Productivity on Jake Worth

Hard-Won Software Development Habits

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 10:19:47 -0400

This post is about how to write software well. It was inspired by this post with a similar title. Read it and write yours.

The Secret to Being a 10x Engineer

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Our industry has a concept of “10x engineers”, individual contributors who have the impact of ten colleagues. How can you become one? I’ll try to answer that in this post.

My Daily Programming Routine as a Senior Software Engineer

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past decade, I’ve settled into a daily programming routine that helps me stay productive. It centers on code review, moving tickets forward, finishing in-progress work, and documenting what I learn. Here’s the exact workflow I use.

You Have to Get Fast to Get Good at Programming

Fri, 06 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Great programmers aren’t fast because they’re great. They’re great because they’re fast.

Before You Abort, Count to Ten

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a trick that that has helped me as a programmer: before doing anything major, like killing a process, stop and count to ten.

Weekly Summary Technique for Software Engineers

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

“What did you do this week?” I’ve written a weekly summary for myself and my teams for years. It helps me think through my work and shows people what I’m working on. In this post, I’ll explain how to use this tool.

Do the Hard Things First

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A concept that I admire is ‘Doing the Hard Thing First’ via Ben Orenstein. Ben described on the Art of Product Podcast Episode 50. Here’s my summary:

Choose the hard part of the problem, the part you’re unsure about, the part that success depends on, and solve that first!

Work Small

Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Write programs that do one thing and do it well. –The Unix Philosophy

I believe in working small.