7 fucking rules for developers to get shit done
How to meet deadlines
This article is for those busy developers who want to be more awesome, meet deadlines more often and save mental peace and time in the process.
I am obsessed about being more productive and believe that everyone should be
Think about the amount of work you generally do in 5 days, what if you can do the same in 3 days. With better quality and without being stressed. I have done this, so can you.
This is what I have observed and many of us would agree, we start a project with enthusiasm but slowly we lose the momentum, we leave things for the last moment and eventually we miss the deadlines.
After many failures, frustration, giving up my smartphone for 6+ months. I was able to fine-tune my productivity. I have finally summarized the simple rules we all should follow. This will dramatically change how much we can achieve.
Everyone has same 24 hours, it’s about how you use them.
The 7 fucking rules
- Know your fucking priorities: If this is your work time, add this article to your “To Read List” and leave this post right now. There are tons of important and necessary things you have to do, but you can do only one thing at a time, which one should it be, you’re fully capable of making that right choice if you want to.
- Be fucking mindful: Be mindful about what you are doing in “The moment”. This is easier said than done, only practice can help. Know that you will lose motivation and momentum at some point of time, you need to be ready to face those moments. There will be moments when a quick break to scroll Facebook endlessly may feel satisfying and harmless, after sometime you wouldn’t even realize how much time you have wasted just on that. Always be fucking mindful about what you’re doing in the present moment. Take a deep breath, be present in the moment.
- Fucking eliminate interruptions: Block all possible interruptions and distractions during work time. Phone, news, fb, twitter, email, colleagues, blog, reddit, product hunt, game and everything that can possibly ask for your attention even for a moment. Make peace with the fear of missing out.
- Have a big fucking picture for the day: Have an overview of what you are going to achieve today. Unplanned things will come your way, don’t worry, be like water. When we throw a pebble in the water, it gets disturbed but gets to it’s natural calm again easily.
- Fucking focus on the first step: Do not fear the overwhelming long to-do lists. Decide your immediate goal and deadline to finish it.
- Fucking block time for work and break: Divide the time you have in blocks of work-time and break-time. Generally 5 mins break after each 25 mins work can boost your creativity(known as pomodoro technique), you can figure out what suits you the best, if it’s 1 hour work and then 10 mins break, do that then. But do not work for long hours continuously. Leaving work for a break may seem unnecessary initially, it’s not. Having an unplanned break when you’re stuck may seem necessary, it’s not. Have a monk-like focus, be fully available for the task.
- Fucking pause and think: Even after doing your best you’ll miss some deadlines. Now it’s time to pause and think objectively for a moment 1. Why is it taking time? 2. Can you finish it quickly by giving some extra time? 3. Can you move on to next task without completing this one and adding it to to-do list again? 4. To finish this task, do you need to do extra things e.g. learning a new concept, research or experiments. Can you allot time separately for that? 5. Are you not moving forward because you want to make it perfect? Can this perfectionism wait?
Some might be thinking there’s nothing new here in the article and some might be overwhelmed by the information. I have done this, it works very well and if I can do it, I’m sure, you can do it too. Just remember the rules.
I always have the rules in front of me whole time(by having this pic as my desktop background). Whenever I feel unproductive, I look at this picture and that is all I need to make the maximum out of my time.
When we are having fun like watching a movie, having a party etc. we create a stimulating environment by switching off lights, playing some music and many other things. We don’t make similar efforts for work while that’s what we do during most of our time and it is critical for our growth.
Learn to appreciate what you have and always try to be the best version of yourself!
Special thanks to Mayank Jain for proof-reading and making this article worth publishing.
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