From Procrastination to Productivity: The Pre-Coding Checklist
Hello to all friends, colleagues, and all the weekend developers!
Last week, I talked about decreasing the reliance on motivation to build habits. If you have missed that, here’s the article:
But what if, your problem is not motivation?
Your problem is that you open your laptop and then you cannot get working on what you want to do.
There are already a million distractions.
Even after shutting all of them out, you find notifications that promise something new that makes you curious.
Before you know it, you have browsed through for an hour, read a few exciting articles, or watched a few videos. But you could not get any of the work done.
Sounds familiar?
Today, I will talk about having a pre-coding routine that will help you focus and get working on the precise task for which you opened your laptop.
Pre-Coding Checklist
The Evening Before
Write a note
If you want the best result, write a note down before you go to sleep in this format.
Tomorrow, I will work on ______ activity from ___ to ___.
During this time, my goal is to get ________ this done.
My definition of success is that I have spent the ____ amount of time doing the task.
Once I have completed my session, I will celebrate by _________
Visualize yourself sitting in your room and doing the task.
Think about how you might feel doing and where all you can get stuck and what could be the possible solutions to get around when you are stuck.
What this does is, you submit to your subconscious the task that you are going to do.
As you have specified the goals to achieve, your subconscious will begin solving the problem as well.
Decide how you are going to celebrate. It might be a simple punching the air or sharing it on social media, whatever works for you.
Set a timer
Use your phone and set a timer or put it in the calendar whichever works best for you. This will ensure you get reminders before the set time and it will help you to prepare for the task.
Task Day
Your reminder is the cue
When you get the reminder, begin prepping for your work.
Write the intention down on a sticky note and put it on the screen in front of you.
Having the note in front of you keeps your task front of mind and it will bring you back if you get distracted.
The act of writing down makes it more visceral. It makes it real.
Take care of your biological needs
Go to the loo before entering the room.
Take a cup of coffee/water so that you do not want to get up due to any reason.
If you think you might feel hungry, have a healthy snack with you as well.
Turn on heaters/coolers in the room so that you are going to be comfortable during that time.
Think about the clothes that you will be wearing. You don’t want to feel cold and go looking for a jumper or socks when doing deep work.
Switch off distractions
Go to a room and close the door so that nobody else can disturb you.
Turn off data on your mobile during this time.
On the laptop add app blockers during that time so that you are not distracted by anything else.
Use noise-canceling headphones and put music on if that is your thing.
Write the statement of intention
Write the intention down on a sticky note and put it on the screen in front of you.
Having the note in front of you keeps your task front of mind and it will bring you back if you get distracted.
The act of writing down makes it more visceral. It makes it real.
Begin Working
Start a timer and begin working.
Bring it to an end
Once you decide that you want to end the session, turn off the timer. Your success criteria are that you have followed your plan.
Celebrate it as you had mentioned in the previous note.
Feel the success of doing the task. It is important to feel as it sends dopamine to your brain.
Why does this process work?
Many successful athletes follow this evening before visualization as it brings success in their actual game.
Because you have already solved the problem in your mind and you are only following your instincts.
The reminder you set up becomes the cue or the prompt to start the activity. The cue is one of the principle keys for habit formation.
You planned for it and you are doing the routine. You do not need motivation to brush your teeth. It is a routine you follow. This reduces the reliance on motivation.
Your success does not depend on whether you have accomplished what you set out to do rather it depends on whether you spent the time doing the task.
So even if the action might be hard, you are guaranteed success if you just show up.
80% of success is showing up - Woody Allen
Finally, you celebrated your success which means it will tell your brain that doing this activity brings pleasure to you. This acts as a reinforcing agent to help you keep going with your routine.
Weekend Reads
The Log: What every software engineer should know about real-time data's unifying abstraction: Long read alert. Take plenty of time digesting this article. It is one of the gems on the internet.
Microservices by Martin Fowler: Another long read for the weekend.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg: TedEx video by Charles Duhigg who wrote the book by the same name
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