5 Productivity Tips for Lead Developers
By: Brian L.
Tags: Productivity, Developer Tools, Tech, Developer, Coding

Illustration by @brianleahyart

Most of us have worked with a developer who never fails to impress with the quality and quantity of their work. It’s easy to assume that such productive developers are born like that. It’s possible some of them are, but for the rest of us mortals, productivity is a result of learned habits and the efficient use of tools. Improve your focus and boost your productivity with these 5 productivity tips for lead developers.

1. Manage Your Time, Before It Manages You

Did that paragraph title sound ominous? It was supposed to. We’re mentioning this one first because it’s vital to the success of the others. It’s essential to plan your time — and then stick to those plans.

At the beginning of each work day, take 5–10 minutes to list out the tasks you need to accomplish that day, as well as what you plan to accomplish by the end of the week. If you are working on one large project, break it down into logical chunks you can treat as separate tasks that day.

How many tasks are reasonable for one day? Many find the 1–3–5 rule to be an ideal balance between maximizing productivity, while remaining realistic and achievable. The idea is that you choose 1 large-size task, 3 medium-sized tasks, and 5 small tasks to conquer each day.

If you’re not sure how to rank a certain task in your plans for the day, ask yourself these questions:

How much time is needed for this task? Keep in mind that the more you practice time estimation, the better you’ll get at planning for similar tasks in the future.

Is this task blocking other work that also needs to be completed soon? If so, adjust its priority accordingly.

Does it have to be done today, or by a certain deadline? Sometimes you can afford to put a task off for another day.

Once you’ve got your battle plan for the day, a time management technique like the Pomodoro Technique can help take your work to the next level. If you’ve never tried it, the idea is that you break your work into timed blocks (typically 25 minutes), separated by short breaks. The act of timing yourself helps ingrain or set ‘intention’ into your work and minimize the potential for distraction. And breaking work into blocks necessitates planning and review.

Humans are malleable in our habits, but the key to successfully forming new habits is consistency. However you go about planning and executing your days, keep in mind that it might take some time for those new habits to become ingrained, and for the real benefits to show.

A time management technique like the Pomodoro Technique can take your work to the next level. Illustration by @brianleahyart

2. Keep It Flexible

We’re not talking about yoga here. Sometimes, despite your best intentions, the task at hand will feel like pulling teeth. You can’t always schedule inspiration. Maybe you’re working on a problem that calls for creativity and you’re just not feeling that ‘spark’ today. Conversely, maybe you didn’t sleep well last night and you’re just not in the right mindset for detail-heavy work.

If you find yourself in such a predicament, switch to something else you feel capable of tackling at that time. You’ll still be making headway, and the new task will benefit from you being in the right mindset for it. Who knows — it might even be the break you needed to get back in the mood for your original task.

Some other ways to practice flexibility when you’re feeling ‘stuck’ on the job:

Take a quick walk. Movement and fresh air can help your mind reset and return fresh to the task at hand. If the weather is bad, explore your office building and take advantage of staircases to get your heart rate up. Other people find that meditation practices work best for clearing the head. Even simple stretching can help. (Hmmm…maybe we are approaching yoga territory here).

Talk to another person about the task you are currently working on. The act of describing your thought process and the issues you are tackling can help you see things from a different angle. They might even have a suggestion or solution you hadn’t thought of.

If you’re not able to talk to another person at the moment, write down or draw out everything you’ve tried for the task so far, then return and review what you wrote later. The act of writing things out may help you see them from a different angle. When you re-read it later, it will be with a fresh mindset.

3. Optimize Your Work Environment

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to their optimal work environment. Some people like working in a coffee shop because they find the busy environment stimulating. Others want a totally quiet space with a specific type of monitor setup.

Whether you’re working at an office or remotely, analyze your current set up and experiment with ways to improve it. Here’s a quick list to get you thinking:

Many find a standing desk with a moveable chair for breaks to be a great energizer.

Feeling wrist fatigue? A mouse pad with a wrist rest can change your life.

Eyes hurting at the end of a long day? Maybe it’s time to invest in a new monitor or some blue light computer glasses (and mix up your style while you’re at it).

Tidy up your workspace before you depart each day. You’ll start every morning with a clean slate and minimal distractions.

