Summary

What I learned from 472 PRs, 130K lines of code and 1 year working for a USA startup

• My first PR vs my latest PR
• No, you cannot do everything
• Plan your day = Be effective
• Communication: inform your progress when is needed, unblock your teammates, perform QA
• Is ok to not be ok
• Dump your brain
  • something is blocking you? explain the problem in a note
  • there is a lot of things to do? make a prioritized list
• Do things that gives you fulfillment
• Understand what is expected from your work

How to structure a productive day

• Fulfillment: mind, body & spirit
• Pareto law: 80% of effects comes from 20% of causes
  • Master key skills
  • Prioritize key practices
  • Learn key concepts
  • Focus on key tasks
• Laborit law: people gravitate towards the least effort path at expense of important or difficult tasks
  • Prioritize more urgen + important tasks (don’t focus on difficulty)
  • Break complex tasks into smaller manageable tasks
• Parkinson law: work expands to fill the available time
  • Set strict deadlines
  • Seek efficiency, not perfection

Efficient learner

• create a distraction-free environment
• be an active note-taker
• prioritize your health
• revise your knowledge actively: explain it easily

Code for 4 hours straight (with no breaks ?)

• plan your work yesterday
• high priority tasks => most optimal timeframe
• no phone, no notifications, no emails, no slack.
• drink water, exercise, sleep.

Optimize your development process

• technical aspects
  • follow standards
  • do regular code reviews
• experience aspects
  • master your IDE