3 Tweaks By A Software Developer That Will Make You Finish Your Daily Tasks

Two dates after work and you're distracted.

Whenever you are just really sunk in your task, your brain will remind you of the appointments after work. As a software developer and human being, I got you fully covered, during my 7 years of experience, I have covered such a wide range of urgent tasks to accomplish every day, I wonder why I am not insane yet. Speaking of sanity, how do I manage to perform this many tasks every day?

Many other developers and I utilized the power to own our daily life with techniques and rules to live by and stay sane, at least most of us, haha!

1. Utilize Automations for Emails, Appointments, Tasks, etc.

"The most powerful tool we have as developers is automation."  - Scott Hanselman

Developers have to do a lot of tasks daily, without automation, we would be lost. Our next responsibility lies just around the corner, just like everyone's normal life. 

Imagine coming home from work, and you remember the unanswered emails, the doctor's appointment, the washing machine is still full, you know what I am up to. For me as a developer, it is similar at work, I have to fix a bug, then test the code, run automatic rollouts and answer emails as well and attend the next meeting. I have so much stuff to do than just develop software. Without automation, I would develop software at a daily time rate of ~10%. If developers come up with a solution to eliminating all these blocking tasks of the day, you could also do to finally read that dusting book or watch this specific series on your watchlist.

Utilize Automations to save time spent on daily tasks. I use rules in my email program to filter out the important ones checking only them during the day (how to Outlook/ MacOS). I enter Doctors' appointments during the call with the receptionist and get reminded 1 day before. I set timers to really dig into that book I am reading without my brain constantly interfering with worrying about the potatoes on the stove that might burn.

Set timers, make calendar entries, use automation tools for emails or tasks (Trello) to have more time for what you care about by ultimately freeing your brain capacity.

2. Form Daily Goals and Align Your Day Through Time Management

Goals are the driver of your day.

A plan is a set of instructions that fuels you to reach your destination, regardless of size or content. Accomplishing daily goals will make you feel satisfied at the end of your day.

Have you ever thought: "Man, what a good day I want to sleep right now." Before I started to make daily goals, I seldom thought this way. My days ended when I was done exploiting the last hours of the day to the max by staying up late and watching "only one more episode." The bill always comes on the next day when the alarm clock goes off, but daily goals make your life already worthwhile. Finishing them and managing the time throughout the day let you feel the emotions of any successful leader.

Set goals and divide them into smaller tasks to own your day and your time. A software developer has those goals in the form of JIRA Tickets (fix an error, build in a new feature, etc.), but as I started to set goals, manage the time for them and track them by crossing out a line of my list, I felt the accomplishment in mine. Before, it felt like an endless list of work, never to be completed, just like daily tasks can quickly feel.

Forming daily goals and managing the time throughout the day will make you feel achievement and like you owned the day.

3. Live by the 80/20 Rule to Gain Progress Over Perfection

"The way to create something great is to create something simple."― Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less

Everybody thinks big, Everybody thinks bigger, but since when do you need to think big in your daily life? It is your daily life, the goal is to get through the day with as little resistance as possible.

In detail this means you should care about the things that are getting done in the least amount of time, to have more time for the things you really care about. I live on my own and have to iron my clothes, haha! The thing here is, who will ever care if there is one last crease on a shirt? Nobody, but I would spend significantly more time to get that last crease out of a shirt. The 80/20 Principle tells that the majority of your results come from a minority of your actions. You aren't a top manager at Blackrock, so since when is perfection your daily challenge?

Life is about getting things done, perfection is the ultimate time waste. One of the principles every good developer lives for is Avoid Premature Optimization. Take the ironing example from above, unless I am invited to a wedding or to a business meeting, nobody will ever care about one last crease.

80% is enough to achieve an overall accepted result and mark it as done, not perfect.

Your and my daily tasks are an ongoing process and will never come to an end, life is all about getting things done and enjoying your free time.

A little bit of automation here and there, using electronic devices as brain extenders, and living by the 80/20 rule to achieve your daily goals and manage your time effectively are ways to spend more time that's truly worth it.

You and your daily tasks are like two peas in a pod.

Want to have weekly developer insights on how you can benefit daily? Achieve time control, focus on the importance and succeed? But you don't want to wait until next week's newsletter? Subscribe to receive your first list of 5 insights & techniques and apply them today.