Everyone has their own workflow, or their own work habits. I also have my own set of workflows, but this workflow must only be a historical product, and we will always keep pace with the times. The book “The Stupid Strolling Randomly” mentions Soros, specifically saying that stock market tyrants like him are completely unfettered by past behavior and get rid of path dependence , and every day is a blank slate for him. Workflow can be used for reference. When you are working inefficiently, you may feel that everything is just right, then you are likely to have path dependencies.
My workflow is really all about distraction . Stillness, concentration, concentration, these sound like a person’s personal qualities or abilities, are they really untrainable things? In the age of information coercion, must we go with the flow in the flood of information? not necessarily.
Know yourself and the enemy, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. I’ll start by talking about sources of distraction based on my relatively narrow R&D work scenario.
First of all, it must be related to information , social information, news information, and life trivia. These fragmented contents challenge our concentration at any time. It is really difficult to fight big data and artificial intelligence with your own willpower.
The second is the research and development work itself . Although the communication and communication are not particularly frequent and intensive, the materials involved in the work process are multi-faceted. Including Gitlab, Tapd, CoDesign and many more. We often get lost in switching windows and desktops, or suddenly find ourselves forgetting what file we’re looking for. This kind of distraction caused by frequently switching contexts is not something that can be handled as simply and rudely as you turn off your phone notifications, but it is also a big problem.
Finally there is an overload problem . It is relatively simple, one is demand jamming, one is multi-project interspersed, and the other is delivery in a very short time. My summary is relatively simple, but scenarios that overload one’s brain can really be distracting and inefficient in anxiety. Just as the computer memory is not enough, changing the computer is an option, and optimizing the performance of the program may be a cost-effective (of course not necessarily high) choice for more technical work. The human brain can’t do it, and if you ask it to expand its capacity, the distraction caused by the overload problem is definitely a problem that cannot be avoided.
Workflow Core
Now that I have pulled the thread out of the cocoon, I will continue to talk about my solution, and finally talk about the core of the workflow.
Information batch processing
To deal with fragmentation information and notifications, my method is very simple, and everyone should have used it. Fragmentation information is processed in batches. I just use timed checks to handle random notifications. For example, every two hours, let the phone push a notification summary. This time frequency is determined according to the actual situation of the individual.
As long as you analyze the influence and penetration of the products of these large companies on you like a big company analyzes your usage behavior, you will have a direction to eliminate the interference of these products on you.
In response to the interference of WeChat on me, I also made a small summary. I found that the number of times I push on average is about 100 times a day, but the proportion of important information may be close to 0. Free stuff is always the most expensive, my attention was interrupted nearly 100 times a day before, and I got 100 unimportant instant message notifications. Maybe I have passed the age of simplistic handling of problems. If it was before, I would choose to quit WeChat or solve it without looking at my phone. Now to strike a balance between accepting information and excluding distractions, I choose to push summaries regularly.
Data efficient aggregation
At work, in the face of multiple files involved in a project, the easiest way is of course to do a good job of folder management. Well, when the associated content involves URLs, the simple way is, we have to do bookmark management. The problem is, I want to find all the related content of this project, I have to find bookmarks in the browser, I have to find files in the resource manager, and open a project in the IDE. If you are familiar with it every day, you can perform these repetitive actions very quickly, but the process of searching and switching is really not efficient and focused.
As long as you think about your own core needs like a leader and analyze how all the production tools in your work are in place, then you are one step closer to getting the point. When the leader is inspecting, he needs to have a good-looking and beautiful data screen to see the summary data. Why don’t you consider a general entry related to all the projects when you are working? A person’s positioning determines his height. Even if you are a code porter sitting in front of a computer, do you have the ability to put forward high-quality requirements for your own workflow? Before serving the company, please serve yourself.
My idea is to use Raycast to write a project aggregation plugin .
As shown in the image above, each item is an item. I can do a quick search or open a submenu for project-related materials. Using this plugin, I can make any project related links very quickly and go straight to it. For example, quickly find the development pipeline of project A, and then open the IDE of project A, this matter no longer needs to be handled in a hurry. Our time should be spent on higher quality things, shouldn’t it?
Based on the same principle, I also use Hook software to quickly associate files or URLs.
For example, on a Todo project, I hooked two URLs, corresponding to the URLs that need to be opened for this task (of course, if it is a file, it is also supported). After this aggregation, I can quickly open the associated website or file when doing one thing.
Reasonable task planning
Faced with the problem of overload, mission planning is a very important solution basis. Reasonably planning and dismantling your tasks, and then making reasonable arrangements according to various dimensions, is really a test of your own cognition.
A reasonable task planning has three advantages, one is that it can play a buffering role, the other is that it can make big things smaller, and the small things are not done, and finally it makes your work life more flexible.
To do thousands of things spread out in front of you, without the slightest panic, you need a buffer mechanism. Having an inbox function, as well as multi-entry, low-cost collection of tasks , has become an essential quality of a task management tool. When you start collecting your tasks, you start clearing your brain and reducing stress. Therefore, no matter what method you use, there must be a place to collect tasks.
Then let’s talk about the big issues. A software that can easily dismantle tasks is very important. Only by dismantling all actions as small as possible can we focus more on executing them at the moment. I have gone through all the methodologies and tools, and the simplest summary is that there are two keys on the keyboard that can solve all the tasks. One is the Enter key and the other is the Tab key.
- Enter: responsible for enumeration or teardown of tasks
- Tab: Hierarchical classification of responsible tasks
My thinking is that any task management tool that doesn’t support infinite levels of nesting and splitting is not as good as entering and tabbing in Notepad yourself. When you encounter a stuck point problem, first think about this matter can continue to be disassembled into a smaller thing to execute?
Finally, there is the question of flexibility. List and task management have never been the shackles that limit your free agency. Tools are always aids. So how do we stay flexible in our own planning? I think three points are important.
- Timed review
- Mobile change
- replan
I don’t think it is necessary to elaborate on the importance of the replay. Mobile change requires you to make immediate and accurate adjustments to your task management during the review, so that you will not be dragged down by yesterday’s self and always have today’s initiative. The last thing is to re-plan. Faced with a messy arrangement, don’t even think about it, let’s start all over again.
Speaking of task management, I don’t want to give any software-related examples. I personally believe that in the face of ever-changing challenges, research tools themselves are no longer cost-effective. All tools may be updated, but the methodology can be continuously optimized and more in line with your own personality.
think
Do not build a high platform on floating sand when a ten thousand zhang tall building rises from the ground. Before architecting a project, I really want to architect myself first. Don’t get lost in intricate issues that overlook essential needs.
When we face problems, we can cultivate a keen perception and think from the following three directions
- knowledge management system
- task management system
- progress management system
If we are tired of the chores of work and life before we have the ability to build a high house, it is very likely that we will neither find the root nor grow a towering tree.
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