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Outsiders may think that software development is \u201cpretty much just coding\u201d and may not realize how many different kinds of tasks developers actually take on. In reality, it involves critical thinking, complex problem-solving, and hours of bug-tracking and reviews. You also have to tackle complications, deal with dynamic data, and beat deadlines.<\/p>\n
That is why developers with an excellent mastery of time management are the most valuable in any industry.<\/p>\n
Using time in an efficient way improves your work quality and requires self-discipline and competence.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll face all kinds of challenges if you don\u2019t organize your time properly.<\/p>\n
For example, you\u2019ll have to rush coding sessions if you spend too much time on unnecessary activities. In addition, poor time management also leads to overwork, burnout, and costly mistakes.<\/p>\n
To help you avoid these challenges, I\u2019ve compiled a list of proven techniques for establishing an optimal coding routine. They will ensure you feel balanced and content whether you\u2019re building a simple website or a complex software program.<\/p>\n
There are a variety of time management techniques that use specific principles and formats to help you structure your day. We will go over a few of the most popular ones. Remember, you don\u2019t have to choose just one technique and stick with it. Think of them as tools that you can combine and adapt to your needs. We suggest choosing a few techniques that appeal to you and testing them out to see how they work for you, then making your decision.<\/p>\n
The first step to making a good to-do list is to prioritize. The Eisenhower matrix, also called the priority matrix, is a decision-making technique that helps you prioritize your tasks by dividing them into four categories:<\/p>\n
Important and urgent:<\/strong> These are time-sensitive tasks that attract severe consequences if not executed before the deadline. For example, critical bug fixes in soon-to-be deployed programs.<\/p>\n Important and not urgent:<\/strong> Tasks without critical deadlines but crucial to your overall project. This category may include tasks for goals that you set for yourself such as learning a new programming language.<\/p>\n Not important and urgent:<\/strong> Time-sensitive tasks that you can delegate to others. These include essential client emails and progress report requests from your colleagues or supervisors.<\/p>\n Not important and not urgent:<\/strong> Tasks and activities that disrupt your workflow and don\u2019t contribute to your project. These include unnecessary meetings and spam emails.<\/p>\n Minor distractions can derail your entire workday and leave you achieving close to nothing.<\/p>\n Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, found that you\u2019ll likely take 23 minutes to fully resume work after an interruption<\/a>.<\/p>\n The pomodoro technique can be used to keep you focused and manage these interruptions more smoothly.<\/p>\n The technique involves breaking down your work schedule into pomodoros also known as\u00a0 25-minute time periods.<\/p>\n Fun fact: \u2018Pomodoro\u2019 means tomato in Italian, and this technique was actually named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer originally used to time work and rest periods.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n Time mapping involves blocking out periods of time for tasks in advance. It gives you a visual map of your time. Usually this is done for a weekly schedule but can also be applied daily. A time map relieves the stress of making decisions regarding the next task to handle. It helps you move from task to task without pausing and thinking about the next thing to do.<\/p>\n For example, when you finish a coding session with time to spare on your calendar, you might be confused about what to do next.<\/p>\n Also, it helps you avoid Parkinson\u2019s Law. The law states that tasks expand to fill the time allotted to them. This means you\u2019ll find a way to keep working until you exhaust the time assigned to a particular task.<\/p>\n Knowing the next task to move on to gives you a sense of direction and urgency.<\/p>\n You can use a pen and paper to create a time map. However, using spreadsheets and calendars works best. There are plenty of calendar apps that have this function. You can use colors to code your activities according to type and priority.<\/p>\n This priority system allows you to rank your tasks according to importance and urgency. The goal is similar to the priority matrix but the approach to categories is a bit different. You can try out both and see which one best fits your needs.<\/p>\n You will split your tasks into 4 categories:<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve created your ABCD list, take another look and see if there are any tasks you can completely remove. Some people create an additional \u201cE\u201d list for these tasks, but you can simply erase them.<\/p>\n Sacrifice some of your off time to plan your days and weeks. For example, you can block out time in the evening to draw up your schedule for the next day.<\/p>\n You can also dedicate some time on a Saturday or Sunday to plan your week or even the coming month. Set aside an hour to first list your appointments, then prioritize your tasks for the week. After this, you can make a time map. Alternatively, you could just use your to-do list for the week and use the Pomodoro method while working.<\/p>\n Doing whatever you see in front of you is a recipe for rushing things at the 11th hour.<\/p>\n For example, postponing a critical bug update to reply to emails that flash on your screen is not an ideal way to work.<\/p>\n This behavior can leave you physically and emotionally drained.<\/p>\n Categorizing your daily tasks according to priority allows you to focus on what matters most. This way, you\u2019ll beat deadlines and produce quality work.<\/p>\n You can use any of the time management techniques above to prioritize your tasks. Always ensure you make it a ritual to rank your jobs instead of simply listing them.<\/p>\n The midday slump has become the bogeyman that almost every worker must confront. Some of us go through our fifth cup of coffee before 2 pm and struggle to handle any more work.<\/p>\n The secret to conquering this challenge is breaking up your day.<\/p>\n Working for hours without breaks is one of the reasons you lose energy and motivation before midday.<\/p>\n Breaking up your work schedule into chunks helps you recharge for the next task.<\/p>\n This way, you\u2019ll get to midday and still feel fresh.<\/p>\n Sounding familiar? The pomodoro technique is especially effective in this case. Sticking to 25-minute work periods followed by five-minute breaks gives you the required structure to defeat the afternoon slump.<\/p>\n Non-coding activities like client calls, meetings, and emails can consume a significant chunk of your time. If you end up focusing on them too much, they could leave you with an insufficient amount of time for coding, causing you to rush work and make mistakes.