Welcome to this Productivity guide. My purpose of sharing this guide is to help developers worldwide who are lacking productivity and improve productivity over time.

While being a dev, many responsibilities come, especially managing codebase, improving current version of app, documenting code, fixing bugs and a lot of other shits to get done.

Working on a lot of things everyday life can actually be very exhausting and very hard to make things done.

And as time passes our productivity eventually goes.

But don’t worry i am not here to disappoint you but to make you more Productive ever you were before.

So not to waste anymore time, let’s jump right into the guide now.

1 . What is productivity?

Before diving in understanding productivity let’s see what productivity is?

Productivity describes various measures of the efficiency of production.

While there is no other universal and agreed definition of productivity, it describes the ratio between output and input.

Productivity = output + input

One note on the definition of personal productivity. By relevant output, I mean working on the right things. You can be highly productive and have a lot of output, but the results you achieve might be useless. When you focus on relevant output, you get the right things done. Things that improve your career, business, organization.

2. Why does productivity matter?

Being a productive programmer brings tons of benefits, including

• higher pay,
• office benefits,
• Increased popularity among peers, and
• internal satisfaction.

More Output -While being productive you tend to increase your output in minimum input or working the same as before you normally do.

Innovation — Modern-day life and work have always been about change. However, the pace of change has substantially increased in the 21st century. Also, technology has increased our productivity. But the reverse is also true; our increased productivity leads to more innovation and new technology. The more productive we become, the more we can innovate.

Self Confident — The better you get at something, the more self-confident you will be. The more productive you are, the more skills you can develop. Hence, the more confident you will become.

”Do all that you can to raise your productivity, because in the long run, that’s what matters most.”

3. Work only fewer hours

It can sound counterintuitive, but working fewer hours per week can improve your productivity.

We developers work the whole day before computers, I know it is important but programming is something where we use our mental power, visualize or you might say imagination.

And by working fewer hours or we reduce 1 or 2 hour doing programming, We feel relaxed and more energetic.

This is something like our computers lagging sometimes when we mess with it or using it too much constantly.

So the next time you feel like you worked too much, shut down your computer screen and take a walk or spend some time with family or friends.

The more time you relax, The more productive you become..

4. Minimize Distractions

We live in an interruption-based culture that can be damaging productivity. Most of the time, notifications from electronic devices only add to the distraction. In fact, many Developers are so used to getting interrupted at work that when they don’t, they actually go looking for one!

Study shows that If you are distracted, it will take you around 15 minutes to regain focus.

Software Engineers work on complex problems, and if they are disturbed, it is hard to get back in the groove.

Feeling scared?

So when the next time you start working, minimize all your distraction.

To not get distracted every time when you start working, Put up your “busy” message on instant messenger and wear headphones (even if you’re not playing music) and also Mute your phone for a while.

5. Refactor code and write code documentation

Refactoring code can save everyone’s time, including the

• engineer maintaining the code,
• Others can easily use your code and build upon it,
• Allow reproducibility and transparency
• You learn self-determination
• Others would be encouraged to contribute to your code

Code documentation can also help you to improve the overall productivity of your project.

6. Work on other projects and learn new skills

Working on new projects can be an excellent way to keep your mind fresh.

Investing time in working on other projects lets you experiment with new technologies, learn new skills and improve upon your existing knowledge.

Most of the time, coding engineers are stuck with one project, and this routine can easily become boring.

And by working on new projects rather than working on existing one can bring your productivity to the next level.

7. Read books

If you are a person who is not fond of reading books then you might be missing out. People often don’t understand the Benefits of Reading Books, Some says it’s a waste of time, Some Find it boring, and for many such reasons people believe or can say have a mindset that reading books is not so useful and it’s of no use, just a time waste, energy waste, However Fact is opposite to such mindset, There are various reasons why Reading is very important and beneficial. A love of Reading can protect you from Alzheimer’s disease, People who don’t know what Alzheimer Disease is, For them, Alzheimer’s is a Type of Dementia that causes Problems with Memory, thinking, and Behavior.

You ofcourse know that books are your true and only long lasting Friend.

Reading books not only increase your knowledge but also

• Gives new way to life, Gives Different perspective to life
• Reading makes you smarter
• Reading Increase creativity and Imagination
• Improves memory
• To learn from masters

Books, on the other hand, offer a unique view on managing projects or understanding programming language or technology.

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

8. Get proper sleep

Without proper sleep you can easily hamper your productivity to a great extent.

If you trouble having proper sleep, It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping environment. Use your bed only for sleep and sex to strengthen the association between bed and sleep. If you associate a particular activity or item with anxiety about sleeping, omit it from your bedtime routine.

Note to mention, improper sleep can also hamper your health and cognitive capabilities.

9. Use Pomodoro Technique

This technique while working helped me a lot and even you should give it a try also.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.

Short breaks should be a minimum of 5 minutes.

If you are working on a big project, solving a bug or you are frustrated, take a break of 5 minutes or more to relax your mind to get back on track.

In the break do not try to use your mobile and check pending messages, just try to relax your mind.

To track your time and use pomodoro technique I suggest you use a Productivity timer for it which you can find in the google play store or in the Apple store also

Pomodoro technique is a proven way to improve your overall productivity and it also helps us to remove distractions.

“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”

Now if you apply these all tips which i personally tried and got a drastic improvement in my productivity than ever i had and you will definitely feel more confident and productive after trying these methods.