Late Night Dev

All of us are faced by some projects that seem overwhelming in scope. What do you do when you face one of these monsters? Even with well defined project segments and timelines, sometimes the scope of certain items can seem too much to handle.

One solution is too slice the project into even smaller tasks which are easily attainable and focus on completing those without distractions. Soon you will find that you are on time with your action items for the project and possibly even ahead of schedule. To do this you will need to follow some basic rules:

• set aside a period of your work day to focus on these tasks only
• fully prepare for the tasks you plan to accomplish – this may mean researching code techniques, gathering the necessary resources such as graphics from design team, or such things as setting up test environments or databases. This will allow you to focus fully on the task when you start to work
• do not allow interruptions from email, telephone, or co-workers
• set aside all other tasks such as maintenance or smaller projects
• work only on the assigned task for a set period of time daily until it is accomplished

If you follow these basic rules daily you will soon find that the overwhelming tasks seem to fade away and your accomplishments will grow daily.

Below are some tools and references that I find helpful in managing time:

• ToodleDo Task Organizer
• “Time Management” by Randy Pausch – Nov 2007 – lecture is on lower half of this page.
  

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