How often have you been too busy to consider ways to improve productivity?  Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem.  We can easily get buried in day-to-day tasks and details.  However, our best way forward often requires us to pick our heads up.

Improve Productivity With Planning

I think we all learn somewhere along the way that design and planning make us more likely to be successful in any endeavor.  That makes it all the more frustrating when we find ourselves buried in the weeds.  You are not alone in this challenge.  IT work often carries a lot of details and small tasks that drag us away from our primary work and goals.
The key to winning this battle is quality over quantity.  It is easy to focus on a quick fix.  However, quick is rarely the best approach.  The better way to craft a solution is to take a step back and find a real fix that will keep the problem from resurfacing.  When we indeed solve the problem instead of finding a patch, it will be one less thing to worry about.  Thus, freeing the time spent we would have spent on another temporary fix.

Busy is not Productive

Just as quick fixes are not the best ones, being busy is not the same as being productive.  This happens to be the best path to becoming a better developer.  When you step back and plan your next move, design a solution, or fix rather than a patch, you provide real solutions.  That helps you step from coder to a developer.
A better developer is one that is more productive.  This episode looks at a few ways to become better without adding to your skills.  These tips are reminders to do things the right way.  Fortunately, these are all steps you can take immediately.

Rob Broadhead

Rob is a founder of, and frequent contributor to, Develpreneur. This includes the Building Better Developers podcast. He is also a lifetime learner as a developer, designer, and manager of software solutions. Rob is the founder of RB Consulting and has managed to author a book about his family experiences and a few about becoming a better developer. In his free time, he stays busy raising five children (although they have grown into adults). When he has a chance to breathe, he is on the ice playing hockey to relax or working on his ballroom dance skills.

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