5 Productivity Tips for Software Developers

Every developer understands the importance of productivity. When we can get “in the zone” we can achieve great things. It is the emails, meetings and other distractions from social media, online games or that pesky boss of yours that often get in the way. These 5 tips should help you make 2014 a productive year.

1. Read emails at set times.

Avoid reading emails first thing, they stifle productivity and you’ll start the day in “reactive mode”. Start the day with an important task and react to those “urgent” issues around lunch time.

Alternatively try a wiki solution such as Confluence, a platform where your team can work collaboratively. This is less of a time suck than trawling though an email chain.

2. Stay on task.

A simple one, but important nonetheless. Simple things like creating a to-do list the night before or working from a Kanban board can ensure you stay focused. JIRA Agile is a good choice with a number of options for visualising your workflow.

Alternatively a simple note taking tool such as Evernote or Google Keep will give you access to your to do list on the move, avoiding the worry of what you’re working on tomorrow.

3. Avoid distractions.

Key to staying on task is avoiding self-inflicted or external distractions. Forget checking whether that meme you posted got retweeted, or perusing D-Zone for something interesting to read – stay on task!

Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short – Adam Hochschild

If you’re not confident that willpower alone will cut it you can eliminate access entirely using a plugin such as Blocksite or editing your machine’s hosts file (which I’m sure you know how to do so I won’t bore you with the details).

4. Automate.

Avoid mundane, menial tasks – use tools such as Jenkins or Bamboo for builds or write your own scripts for simple tasks. Aim to automate any task that you have to do more than once.

5. Have some me-time.

A bit of an odd one when discussing productivity but “play” is essential. Time away from your screen, away from your desk and importantly, away from work, will allow your brain time to refresh. Reward your hard work with a quick social media binge or Reddit visit – it’ll help avoid distractions if you make those distractions part of a more productive habit.

“There is a misunderstanding here, a confusion between “a good process utilizes all the resources at 100%”, which is questionable, and “utilizing all the resources at 100% makes the process good”, which is definitely wrong.”- Shirly Ronen-Harel

In terms of adopting agile development “slack” can be a real benefit. Project managers will always chase 100% productivity but what they’re really after is a good process; quality software. Slack time means important tasks and “thinking time” aren’t avoided, leaving you less stressed, more focused and ultimately, more productive.

Want to learn more about implementing best practice software development? Check out Spectrum, the complete ALM solution.

The session was limited to a select number of Enterprise companies but our film is available to anyone interested in learning more about the challenges involved with such a venture.

The session covered:

• Why would you go Git?
• Challenges of Git in the Enterprise
• Clearvision experience of Git in the Enterprise
• Stash and Git- why choose this option?

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We’d also like to make you aware of how we can help with all things Git and Stash. You already know us as Atlassian Enterprise Experts but it’s worth noting our additional expertise around Git.

With a global client base that rely on us for git implementation, support and training we’d love to be able to help you with any questions you may have about Git or Stash so please get in touch.

We’d also you to point you to our Git software services page which will provide you and your organisation with a one stop shop for all things Git.