balance between your work and life. A fresh mind always remembers better.
This habit was very important to me. When I started learning to program, without any knowledge of it at all, I spent almost ten hours a day practicing and studying. Of course, I was focused on finding my first job, but I made a rule for myself: Once a week I would toggle programming off and do whatever I wanted that wasn’t related to coding.
It helped me avoid burnout, continue learning in that tempo during the next couple of months, and get my first job in IT.
I now work full time as a front-end developer, but I’ve continued practicing that habit. Usually, I switch the toggle for the whole weekend. However, during the week, I usually spend an extra hour or two studying and practicing new things.
Watch YouTube and Listen to Audiobooks on Double (2x) Speed
It requires some time to get used to it, but later on, it will save you plenty of time. Especially when it comes to twenty-hour audiobooks, YouTube tutorials, or courses that last forty hours. Those you always wanted to watch but didn’t have time.
Also, the constant practice of this technique will make you a fast learner. Start from 1.5x and keep increasing it. Once you’re there, you won’t want to go back.
That was also the way I got used to it. I started with watching Udemy and Wes Bos courses at 1.5x and, step-by-step, moved to 1.75x, then ended up at 2x. Now I check every video player for a speed-up button or use the Chrome extension for it.
Practice What You’ve Just Learned
Theory is good, as you might learn a lot, but practice makes your knowledge a reusable skill.
It’s pretty obvious practicing a lot will constantly make you better, whether driving a car, playing guitar, or programming.
So right after you learned a new thing, solve some tasks with it, or even find some way to implement it in your day-to-day life.
While learning JavaScript, I wanted to try it in a real-world situation, so I wrote a small script to decline invitations on LinkedIn from IT recruiters that lacked messages. That was interesting, fun, and what’s most important, helpful. I’ve remembered that script until now.
Filter Content in Social Networks, YouTube
There’s so much noise around us, and we don’t want our heads to explode because of a glut of it. That’s where filtering comes in.
Hide everything that doesn’t inspire you and keep only useful and interesting topics in your feeds. This will allow you to concentrate and focus on something you’re interested in.
From a programmer's point of view, it’s great because you’ll be able to focus on information that’s useful for you.
For instance, I had almost 50 channels on YouTube before. Now I have about 15 of them, which are only about topics I’m interested in, whether coding tutorials, traveling, or technology channels.
Whether it’s Youtube or any social network, they have a lot of junk content, so filtering helps me find new channels. I’ve got three rules for them:
- Every video must be a quality shot with details to composition, views, etc.
- The speaker or author must be professional in their industry.
- Whatever the channel is about, I should learn something from it.
Listen to an Audiobook or Podcast While Doing Something Else
We all know why reading is useful, but in some situations, it’s more convenient to listen. For instance, when you walk somewhere, stand in a shaking tram or bus, cook, or even while working out. That’s where audiobooks and podcasts on your phone become handy.
Here come all the advantages of reading books, while doing two things at a time.
Once I caught myself thinking that I stopped reading books because of the lack of time. I like reading, so I needed to figure out how to continue. That’s when I tried audiobooks for the first time. From that moment, most of the books I put in my collection were audio. Especially when I started practicing double speed there as well, I realized that I listened faster than I read.
So two habits connected and strengthened each other to help me spend my time more efficiently and, meanwhile, learn and discover new things.
Summary
I hope these productivity tips will help you become more efficient, learn faster, grow as a professional, and boost your productivity!
It might not work the same way for you. What works for one doesn’t work for all, but I suggest you give it try!
Thanks for reading.
Cheers!
