Time Management – The world is full of distractions. Whether you are a work-from-home, freelance web developer or you’re working at a local office, many things will require your attention; perhaps a notification on your social media, a text message, a phone call, an email, laughter from the pantry, etc. All of these things, though most of them are not so bad, can keep you preoccupied and distracted from your daily tasks leaving you with unfinished projects and a pile of work.
Especially for web developers, there are so many things that can prolong a development cycle including project plans, concepts, designs, testing, new programs, etc. You can get so excited with a new concept you want to try only to end up scrapping the whole thing and start again. Definitely, inefficient use of your time.
Cut down on your wasted time and make use of your time better with these time management tips:
1.Manage Distractions
According to a study conducted by Erik Altmann at Michigan State University, a distraction that lasts 2.8 seconds can already lead to a 100% increase in errors. Surprisingly, even short distractions lead to a massive increase in errors.
The best action you can do is to take a couple of minutes each day to manage potential distractions. Close or switch off any unnecessary applications on your desktop or your phone. Mute non-relevant notifications (be it on your messenger or social media or even emails). Set scheduled breaks for answering emails.
2.Set a Productivity Time
Managing distractions would also mean managing your social interaction with friends and co-workers. You don’t have to bury yourself from social interactions. However, give your co-workers a friendly signal when you wish to focus on work and when you’re approachable.
3.Give yourself Time Limit
Break down goals in deliverables to make them easier to achieve and so you can track milestones as well. Using time management software would greatly help in this so you can clearly see how much time you have actually spent on a certain development phase. Through this, you can find solutions to make the process go faster.
Setting a time limit on each task will give you some productivity boost. It gives you a sense of urgency improving your focus so you can get things done.
4.Take Short Breaks
A great technique to use would be the Pomodoro Technique which allows you to break down your work into intervals. Each short break would normally last for 25 minutes wherein you can do other communication tasks like reading emails or doing bio breaks like going to the restroom, hydrating, visiting the office water cooler, etc.
5.Stay Focused
Try your hardest to stay focused on your task and on your project. Especially when you’re doing research on the internet, sometimes you can see click-bait ads that would tease you. Next thing you know, you’re reading about 1 pot recipes and watching cat videos.
Avoid the temptation of switching browsers or visiting unrelated websites until your set task is done and completed.
These are just some of the tips you can do to improve your time use on a day-to-day basis and cut down wasted time on your web development cycle. You may also invest in apps and tools to improve your productivity but at the end of the day, it’s your discipline and change of habit that will make things work.