Scribble your way to success.
One of the best changes I made in the last year was to use a daily “productivity journal”. Every day, I’d write in the activities I’d completed for that day, and plan what needed to be done for the following day.
Just the simple act of writing in what had been done, and what needed doing, completely changed the way I worked during the day. Ticking off tasks I had set myself motivated me to move to the next ones, and it helped build a mindset of consistent discipline.
For today’s reading, The Pragmatic Programmer recommends doing something similar: an engineering daybook. A small, paper notepad of sorts, where interesting thoughts and ideas can be scribbled throughout the day, lasting much longer than memory:
“We use daybooks to take notes in meetings, to jot down what we’re working on, to note variable values when debugging, to leave reminders where we put things, to record wild ideas, and sometimes just to doodle.”
One of the main benefits is being able to switch gears when an idea appears, giving an opportunity for reflection and direct feedback on whether what you’re thinking makes sense or not.
Based on this insightful advice, I’ll buy and use a daybook alongside the journal.
Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow!
#PathToSWE
