Productivity Q&A and Videos

I have a question about doing self-reviews. I'm not talking about doing them in the context of a company's performance review. I'm talking about doing them totally for myself regarding my own personal development, including my job, side-projects, learning, etc. It might even include more personal stuff like health and fitness, relationships, etc.

I recall Rahul mentioning something about setting aside a half hour at the beginning of every week to plan the week and take stock of last week. I also believe he says something about doing a quarterly review.

My questions are:

1. What do these weekly and quarterly reviews looks like, i.e. how should I go about doing them?

2. Is there more than just weekly and quarterly reviews? i.e. daily, monthly, annual?

3. Do these reviews involve planning out the next week/quarter or is that a separate exercise?

4. Is there a difference between doing self-reviews/planning when it comes to work vs. personal career development vs. personal life? Or is the approach/process the same?

I know different people do different stuff and YMMV, I'm looking for good habits I might apply to my own life!

Thanks!

I've been on a quest to find the best office chair for the past 2 months. You might think it's insane to spend so much time to find the perfect office chair, but if you are sitting on a chair 8+ hours/day for 10+ years, I think it's very reasonable to do the upfront work to make sure you have a chair that fits your body and encourages good ergonomics. I've also been going to PT for my back since last year, which was also a motivating factor to do more research into ergonomic office chairs.

I've tried out the following chairs:

• Herman Miller Aeron
• Herman Miller Mirra 2
• Herman Miller Embody
• Crandall Steelcase Leap V2
• Steelcase Gesture
• Haworth Fern

Despite trying out all of these different chairs, I haven't found a "perfect" chair that has good lumbar support and a supportive seat cushion. Some chairs will have a supportive seat cushion, but lack lumbar support. On some chairs, the lumbar support will be perfect, but I will bottom out on the seat cushion after 15 minutes.

The perfect chair for me would be a combination of the Fern's tall backrest, the Gesture's lumbar support, and the Crandall Leap V2 seat cushion.

I'm leaning towards either the Steelcase Gesture or the Haworth Fern for now. But, I'm going to try a Steelcase Amia next, which is actually the most affordable chair out of them all. The seat felt great, but the real test is how the seat holds up after sitting on it for a long period of time.

What office chair do you use?

(Also, I'm sure the best answer for better back health is to stand more 🙂)

I've heard this many times be true for senior and above level SWEs at FAANGMULA companies, but wasn't sure how true this was?

As I look to take on other interviews at FAANGMULA companies, the main issue for me when it comes to role whether a senior SWE or EM/TPM is time. Will I have inevitably with more meetings as a senior EM/TPM because of management by itself and having to work over 40 hours/wk in order to get promoted or stay at my level (I have heard this is the case at some FAANGMULA companies), or is it possible to be a code machine and manage your own team and workload to the point that it is automated you can build your own side projects (like how some people build their startups on the side while working "full time" at a FAANGMULA company)?

Personally, I still have the entrepreneurial itch and want to continue working on something on the side, but have issue with working at FAANGMULA 40+ hours a week in order to maintain my level and be promoted, if I know it is indeed possible to be more efficient with my time and achieve my metrics/results with half the time (say 20-30 hours a week instead of 40-60 that I'm hearing is quite common for some senior SWEs as ICs or managers).

Hi Taro Community,

I'm wrestling with a question about work hours that perhaps many of you have also encountered. Is it generally advisable to stick strictly to an 8-hour workday, or is it acceptable to work more when necessary? Specifically, if the tasks at hand don't get completed within the standard 8-hour window, should I extend my hours into the night to resolve issues?

Here's my dilemma: I've found myself working additional hours at night to tackle pending tasks. While this has helped me keep up with my workload, I'm unsure about the implications of this practice:

• Should I expect acknowledgment or appreciation from my manager for these extra efforts?
• Is it beneficial to communicate my extended hours to my manager, and could it potentially influence decisions regarding bonuses or other forms of recognition?
• How do managers typically view overtime work, and what is the balance between demonstrating dedication and setting healthy work boundaries?

I'd appreciate any guidance or personal experiences you can share on handling overtime work and how to approach discussions about it with management.

Thank you for your insights.

Layoffs are making me quite anxious. I understand job security might not really be a thing when it comes to big tech, but I do want to try pursuing employment security, if that makes sense. How do I "get good" so I can be a little more resilient when it comes to layoffs and employment? I'm not really sure where to start.

Hello everyone. I work for a consulting company.

My last project finished 2 months ago and I've not been able to find another project within my employer's clients.

