Pursuit of Productivity
Tags: career, productivity, softskills, mindset
Published: 2019-07-05 17:33:12

---
title: Pursuit of Productivity
canonical_url: https://metadevelopment.io/blog/pursuit-of-productivity
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/fuc75ibl4cxttidnu16j.jpg
series: Introduction
published: true
description: We misinterpret and simplify productivity: we think it is measured by how much do you produce...
tags: career, productivity, softskills, mindset
---

_Originally published at [our Metadevelopment blog](https://metadevelopment.io/blog/pursuit-of-productivity). 
If you'd like to receive fresh content from our community, you can [sing up for our Newsletter](https://digest.metadevelopment.io)!_

Our world has [gone crazy](https://medium.com/@melodywilding/youre-obsessed-not-optimizing-6-signs-of-productivity-addiction-c49740b0998e) about Productivity. There are **thousands** of to-do apps in app stores and everyone wanna be as much productive as possible. I bet you know what I am talking exactly. The roots of this issue can be found in [protestant work ethics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic).

We misinterpret and simplify [productivity](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/11/pain-gain-work-ethic-burkeman): we think it is measured by **how much do you produce** or **how busy** you are with several projects in parallel. 

Also, people resort to being busy when they lack clarity and purpose of their work (you can read about this effect in a great book called ["Essentialism"](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism)).

Historically, a studying of productivity was bounded to factories producing physical goods. This analogy is very tempting. But we are **knowledge workers** and not factory workers. We do not produce the same way as factories does, though on a high level the work flow can be managed in a similar way. Our motivation is [different from other types of work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc).

At Metadevelopment, we prefer a definition of productivity given in [Trello productivity guide](https://info.trello.com/hubfs/Personal_Productivity_Ebook_v2.pdf) : "_making sure you’re getting the **right things done**, in the **right timeframe**, in a successful and **effective** way_".

This definition incorporates priorities, efficiency and timeliness of your projects.

Here is the crux: **optimizing for productivity can be harmful**! Here is a good example of an [over-productive system](https://medium.com/@flpvsk/work-hard-enough-and-you-wont-finish-anything-d631d65e7478). And here is a good explanation of how **boredom** [can make you more creative](https://www.wired.com/2017/01/clive-thompson-7/).

### Productivity and Software Engineering

It is very easy to get into the trap of optimizing for productivity when you treat yourself as a production unit or [misinterpret "high performance"](https://dev.to/mtdvio/work-misperception-1mg1).
Also, it's very easy to become a productivity junky if your only job is to **just write code** without questions asked. 

Along with out intuition to pursue productivity, we are neglecting other effects and factors we need to be aware of as **engineers**: 

- [Network effect](https://a16z.com/2016/03/07/all-about-network-effects/) (the more people are using your product - the more valuable it is)
- [Sustainability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability) (enhancing the current situation without doing harm for the future situation)
- [Human Factors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_factors_and_ergonomics) (taking in account safety, comfort, human error) 
- [Social Influence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_influence) (affecting a person’s emotions, opinions and behaviors)
- [Cognitive Biases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias) (systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment)
- [Applied Ethics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_ethics) (the analysis of particular moral issues in private and public life)

Software Engineering is an _application of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to development, operation and maintenance of software_ (IEEE90 definition).  

As an engineer, you can have [an impact](https://www.patreon.com/posts/low-hanging-of-18230210) in every area of product development cycle. Why would you care only about being **productive coder** if you can be **an efficient engineer**?

*Do you want to grow differently? [Join Metadevelopment](https://metadevelopment.io/about) and get new superpowers!*