<\/p>\n You can do your best to minimize external distractions, but some responsibilities like meetings, calls, and emails are also critical to your success.<\/p>\n Meaning, you have to organize your time properly to accommodate these activities.<\/p>\n I recommend that you reserve these activities for periods when you\u2019re least energetic and deal with lots of interruptions. Let your team members know when you\u2019re available for meetings, and schedule client calls ahead of time.<\/p>\n Everyone has daily peak productive hours\u2014two, three, or four hours when they\u2019re most energized and focused. They\u2019re also called golden hours or peak work times.<\/p>\n Identifying these hours allows you to allocate and prioritize your tasks properly. You can schedule the more challenging jobs that require critical thinking during your productive hours.<\/p>\n For example, if you\u2019re struggling to figure out where a code has gone wrong, you need to do it when you have more clarity and focus. This may mean putting the project down and coming back to it in the morning when you\u2019re in your most mentally productive state.<\/p>\n Finding your golden hours can be tricky, especially since they can fall in your lunch period or outside your regular work schedule.<\/p>\n So, to find them, change up your work schedule and record how much you get done. Try out working during your usual lunchtime or later in the evening and see how you feel. You can use a mood journal or even just a note app for recording your energy levels. There are also apps designed specifically to track work activity.<\/p>\n When you look over your to-do list and see a giant 100-hour task, you may find yourself mentally exhausted before you even start. Often, this is how procrastination\u2014the enemy of all project-based workers\u2014starts. For this reason, breaking up large tasks into smaller chunks is important when planning your week or even month. This allows you to focus and get work done without procrastinating.<\/p>\n One way to do this is to work backward and make a timeline. What needs to be done before release day? What about the week before release day? Set time-based goals for small tasks that will add up to conquering that mountain of a project.<\/p>\n Splitting large tasks or goals in this way will end up saving you a lot of time.<\/p>\n There are various ways to identify time-wasters. You can try to catch yourself when you find you are distracted and take note of what you were doing. Alternatively, you may use special apps both on your computer and phone if you suspect you are getting distracted by notifications and sites like YouTube.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t only take note of distractions, but also of small tasks that often end up scattered throughout your day. How much time did you spend talking on the phone and answering emails<\/a>? What about answering questions on GitHub? Track how much time is spent on all tasks for at least a few days. You may be surprised what you learn about yourself when you look at the data.<\/p>\n Time trackers allow you to monitor how much time you spend on specific tasks. The data you glean from these tools will help you optimize your work schedule.<\/p>\n One way to do this is to identify tasks you\u2019re good at and those you struggle with. Then, you can reserve those challenging assignments for periods where you\u2019re less distracted and tackle the more relaxed tasks when you\u2019re just getting started or feeling tired.<\/p>\n A helpful way to figure out how to best manage your time is by using time tracking data to discover unnecessary and distracting activities. This way, you know what to avoid and can schedule those activities better.<\/p>\n Time trackers also calculate billable hours and automatically create pay sheets. Freelancers can use a time tracker that automates their invoice creation using tracked billable hours. This takes the dull and time-consuming task of manually calculating hours out of your hands so you can spend time on the things you\u2019d rather focus on.<\/p>\n Companies, however, may opt for employee monitoring apps that can create each worker\u2019s monthly timesheet<\/a>, especially in remote work situations.<\/p>\n This saves you the time of manually calculating your billable hours and creating invoices.<\/p>\n Repetitive tasks can become tedious over time. If you find yourself doing many of these tasks, consider writing a simple script to automate them. This way, you can turn multiple steps into one\u2014saving you both the time of doing the task and the mental energy of repeating a monotonous activity.<\/p>\n For example, you can write a script to launch another program or execute specific codes using keyboard shortcuts. You can also write a program that you can call up using a hotkey to perform mass file operations.<\/p>\n Task automation software is another option you can try out. Apps like ClickUp and Zoho allow you to automate meeting reminders, recurring tasks, and deadlines.<\/p>\n Coding-centric collaboration tools allow developers to work on projects, view each other\u2019s work, and comment and edit in real time. In addition, these tools save time with reviews, bug-checks, and troubleshooting.<\/p>\n You can also use project management tools to streamline your workflow, especially when you work with a team of developers. Also, if you\u2019re prioritizing your tasks using one of the methods we mentioned above, this is a great way to delegate tasks to others.<\/p>\n Cloud-based version control platforms like GitHub<\/a> allow you to collaborate with other developers<\/a> and store, manage, and track changes in your codes. In other words, you can work in real time with other developers and save time sending work back and forth.<\/p>\nThe Pomodoro Technique<\/h3>\n
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Time Mapping<\/h3>\n
The ABCD System<\/h3>\n
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2. Plan Your Week<\/h2>\n
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As we mentioned, time management is a significant part of your job as a developer. So, it makes sense that you allocate some time to it as well.<\/p>\nPrioritize Your Tasks<\/h3>\n
Being productive<\/em> and being busy <\/em>are two different things.<\/h4>\n
Break Up Your Day<\/h3>\n
Schedule Time for Non-Coding Activities<\/h3>\n
Tackle Complex Tasks During Your Peak Productive Hours<\/h3>\n
Split Large Tasks Into Smaller and More Manageable Pieces<\/h3>\n
3. Identify Time-Wasters<\/h2>\n
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Time-wasters are activities that distract and interrupt you from your coding tasks. They can be social media engagements, domestic chores, emails, or meetings.<\/p>\nUse Time Tracking Apps<\/h3>\n
Write a Script for Repetitive Tasks<\/h3>\n
4. Use Collaboration Tools for Programmers<\/h2>\n
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