People in charge assigning projects asked me if I have experience in a specific set of technologies but they are mostly related to data engineering or AI/ML and I'm a backend developer.

How can I increase the chances to find a project. I don't want to be laid off.

Hi all. I suck at following deadline. Every time I signup for some task, I end up either being a mediocre or finish it late passing deadline. I want to come out of this vicious cycle. Please don't suggest things like set timer, break big tasks to small tasks, use calendar all those. It doesn't help me. Please suggest some practical solutions that can be followed. TIA

Hi Taro Community,

I’ve encountered an interesting situation at my company, where I was the sole member in India until recently. In March, we hired an internal manager in India, whom I now report to. In our latest 1:1, he mentioned that I wouldn’t be assigned direct coding tasks possibly until September or October. For now, my work involves renaming elements within the codebase, and while I understand the rationale behind these changes, I’m missing out on more substantive coding work.

Given this context, I’m seeking advice on how to proactively engage with and understand our codebase. Without being assigned direct coding tasks, what are some effective ways to delve deeper into the code, learn its intricacies, and prepare myself for future assignments?

• Should I take the initiative to review and study different parts of the codebase independently?
• Could I propose small, self-initiated coding projects to demonstrate my understanding and initiative?
• How can I use this time effectively to ensure that when coding tasks are assigned, I’m fully up to speed and ready to contribute meaningfully?

Any tips or shared experiences on how to navigate this period would be highly appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

Looking for resources on increasing your team's / peer's productivity. I thought I've seen some videos / posts in the past about this and wanted to brainstorm some ways I can boost the productivity of those around me.

I have 3+ years of coding experience, primarily in Java, and working in a Fintech startup. The backend is primarily powered via Spring Boot here.

I heavily use Gen AI services like ChatGPT & ClaudeAi while coding. While this has helped me learn new things, I am beginning to see a mental pattern emerge.

I often find myself generating code rather than writing it myself. Sometimes this also leads to drag, as I am left explaining the context to GenAi. The pro is that I perhaps get a more optimal, finetuned code leveraging the large language model's knowledge capabilities.

Is that an optimal path I am headed for? Or should I introduce an emergency tweak in how I work to better my career as a stronger, confident software engineer?

Thanks.

This might have been asked before but I couldn't find an answer. Can be a good video idea.

At my company, I am currently owning 3 L-sized (>1.5months) projects in parallel. They are with different teams and different product managers, and I am having difficulty managing all 3 at once.

Things I am facing:

1. Every morning, I face the question - "which one do I focus today"
2. When giving estimates in individual project sync meetings, I try to give estimates by assuming my time would be equally divided among the 3, but its almost always unequally divided, meaning some product manager is let down almost always.
3. A lot of times, if I am focusing on project A for the day, if I get pings about project B a lot, then my focus keeps going towards project B, and I can't make progress on both project A and project B.

I feel like this is such a common problem, but I cant find a solution that fits my needs.

Appreciate senior engineers' input on this

Recently, I was required to work on multiple things in parallel. Like 1-2 features and couple of bugs.

In theory there are dead moments, like waiting 20 minutes for a build, that I can use to do something else. But even in those 20 minutes I feel like my context belongs to that task and it seems hard to switch the branch and investigate a bug while the build is running because of the context switch and when the build is done I have to come back to the previous task and re-switch context.

Also the pressure of knowing that I have to deliver multiple things is very stressing. Even though they might not be complicated things, the pressure alone of knowing that I have multiple items and the deadline is coming is very harmful.

Is there any "trick" or effective way to work on multiple items at the same time without feeling like "drowning" and to not be affected by the multiple deadlines pressure?

What is the prevailing culture within the organization, and how does it manifest in day-to-day operations and decision-making? The prevailing culture within an organization is the shared values, beliefs, norms, and practices that shape the social and psychological environment of a business. This culture influences employee behavior, motivates management styles, and affects decision-making processes. What are those for Meta?

What are the hidden things to notice and to worry about? For example:

1. Cliques and Silos: Pay attention to the formation of exclusive groups or departments unwilling to share information. This can indicate a fragmented culture that hinders collaboration.

2. Resistance to Change: If there is noticeable resistance to new ideas or changes in procedure, the culture may be rigid and resistant to innovation.

3. Overwork and Burnout: A culture that consistently expects long hours and overwork may prioritize short-term gains over long-term employee well-being and sustainability.

4. Turnover Rates: High employee turnover can be a red flag for issues within the organizational culture such as lack of growth opportunities, poor management, or a toxic work environment.

