11 ways to improve programmers' work efficiency and keep you away from overtime

Are "hardworking" and "working overtime" really good qualities? Compared with how you do it, the boss cares more about what you do and the results you achieve. In a word, efficiency, efficiency. The following tips hope to help programmers stay away from overtime.

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1. The Two-Minute Rule

If a task can be done in two minutes, such as replying to an email, do it now, because remembering it, scheduling time, and completing it later may take five minutes or more.

2. The Five-Minute Rule

Procrastination is one of the biggest culprits that affect work efficiency. To cure it, you don't set a goal for yourself and make up your mind to complete a big task, but just spend five minutes on it. You will find that in most cases, it is still going well when it exceeds five minutes, because you have entered a flat period.

3. Don’t believe that your memory is strong.

Even if you are a memory genius, you still need to clear everything out of your mind and record it. It doesn’t matter how you do it. You can write them down in a notebook, put them in a dedicated app, etc.

4. Focus on one thing for 30 minutes

Do only the task at hand within 30 minutes, ignore everything else, no phone calls, no emails, no talking, no QQ message reminders, unless there is a fire. Of course, if the boss wants to talk to you, there is no other way.

5. Try to maintain your sleep time and take naps during the day

Lack of sleep may lead to the deterioration of many abilities. This is not an exaggeration. A US military study shows that "sleeping one hour less per day for a week will lead to cognitive deterioration equivalent to 0.1 blood alcohol level". "The Secret World of Sleep" points out that after staying up late, no matter how well you do during the day, your mood will not be too high. More importantly, your forward-looking thinking ability, willingness to act, inhibition of impulse, optimism, empathy, emotional intelligence, etc. will also decline. Therefore, taking a nap during the day is really a good habit. Haven't you found that you have become stupider because you love staying up late?

6. Always wearing headphones

Wearing headphones does not necessarily mean listening to music, as it can prevent others from approaching you and disturbing you. Some people are more efficient at work when listening to music.

7. It’s really okay for programmers to leave their phones for a while

When working, turn your phone to silent mode and put it away from sight so that you can handle calls and text messages in batches at a concentrated time.

The same goes for your mailbox. You don't have to pay attention to it all the time, especially in the morning and evening. Put the things that need to be resolved and the to-do list together, archive the useful ones, and make sure your mailbox is clear.

8. MI3

In the morning, sort out the three most important things, or change them into one must-do, three things that should be done, or five things that can be done, and then start doing the most important thing. Don't think that willpower can solve everything, put the most important things in the morning, and automate everything as much as possible (delegation, batching, etc.).

9. Planned Procrastination

Your brain needs a break, and sometimes a new issue of Arrow can do more wonders than the best TED Talk.

10. Pretending to be incompetent

Sometimes pretending to be incompetent can give you more energy to show your abilities.

11. Don’t pursue perfection, programmers don’t need it

Simon Sherry, a psychology professor at Dalhousie University, found in his study of perfectionism and productivity that perfectionism is a stumbling block to productivity: Perfectionists take longer to complete tasks. They procrastinate by waiting for the perfect moment. In business, if you wait for the perfect moment, it's too late. Perfectionism often blinds us to the big picture because we focus too much on the small things. So, really, just get close.