The 5 Daily Habits Of Highly Productive Self-Taught Developers
Little by little, we build something great
“The man that masters himself through self-discipline can never be mastered by others” — Napoleon Hill
If you haven’t read the previous version of this writing, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Self-Taught Developer which is also an exceptional masterpiece of mine, that had gained so many positive reviews and feedback from junior to senior developers, then you might want to check it out, this is a continuation into building the right mindset, the right habit into becoming the best version of ourselves, the best developer that we can be, and becoming the best senior developer we wish we had, I highly recommend for you to read it as well.
It’s the small habits that we do that shapes our future, you can never expect to be in shape without spending some time doing exercises, you can’t expect to be healthy when all you do is eating fast food, junk food, and any other unhealthy consumptions, you can’t expect to become a better developer a year from now if you don’t keep on learning and building projects, that’s no brainer, right?
We are what we eat, we are what we do, and what we think we become, this has always been my favorite mantra, and I couldn’t help it but repeating it over and over until all of our readers will take it by heart, the world truly is remarkable only if we start to understand, only if we open our hearts and mind into a new world where the genius, the remarkable, the amazing history makers and builders such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Oprah, Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, and many more all have in common, they are awake, they are dreamers and doers at the same time, they know that it will take everything you’ve got to make your dreams come true, don’t just wish for things to happen, work the dam* work, stop the excuses, no matter what it takes because trust me the world is just so bigger than we thought, there are far higher mountains ahead, and if you are brave enough to take the steps, and take the steps, again and again, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how hard and scary, the view at the top will always be breathtaking, that’s how life should be live right?
The choices we make today, the choices we make every single day will shape our lives a year from now, a decade from now, ‘Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different?’ — CS. Lewis. is all I can hear when we underestimate the power of NOW.
What we truly want to achieve here is we want the discipline to become a lifetime routine. Our goal is to form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do, and that is consistency, commitment, perseverance, and building the right habits.
1. Make it a habit to plan ahead
Things don’t happen on their own, you have to make it happen.
The creators and the makers of the world are exceptional when it comes to meticulous planning, building, and implementing on a day to day basis. You really can’t expect for your dreams and goals to miraculously appear in front of you, you gotta do everything that you can for that future you have always dream of, hard work, perseverance, commitment, and ambition are the key factors that you need towards achieving whatever it is that you want to achieve, let’s be honest, nothing worth having comes easy, you gotta do what you gotta do for that dream.
You really can’t just walk in the street without knowing where you are going, you can’t just build a project without knowing what you will be building, and you can’t expect to have a better tomorrow if you don’t plan and take actions today, apply the power of forward-thinking. One of the best techniques I’ve learned in playing soccer is that before you even ask for the ball, or ask for a pass from your teammate, you need to make sure that you know what you will be doing next, I’ve been trying to master that skill, it wasn’t easy though, but the moment it had become a habit, everything else changed, it was like magic.
During those peaks season, when I was as fit as a college athlete, I had able to perform that strike, I had outsmarted other good players, it is not just because of the skills, the ball control, the run, but it was all because I had able to see what will happen next, it was amazing and it is one of the best skills I have acquired playing soccer, and in work, even before I got my new job months ago, I already know I will be embracing this React and React Native technologies simply because I’ve already set in my mind that I will only get a job that will offer to pay Bootcamp for React/Native, and I know as of today I am on the right track, aside from being lucky, it all happened simply because I planned.
2. Remove anything that would feed procrastination
Greatness is an inside game.
The most common figures of procrastination are:
- Napping
- Snacks
- Social Media
- Minor Chores
- Games
You have to learn how to discipline yourself, make yourself a bulletproof against procrastination by simply removing the things that will distract you from finding that flow, that state wherein everything around you don’t matter anymore and all of your energy is focused with nothing else other than the work that you are doing, it is a very effective technique into mastery, the ultimate focus, giving all your energy into mastering your craft is truly magical. Don’t get me wrong, it will not be easy, and it will take time to learn this skill, but it will truly serve you a lifetime of mastery, and once you’ve done it in one area of your life, everything else will uplift on itself, it is truly a magical experience and capability anyone can have.
