A Day In The Life Of

I find it interesting to learn how other people get things done on a daily basis as there is a lot you can learn from studying the work flow of a top software developer, guru, entrepreneur, etc. Not that I consider myself to be in the top tier but it is definitely something I shoot for.

I thought I’d share my work flow in case it is of help/interest to others. Maybe this will open up the discussion for further thought.

Since I’m an independent software developer/contractor, I generally work from home. Although, even when I need to be on the client site and stuck in a cubicle farm, I still stick to the schedule (even though I’m not as productive). Here is my usual daily schedule:

• 6:00am - Wake up, start a pot of tea, check OmniFocus next actions, calendar, and syndicated feeds.
• 6:30am - Work out while listening to a podcast (sometimes I watch video if I’m on the elliptical via the iPhone).
• 7:30am - Eat breakfast, clean up, and prepare for work.
• 8:00am - Check email and reduce inbox to zero. Kill email and syndicated feed clients. Review OmniFocus next actions and start work on software project(s).
• 12:00pm - Launch email client and reduce inbox to zero. Launch feed readers and read feeds. Maybe watch some educational videos if there is time (i.e. Railscasts, CSS-Tricks, jQuery, etc.)
• 1:00pm - Kill email and syndicated feed clients. Check OmniFocus next actions and return to working on development projects.
• 5:00pm - Stop work, launch email and reduce inbox to zero, check syndicated feeds, eat dinner.
• 7:30pm - At this point, if I’m not burnt out from the day, I’ll continue working into the night. Otherwise, I try to learn new development tricks, study a software tool, etc.
• 9:00pm - If I’m not toast by this point then I’m definitely getting glazed eyes. Trying to do any further work after 9pm usually turns into gibberish.

My work flow stems from the Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy. When your an independent/contractor/entrepreneur, you don’t have time to screw around and so staying focused is key. I believe these principals apply whether you’re an employee or on a client’s time. Its amazing how much progress you can make in a day when you reduce distractions and stay focused.

Keep in mind this is my general schedule but I might not always achieve it. Scheduled meetings, phone calls, and/or Skype chats might break the flow although I try to limit these as much as possible. It’s all about high-output even when your client or the situation you are thrown into is a complete mess.

Find what works for you. Maybe this gives you a blueprint. It works for me at least. Oh, and I suppose it goes without saying, it helps if you love what you do too. I know I couldn’t do any of this if I didn’t enjoy writing Ruby code on a daily basis.

For additional info, check out the following:

• Being a Better Developer
• Being a Better Rails Developer

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