Introduction
As a programmer, you know that your work requires high focus, so it often takes up a lot of your time. Yes, this also happens to me, I spend a lot of time doing tasks but sometimes the results don't meet expectations. I realized several things that I had gained from my work experience and insights from my colleagues, and there was a book that was interesting and very helpful in improving my habits.
Did you know that we live by following patterns and habits that we do every day, these habits will influence the results of our goals. So if you want to change your life and achieve what you want, the first thing you have to do is change your habits. Stephen R. Covey in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says that: “the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions.”
Instead of looking at the world that is so big for us, let's look at the smaller things first and relate to our daily activities. Yup, that's right, I want to share from my perspective as a programmer. There are several habits you should know to increase productivity when working as a programmer. Some of these things are also based on my experience, so the results may be different for you, but believe me, this will be useful if you practice it well. OK, let's get started!
1. Be Proactive
In his book, Covey describes the two-circle types of people that exist in our lives. Circle of concern which is a circle containing things outside our control. Meanwhile, the smaller circle is the circle of influence, which contains things that we can control.
If you apply this to programming, whenever you start a new project, you'll take the time to understand the final product. What are the functional and non-functional requirements of the features to be built?
I remember someone saying software engineering is the art of making trade-offs. There are rarely right and wrong answers but rather a matter of determining the different types of design, and what the pros and cons are in a given case. Believe it or not, I have experienced that spending 30 minutes on careful planning can save you more than 10 hours of programming.
“People are working harder than ever, but because they lack clarity and vision, they aren’t getting very far. They, in essence, are pushing a rope with all of their might.” Dr. Stephen R. Covey
Of course, this is not easy because every plan can go wrong, I also fell into it several times. But this is still much better than not planning anything at all.
3. Put First Things First
Having the ability to choose what is important and what is not is also an effective habit. By being able to sort your interests according to your needs, you will be able to prioritize the order of work that will be done first.
This habit is closely related to time management. Covey advises us to do the main thing based on the four quadrants he created which he called the Eisenhower Matrix.
Being able to collaborate effectively is one of the main skills you need to have. So, it is very important to be able to rise above personal career goals and have a win-win mindset for the team. Not just winning yourself by making other people lose, or giving in to others so they win, or even making other people lose because we also lose.
Getting used to always thinking about being able to win over many parties will make us always try to achieve the best results. More than that, this also greatly affects our relationships with other people in the long term.
To build good relationships in the long term, we need to establish relationships with many people. Through think win-win this will help us build a good reputation or image in the future and will make our work more effective in the longer term.
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Are you the type of person who is busy asking for your own feedback long before giving someone else a chance? This is not something Stephen Covey recommends.
In his book, Dr. Covey emphasizes the importance of appreciating differences and using them to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. So it's about getting the most out of every team member to create a product that users love. Effective programmers adopt collaborative coding practices, such as code reviews, pair programming, and other knowledge sharing. By combining individual skills and insights, teams can build more powerful, efficient, and innovative products.
Even though it is not easy, especially for programmers, most of whom work individually, by getting used to this, we can not only become independent figures but can also become people who can work together and collaborate well with anyone.
7. Sharpen the Saw
Effective people will continue to practice things in their lives so that they continue to progress and develop well. Covey said there are four main things that we must hone in our lives; body, heart, mental, and spiritual. Yes, in general, this is very important for life in any field. But let's try to focus on something more specific.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
SOCIAL SHARE CARD GENERATOR