One basic example is when working, makes sure that your mobile phones are far from you, make sure that it is on silent mode because if it is easy to reach if it is visible, then there is 99.99% that you’ll end up browsing your social media, playing games, or just do anything just so you can escape from doing the important task, and you’ll be surprised how the day ended just like that, you without finishing anything, that’s procrastination right there, and if you don’t do anything about it, a year will pass and you will see yourself still wondering how everything is the same, and all the lessons we still haven’t learn will just keep on repeating itself until we figure out that we are our problem.
Be mindful of how you design your environment because it will have a big role in your productivity and success because you are your ecosystem.
3. Stay committed and stick to your daily and monthly goals
little by little, we build something great.
A half-effort will certainly deliver half the result, what you give is what you receive, and there’s no exception.
Try to narrow down your goals and to-do list, this is very important, you can’t just spread all your attention to everything else, that’s another story of procrastination, you will keep on avoiding the important tasks, the important work that matters and needs to be done by all the excuses your brain can find, trust me it’s a disease that you will continue to fight over and over, it is something that I am still trying to work on after all the years of trying to master that flow state, that is why creating a plan and sticking to it will help you finish the important and urgent tasks, and escape the misery of mediocrity.
On a different perspective, don’t get caught up in the long term when the short term needs to be focused on first, in our field, focus on becoming a good Web Developer first before you can start exploring other areas like Mobile Development and Software Development, another good example is focused on becoming a good developer either in Frontend Development or in Backend Development first before you start jumping into becoming a Full-stack, before you dream of becoming the best in the world, start with becoming the best in your city, and then become the best in your country and then conquer the world, one step at a time, little by little, we can build something remarkable.
4. Enjoy your bread, take a moment for that good cup of coffee.
“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.” — Dale Carnegie
Make some time in your day to walk around, enjoy nature, enjoy life, most especially when we are trying to fix a bug that we still can’t figure out, step back and
Find something else that you enjoy the most because life is too precious to be ignored, seize the moment, and enjoy the gift of today, even when your perfect day could just be reading a good book with your best coffee, or just staring at the love of your life, or cooking for your family, a great and yet simple dinner, will change everything.
We can create amazing things when we are happy, inspired and loved, so in your daily choices, make sure to always have the time to do the things that inspire you, to be with the people that motivate you, who believes in you, because at the end of the day, or when things get shaky, we always find ourselves asking the same question, why do we have to work so hard anyway?
Spend some time to the people and things that fuel you to wake up each day, what motivates you, why do we do the things that we do, go back to your why, because it will always be our ground zero. Enjoy the fruits of our labor, take a little break from time to time, you are not a machine, our body has a limitation too, what’s the sense of looking up into our future when we can’t even enjoy the gift of today, work hard and enjoy life, it is one of the perks when you are a developer, why to choose either having the time to live life or job when we can have both.
Take a break or you will break.
5. The learning never ends
Because the world will keep on moving forward, so should you.
There are a lot of reasons why developers need to keep learning, some are just curious on other technical stuff, some would want to make sure that their skills are up-to-date to stay reliable, and some are just hungry for more.
Personally, one of the best things I’ve noticed about being a developer is that there are so many opportunities in this field, and we all have the freedom to choose, it is like showing all the guns in front of you, and you have to choose whatever you like and whatever you believe to be rightly yours, and if you don’t take advantage of this, if you can’t see all the opportunities that are shown to you, then you probably need some thinking.
There are a lot of platforms where you can start improving your skills and improving your crafts, you can start online courses, you can build side projects, you can watch youtube tutorials, you can read books, and you can read blogs like this, don’t just focus on the technical side though, articles like this that are teaching you how to approach becoming the best developer you can be with the right mindset and guiding you on the right path is as important as learning programming languages, I’ve been writing articles I wished I have read when I was starting, and it took me 4 long years to know all of these things based on my mistakes, failures, and disappointments, I’ve learned all these things the hard way, take advantage of it and save yourself, if you are wise enough to know better.
Thank you very much for reading! Follow me for more Self-taught developer inspiration.
A note In Plain English
Did you know that we have four publications and a YouTube channel? You can find all of this from our homepage at plainenglish.io — show some love by giving our publications a follow and subscribing to our YouTube channel!