5. Office Politics: Pay attention to how much politics influence decisions and progress. A culture heavily influenced by politics rather than merit can demotivate employees.

6. Feedback Mechanisms: Lack of mechanisms for providing constructive feedback, or a culture where feedback is ignored, can indicate a culture not open to self-improvement or employee development.

7. Diversity and Inclusion: Observe whether the organization actively supports diversity and inclusion, not just in policy but in practice, reflecting a culture of respect and equality.

I am the last person who should be complaining right now, but I absolutely hate my job and the tech sector in general right now. I work at Sh*p**y and even though I got promoted, the hr culture has changed to not increase compensation upon promotion. There's a lot of other hr f**kery I am having to deal with besides this.

Clickbait titles on twitter, business Insider posts or any news media article talking about AI replacing software engineers has given me a headache. Like I get that CEOs are using AI as a coin term to jack up stock prices or raise money. I have enough experience to know there won't be a true AI software engineer for a while but it still bothers me somehow because of the uncertainty (media brainwashing).

Overhanging worry of getting PIPed and not being able to find a job, because a lot of my former colleagues who were let go took a full year to find a new gig.

I'm just exhausted from thinking. I'm scared to talk to my bosses because they will always side with senior leadership, and I am exhausted by the rumours that are circulating about Q* and all the other AI domination clickbait posts.

Has anyone been able to learn to defuse from situations like this? I bet 08' was even worse than the current times. How did people deal with job uncertainties then? Really need answers because my productivity at work has gone down the drain.

Is sprint planning and agile not a thing at meta? I’m doing a lot of research since I’m trying to see how it’s like as I’m spending time leetcoding and if the vibes there are it’s on you to plan your projects and set a timeline then sprint planning would actually make the engineers not excel in independent planning?

And it seems like it’s against good e4 performance to be prompted to set your deliverables at the end of the sprint? Just not sure how agile is used cuz if it’s on everyone to figure out how to project manage on their own then what’s the point of agile?

When does being a code machine act as a disadvantage?

I identify as ND (NeuroDivergent) and when I am able to build an app in a day (like hackathon style), fix a bug, solve a problem, the disadvantage I have noticed from time-to-time if I am not highly cognizant of my ability to take breaks (timing my tasks), I forget to eat meals or do basic things (like use the bathroom)? It is much like the stereotype of Poppy Li in Mythic Quest unfortunately. How do we manage this better when there is a value in being productive in output, but an undervaluing of our bodies, and sustainability?

Do we need extra reminders on our Apple Watch (or other Smart Watches), pomodoro technique to be able to tell us to take more breaks even if we are on a roll finishing a ton of code? What strategies have worked well for the code machine archetype to get their work done but without burning themselves out?

I have previously worked as a software engineer at an company with a more traditional tech stack and working methods. Now, I am two months into my role as a mid-level engineer at my new company, where I develop microservices using a modern tech stack that supports hundreds of thousands of users.

However, I am finding that my personal progress is slower than desired. My performance in the technical interview was alright, and my EM expects me to gradually assume more senior responsibilities to assist our tech lead. Accordingly, I have been selecting tasks that demonstrate leadership qualities. At the same time I feel like I don't have time to plan meetings when I clearly lack expertise in our current tech stack.

To bridge the gap in my technical skills, I immerse myself in technology podcasts during my commute and workouts, making the most of my available time. In the evenings, I try to read blogs and work on side projects. Additionally, I rely extensively on Taro for learning the behavioral aspects of engineering. To make up for my slow pace, I ensure my PRs are thoroughly prepared, aiming to establish myself as a reliable engineer. Despite these efforts, I recognize the need to boost my productivity. What further steps can I take to thrive in my new role?

I wanted to share an update and seek advice following my first 1:1 with my manager. Based on one of Alex's earlier suggestions, I inquired about how many commits I should aim to have landed after my first month to gauge my ramp-up progress. My manager mentioned that he doesn't track commit counts as a metric.

Given this, I'm curious about how I should approach setting tangible goals or milestones for my initial period at the company. Without commit counts as a metric, what would be a good way to measure my progress and contributions during the ramp-up phase?

I'd greatly appreciate your insights on this.

Following up on my previous message, I've been pondering whether my manager's response regarding not tracking commit counts might be influenced by my recent joining of the team. Is it common for managers to initially downplay the importance of specific metrics like commit counts for new team members, perhaps to alleviate early pressure or for other reasons?