In this post, we will learn how do you organize your day as a software engineer. Organizing your day is the most critical thing as a software engineer because as an engineer we have a lot of chaos in a single day. So we are learning to organize our day in order to increase our productivity. As a software engineer productivity is not about writing more lines of code. It is not productivity, but quantity. When you try to deliver quantity all the time, quality is compromised.
It is important to understand that productivity is effectiveness and efficiency, and as a software engineer, you can achieve both, but you need to consider two major aspects. One is the habitual side, and the other is the technical side. Setting daily routine improves our habitual side.ide. So in this post, I will discuss how you can improve your productivity by working on the habitual side of your daily routine.
Organize your weeks and days diligently:
We have a lot of tasks each week and we start doing them one after another without any planning. It is a tiring process and not a beneficial habit in the longer run. Try to organize your next week every Sunday, it will only take 30 minutes. You do not require anything fancy to do this. A diary or a mobile calendar is enough.
After planning your week. At the end of each day take 10 to 15 minutes to organize your next day. When you wake up the next day, you already know what you will do first and it’s a winning strategy. We organize each day and every task because it’s helpful to keep track of the tasks and their time.
Work in short bursts:
Divide your working time into short time blocks. It will help you to stay focused on your work. Define a time. Let’s suppose you divide your 8 hours into two 4 hour blocks. In between these two time blocks, you can take a 1-hour break. Do not open Facebook or YouTube in between your working hours. You can still take 5 minutes break after every working hour to check e-mails etc. You can use this technique to stay focused and increase your productivity. I personally organize my work hours this way in my daily routine and have experienced some amazing results.
Organize your day in short bursts so you won’t get tired and stay focused.
Maintain a backlog:
Create reliable task management system for your everyday tasks. Break all your day tasks into small chunks and put them in your backlog. This is not only applicable to coding, but to any kind of work you do throughout the day. Like if you want to clean your entire house, you will not just start working. It would be improper to mow the lawn at night and wash dishes during the day. So break them into small chunks and divide the time accordingly. Like mowing your lawn in the sun and washing your dishes at the end. You will probably manage all your tasks efficiently using this technique and will have some spare time as well.
Offload cognitive load:
There are a lot of small things you need to do every day that you don’t need to remember. There are a lot of apps available to do this for you. You can use any free note taking mobile apps to do this for you. It will offload the cognitive load of your brain. You can use your memory for more meaningful things in your daily life.
You can also set reminders with these note taking apps. So you will stay updated with your simple but imperative tasks. If a small task requires minutes to complete, do it right away. Don’t waste time taking notes or setting reminders. The following are a few keystone habits that have helped me stay organized and productive all day long.
Afternoon power nap:
Schedule an afternoon power nap. It will boost your memory and reboot your brain like a server. There is no need to take hours of naps, instead you can take 30 to 45 minutes of power naps after your lunch. However, power naps have been scientifically proven to increase productivity. Many of us are unable to take a power nap due to our jobs. If you can adopt this highly effective habit, then please adopt this in your daily routine and schedule.
Conclusion:
So this post, I have tried to give you special tips that I follow to organize my day and these tips helped me a lot to stay productive in a longer run. Last point is my favorite about the power nap and I’m practicing this from last five years. If you have some suggestions or tips please do not hesitate to comment, I’m open to feedback.
Related: How to Make Time for Everything You Want Do In Daily Life