developer.* Blogs - Self-Management - Comments

Thanks

chrishmorris — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:59:33 -0800

We have a weekly phone conference for the project team. At the end of a week's testing, one team member thanked another for finding defects in his code. A great moment.

The map is not the territory

chrishmorris — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:49:54 -0700

Great comments, especially by JeffW and GregH.

I have an old conch shell, pitted by erosion and stained by algae, which I picked up on a beach in Cuba. It would need gigabytes to describe it accurately. I keep it on my desk and handle it occasionally, when I need a reminder that the truth is concrete.

Working in a virtual world, it is good to remember that life is rich.

Don't forget

GregH — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:20:33 -0700

(Reiterating what JeffW said) I too wake at 3:00 a.m., sometimes taking a pad and pen into the bathroom to flesh something out (no comments please) so I don't wake my wife with a light on in the bedroom.

In addition to having a mind that likes to get into code, and takes off now and then into neat "what if I do x" ideas, I have found it INVALUABLE to have other hobbies to disengage my computing mind at night. For me, it is volunteering, church, guitar, enjoying goofing around with my kiddos, etc. Don't forget to strengthen the non-coding side of your life!

I find disengaging to be so worthwhile because often the solution to the trickiest gotcha is solved by stepping away from it completely for a few hours and coming back to it refreshed. Many times those are the 3:00 a.m. wake up calls, but at least I didn't spend all my time thinking about it and stressing.

if stressed or stuck then
   Play(kids)
else
   Continue
end if

For you C#,etc folks:

if (stressed || stuck) {
  play(kids);
}
else
{
  continue;
}

Great ideas you gave...thanks for the post!

advice on "self management"

keith — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 09:07:52 -0700

Hey! Thanks for the nice tips. It is so easy to get to my desk and not look up until its 5:00 or later :)

The idea of saying thank you instead of what the f%$& do you mean!!>>??!! is great too.

I am a newbie app developer teaching myself .net and really thank you for the advice.

read & think non-related things too

JeffW — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 13:02:22 -0700

... and be sure to find things to clear and distract your mind away from those problems you're trying to solve. Sometimes spending time with a good novel or out playing with the kids not only helps keep you sane and your relationships strong, but can give your mind time to refresh from that problem bugging you.

Learn from those around you

Darrell — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 08:20:25 -0700

IMO, a programmer's number one resource is his/her fellow programmers. Just talking through problems with a co-worker often helps me locate the problem. Also, don't be afraid of asking "dumb" questions. I ask my co-workers lots and lots of questions and feel I have learned a ton just from their answers.

Self-Management

chrishmorris — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:51:19 -0700

I have to guide a team of programmers to work effectively. One of them is me. Here are some of the techniques I use to manage my own attention and work capacity.