Natural light and fresh air can invigorate your work space and increase your energy. Consider thin window curtains that provide privacy while allowing light through, or a quiet fan and an indoor plant, to circulate air in the room.

Don’t forget to check for distractions in your work environment. Take a frank look at where you might be stepping on your own toes here. Maybe that Slayer album is best saved for when you’re not on debug duty, or perhaps it’s time to limit your office ping pong matches to lunchtime.

Case Study: Working remotely

Working remotely is becoming increasingly common these days, and it’s easy to understand why employees love this perk. However, many managers feel skeptical of it — are employees really as productive from the couch as they are in the office? The managers at GitClear conducted a productivity study on the impact of their “Work From Home Wednesday” policy. They found no impact on employee output, and the policy is a great employee retention tool — everyone loves it. Having said that, be honest with yourself about whether working remotely is the best fit for you. If you’re less productive when left to your own devices but don’t have an office to visit, take a look at co-working spaces in your town/city. They can be a great networking opportunity, as well.

4. Choose The Right Tools

Your environment isn’t solely limited to the space around you. The tech tools you use are just as much a factor in productivity as objects like that uncomfortable chair everyone avoids at the office. We’re lucky to live in an age where developer resources abound and new productivity apps and workflow assistants are debuting daily. Here are some areas worth exploring:

Developer productivity tools. Illustration by @brianleahyart

Languages, libraries, and community knowledge

How are other devs using the languages and libraries that you use? StackOverflow, Quora and subreddits like r/programming are of course great for asking questions, but browsing community sites like these periodically also increases your chances of stumbling upon inspiring ideas or valuable new information you wouldn’t normally have encountered.

Explore new code libraries for the language(s) you already work in (DiscoverSDK is an example of a directory where you can find new libraries, SDKs, APIs, and development tools). Check out other people’s code that tackles problems similar to what you are working on. Sites like CodePen and Gitlab (and of course Github) are a good way to view others’ work or share your own.

Task management

There are much better ways to organize your life and thoughts than Post-It notes these days. Check out productivity software like Amplenote, Trello, or ToDoist — they offer functionality that can help keep you organized and on track, like setting reminders on a Todo list. Use software to build productive habits and stick to them.

Communication and collaboration

Examine how you communicate with other people working on the same project, especially if you or other employees work remotely or don’t interact in person on a daily basis. Slack is the chat tool you’ve likely heard of, and it’s great for many things — you can create specific channels for different topics, past conversations are searchable (quite handy), and they integrate with project management tools like Jira or Asana. If Slack isn’t for you, HubSpot covers 10 other current Slack alternatives here. Experiment to see what works best for you and your team — your chosen chat tool can make a big difference in ensuring things get done correctly and efficiently.

Invision is great for sharing and commenting on prototypes, and to simulate user experiences on different devices. Adobe’s XD fulfills a similar role but also adds the ability to create prototypes without using a separate program.

Analytics

Although accurately measuring coding work is difficult at best, companies like GitPrime and GitClear are changing that. For example, GitClear makes it easy for teams to get a clear picture of commits and the value of changes made, using a proprietary (and customizable) metric named Line Impact.

5. Take A Good Look at the Results

Doing the work is only the first part of the productivity battle — it’s important to reflect on the work afterwards as well. And we’re not just talking about reviewing your code (hopefully you’re doing that already).

Compare your performance with the plans and time estimates you made before you started the task. This will help you find patterns that you can either repeat or discourage. It will also give you a better idea of how to tackle a similar task again in the future.

Tracking tasks in Amplenote

While practicing this, consider how you’re measuring and quantifying your work. Code is a great example of how this can be tricky — measuring code is never as simple as counting how many lines you entered, for many reasons including (but not limited to) copying and pasting, deletions, and differences among code languages.

When it comes to reviewing code results at GitClear, we look at overall developer output. How does your team measure results? Here are some factors you could consider when looking at your own work:

Are you making a high volume of contributions?

Are you making contributions to high value files?

Are you making contributions that persist over time?

Over time, this process of self-review will also help you identify areas to improve in.

Go Forth And Prosper

We hope these productivity tips help. Interested in continuing your pursuit of productivity? Join us over at GitClear. And if you have any tips of your own you’d like to share, leave a comment — we’d love to hear ‘em!