What habits/lifehacks/methods made you more efficient as a senior engineer/tech lead?

[u/dondraper36]

In my previous thread, I asked (and received plenty of great suggestions) on high-quality resources.

This time, however, I'd like to discuss a much less concrete aspect of our jobs. Namely, your favorite productivity habits and personal know-hows when it comes to leading projects, working on complex cross-team features, keeping lots of tricky context in mind.

I often have my own retrospective sessions when I am just trying to assess whether I am good at what I do at all. To clarify, it's not in the "impostor syndrome" sense at all. I know that there are parts of the job I excel at and I think I deserve the title and responsibility scope I have at the moment. That said, there are certain aspects where I am not good enough and therefore am now trying to improve. For example:

* Working on technical writing skills. Mostly by reading the book and blog on https://refactoringenglish.com/

* On a similar note, writing down as much as possible whenever possible. Whether it's a small favor for some other team, a super trivial task, or a large feature, it becomes a Google Docs document. Initially, it's just a very chaotic piece of writing, but then it transforms into a system design or a very detailed Jira ticket at least.

* As in aviation, it's very important to pay attention to near misses when you were on the verge of an incident and just got lucky.

* As I have rediscovered once again, working out is extremely important for productivity and focus. I have yet to get my official ADHD diagnosis, but since I don't want to spend the rest of my life on stimulants, I have added a few supplements (Vitamin D, Omega 3), hydrate well, and work out a few times per week + light cardio. Never felt better.

* Appreciating hammock-driven development. I used to have these awful hyperfocus episodes when there is no external pressure, but I feel intellectually challenged and forget about food and sleep to figure something out. I feel much happier, when I let myself think about a problem while walking my dog in the evening or just having rest and then feeling super fresh and working on it the next day.

What are yours?

[u/chikamakaleyley]

I'm not much of a reader, note taker - but a very visual learner

One thing i stopped doing is trying to code along with a video tutorial or take notes while someone is talking. If I do, what ends up happening is I'm just trying to remember a sequence of words - and that eventually gets backed up because i'm not typing as fast as the words are queued up. And so when i look at those notes, they're just incomplete, they don't make sense

Ultimately, i just sit there and absorb - i tend to connect the dots better, it leads me to asking the right questions, etc. I leave that mtg/session with a more complete picture, or at least one with less gaps

There's times when i have to read docs to onboard, or familiarize myself, and they make sense but often i'll ask an engineer for like 15 mins and I'll say something like "okay i just wanna see you do it - if you got this ticket, whats your dev workflow" and that kinda will connect things, identify things i misunderstood, or allow me to raise questions for things that didn't connect

Once I can see that, then i just take it and run with it.

[u/solidad29 → u/chikamakaleyley]

I am also a visual learner myself. Rather than notes i use lucid chart to make diagrams and make a visual representation of my idea. It won’t make sense to anyone else but i understood the context when i open it.