(sans "productivity shame")
Ben Limmer @blimmer
😐
- Working more hours 🕕
- Becoming a Pomodoro master 🍅
- Being heads down 100% of the time 🎧
- Productivity shame 😟
"Productivity Shame" is the act of regularly setting unrealistic expectations for what you can accomplish, and then beating yourself up when you fall short.
- Jocelyn K. Glei
- Tips to stay focused and produce your best work 💪 😤
- Understanding and hacking natural ebbs and flows in your productivity 〰️
- Tips to stay on track when delivering a story 👉 😄 👈
These are things that work well for me, and I've seen them work well for other folks. If they don't work for you, that's OK!
Breaks in each section are not only for questions, please also provide your experience and tips!
- Staying Focused
- Optimizing Story Work & Tasks
- Staying Focused
- Time tracking
- Reducing distractions
- Ebbs and flows of productivity
- Optimizing Story Work & Tasks
- Staying Focused
- Optimizing Story Work & Tasks
- Planning
- Rabbit Holes
- Asking for Help
- Time tracking ⏰
- Reduce distractions 🌀 😄 🌀
- Leverage ebbs and flows 🌵
↔️ 🌊
What task am I tracking time against right now?
📊
- What am I spending time on?
- What am I spending time on?
- Am I dedicating time appropriately between categories?
- What am I spending time on?
- Am I dedicating time appropriately between categories?
- Am I stuck and haven't realized it yet?
- The tool I use
- Free
- Plenty of alternatives!
🌀 😄 🌀
- Change your scenery
- Mute notifications
🏡 ☕
- Increase creative output
- Increase creative output
- Execute without IRL distractions
- Increase creative output
- Execute without IRL distractions
- Have more control over your environment
- Work from home
- Work in Owens
- Head to a coffee shop
⚡ 📱 ⚡
- Snooze slack notifications
- Snooze slack notifications
- Do Not Disturb mode on your phone
- Snooze slack notifications
- Do Not Disturb mode on your phone
- Turn off macOS global notifications
- Snooze slack notifications
- Do Not Disturb mode on your phone
- Turn off macOS global notifications
- Let folks know / build in time to "catch up"
🌵
- We are not machines 🤖
- We are not machines 🤖
- What supports your mood and productivity? 🏃 👶 🎮
- We are not machines 🤖
- What supports your mood and productivity? 🏃 👶 🎮
- When are you most productive? 🌞 🌚
- Be aware of your natural productivity rhythm and harness it
- Be aware of your natural productivity rhythm and harness it
- Take quick breaks, even when you're feeling productive
- Be aware of your natural productivity rhythm and harness it
- Take quick breaks, even when you're feeling productive
- Write a note before your break to get back into it quickly
- Time tracking ⏰
- Reducing distractions 🌀 😄 🌀
- Leveraging ebbs and flows 🌵
↔️ 🌊
Staying FocusedTime trackingReducing distractionsEbbs and flows of productivity
- Optimizing Story Work & Tasks
- Planning
- Rabbit Holes
- Asking for Help
- Planning 📝
- Rabbit Holes 🐰 🕳️
- Asking For Help 🙋 ❓ 💁
Think of two stories:
- one that you executed against quickly
- one that took much longer than expected
What were some characteristics of the stories that took longer?
Takes a good amount of time but pays dividends during execution.
- What, specifically, is in-scope?
- What's out of scope?
- Point or estimate effort
- Leverage experience on the team
Planning takes too much time. I should be writing code.
- Everyone
Scenario:
- 1 hour planning once per sprint
- 20 hours per week coding * 2 week sprints
- = 2% of your coding time
Scenario:
- 2.5 hour planning once per sprint
- 20 hours per week coding * 2 week sprints
- = 6% of your coding time
- Take the time to get acceptance criteria locked in
- Alignment as a team
- Plan the approach before writing any code
- Much easier to parallelize options in your brain vs. in code
- Plan the approach before writing any code
- Much easier to parallelize options in your brain vs. in code
- Take notes!
- Plan the approach before writing any code
- Much easier to parallelize options in your brain vs. in code
- Take notes!
- Start writing when you have a plan
🐰 🕳️
- Questions to ask yourself
- Awareness of time spent
On this current train of thought what:
- am I learning?
- problem am I solving?
- am I optimizing?
On this train of thought what am I learning?
On this train of thought what am I learning?
- Wat ...
- how did I get to this blog post / wiki page?
On this train of thought what am I learning?
- Wat ...
- how did I get to this blog post / wiki page?
- Something needed to deliver the story ...
- have I learned enough to deliver the story?
- is there more to learn later?
On this train of thought what problem am I solving?
On this train of thought what problem am I solving?
- Is it in the acceptance criteria?
- Do I need to solve it now?
On this train of thought what am I optimizing?
On this train of thought what am I optimizing?
- Is it a valuable optimization?
- Is it too early to worry about this?
- What's simplest?
On this current train of thought what:
- am I learning?
- problem am I solving?
- am I optimizing?
Wait, I've spent how many hours on this so far!?
- Me, in a rabbit hole
- Data from time tracker invaluable
- Data from time tracker invaluable
- Compare to team estimation - are you way off? why?
- Data from time tracker invaluable
- Compare to team estimation - are you way off? why?
- Work to reduce your MTTD that you're in a rabbit hole
🙋 ❓ 💁
- Ask your question, also provide context
- What do you already understand?
- What have you tried?
- Ask your question, also provide context
- What do you already understand?
- What have you tried?
- Get stuck for more than 15 minutes, but less than an hour
- Planning 📝
- Rabbit Holes 🐰 🕳️
- Asking For Help 🙋 ❓ 💁
- Set attainable, realistic goals
- Set attainable, realistic goals
- Don't try all of this at the outset
- Set attainable, realistic goals
- Don't try all of this at the outset
- Don't beat yourself up for not being "productive 100% of the time"
I do everything in this talk 100% of the time!
I do everything in this talk 100% of the time!
“Like battery acid, productivity shame is a toxic substance that slowly corrodes your ability to take any joy in your work.”
- Jocelyn K. Glei
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/maxoutput