Okay. I’m utilizing the time period indie developer loosely right here. I don’t contemplate myself to be an indie developer. However I am unbiased, largely. I run my very own enterprise the place I work on shopper apps, workshops, my books, this web site, my YouTube channel, and extra. So I feel I qualify as indie, partially.
Both manner, on this put up I’d wish to discover one thing that I don’t write or discuss a lot. How do I, as somebody that manages my very own time and work, guarantee that I keep productive (in a sustainable manner).
A whole lot of of us that I’ve talked to over time have their very own techniques that assist them plan, construction, and execute work. Some of us are simply so desirous to at all times be working that they haven’t any issues staying busy in any respect. Others, myself included, battle with sustaining a rhythm, discovering steadiness, and keep away from procrastinating.
Over the past half 12 months or so I’ve been very actively making an attempt to determine what works for me, and on this weblog put up I’d wish to share a few of the issues that I’ve realized in that point.
All of it begins with a plan
The standard of labor that I’ll do in a day, week, or month, all is determined by my plans for a given timeframe. If I depart my Friday afternoon with unfinished enterprise, and I spend my Monday on making an attempt to determine the place I’ve left off and I don’t make a plan for the week, it’s seemingly that the week is not going to be very productive.
That’s as a result of as soon as I begin working and not using a plan I’m in a continuing mode of making an attempt to determine what’s subsequent. I’ll discover one thing to do, do it, after which spend a number of time questioning about “what’s subsequent?”.
Often meaning I take a break, go on social media, or watch some YouTube movies. Principally, I begin to procrastinate.
I’ve tried to handle this by allocating each morning and afternoon to a sort of labor. I began off by separating “shopper” work and “weblog” work. This type of labored however it was too ambiguous. I’d spend a number of time making an attempt to determine which shopper to work for, and what to work on. Or I’d be excited about whether or not I wished to work on an app, a YouTube video, my weblog, or one thing else.
The end result?
I’d find yourself doing far lower than I wished to. Particularly when it got here to “weblog” work as a result of there’s nearly no accountability there.
So, I solved this drawback by planning in another way. As an alternative of allocating stuff to days I’d have an inventory of issues to do for the week. In my calendar I might nonetheless block some instances for sorts of work, however my listing is main.
When it’s time to do shopper work, I have a look at my listing. Who’s on prime (the listing is sorted by urgency)? That’s what I’ll work on. It’s easy but efficient.
I believed that this method could be too free for me to permit me to correctly plan however I feel it’s working nicely. I began doing this about three months in the past and I can positively inform that my output is getting higher. I’m additionally feeling higher about my work than I did half a 12 months in the past.
So, begin with a plan. Be sure you at all times know what’s subsequent. Understanding what you’re presupposed to do makes doing it extra simple.
Discover the correct atmosphere
I do know, we’re all supposed to like working from house. I’m not nice at it. I really like the thought of it, however I’m actually not good at it.
Every time I make money working from home, there’s a great deal of distractions. I can cling round and watch TV for a bit. Do some work within the backyard. Run a fast errand. Fold laundry. Cook dinner.
These are all issues I both get pleasure from doing, or issues that must get executed a technique or one other.
Focusing whereas working from house might be fairly a problem for me, and I’m discovering out an increasing number of that my desk isn’t at all times the place the place I’m most efficient.
Going some place that’s not the identical desk day-after-day is usually a huge increase for my productiveness. I’m undecided whether or not a change of atmosphere simply retains my mind energetic, or I’m higher at performing sure duties from a distinct location (typically it’s only a totally different place in my home), however altering it up works for me.
Should you’re feeling unproductive and you’re feeling such as you’ve received a deal with on understanding what you’re presupposed to do however doing it appears exhausting, try to swap issues up a bit. Work from a espresso store, a co-working area, a library, or your dinner desk as a substitute of your desk and see the way it feels. Possibly it could possibly assist you to give attention to various things.
Monitor your work
I used to assume that having inflexible techniques for work would suck the enjoyment out of doing the work. The extra I depend on techniques and routines the extra I discover that I benefit from the work I’m doing as a result of it permits me to be extra centered, much less confused, and really feel extra in management.
By making tickets for every part I do, I’ve a very good sense of the place I ought to focus my consideration. I can simply measure how productive I’ve been over time simply by trying on the tickets I’ve closed.
I’m utilizing GitHub tasks for monitoring my work, and I’m having fun with it rather a lot. I can hyperlink my tickets to points which makes it simple to hyperlink every part collectively. By ordering my tickets based mostly on their precedence I’m principally capable of run by my listing from prime to backside all through the week and know that I’m at all times doing the correct factor.
Along with monitoring my work by tickets, I’ve created a utility app for myself to trace with Chrona I can monitor pomodoro timers all through my workday. Each timer will get an outline of what I’ve labored on and a ranking for a way nicely I feel I did productivity-wise.
The concept is that Chrona will ultimately assist me achieve extra understanding concerning the best way I do my work, and whether or not I’ve any instances of day the place my productiveness drops considerably. If there’s any patterns in my productiveness or the kind of work I do I can anticipate for that once I make my plans, or I might resolve to construction my work week round instances and days that work nicely for me.
Chrona is considered one of 4 apps that I intend to ship this 12 months with the principle thought being that these apps ought to be helpful for myself earlier than excited about easy methods to make them into merchandise. That’s why Chrona was construct to be a easy app that solely does a number of issues. It’s not configurable nor customizable and that’s on goal. I would add extra options sooner or later if sufficient of us use the app.
In Abstract
Productiveness is a fancy matter, and if there’s one factor I’ve realized over time it’s that anyone that claims to have the reply for all of your productiveness woes is mendacity to you. Sure, there are confirmed techniques on the market. However the effectiveness of those techniques isn’t assured for everyone. Some of us work totally different kind others, and that’s fully positive.
Should you’re struggling to maintain your self motivated and centered, I extremely advocate to actively try to perceive what’s making issues exhausting for you. When and why are you procrastinating, and what are you able to do to repair that. For me, understanding what’s subsequent (planning), the place I work (atmosphere), and having goal insights (monitoring) appear to be having a constructive impression.
The important thing issue for me appears to be that there’s no level in making an attempt to power any specific system on myself. If it doesn’t work, I try to perceive why, after which I make adjustments to my routines to see whether or not issues enhance. It’s an iterative course of, and its not a fast one.
