Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 19] - Eat The Frog

The first couple hours after you start work are absolutely crucial - Unfortunately many software engineers waste this crucial time, working on the wrong type of tasks. This lesson teaches you:

- What it means to eat the frog (don't worry, it doesn't involve any actual eating or 🐸s)
- Why eating the frog is so important
- The difference between junk food tasks and core tasks

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 18] - Procrastination

We all learn how to procrastinate in school - It feels good to wait until the last minute to get something done as this means you got to use all that initial time to have fun! This lesson teaches you:

- Why people procrastinate
- The main tactic to apply to avoid procrastination
- What to do if you simply can't stop procrastinating

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 17] - The Demon In Your Pocket

Smart phones unlock infinite opportunity, but they also unlock infinite distraction - We've all lost countless hours towards mindlessly scrolling through the many addictive apps on our mobile devices. This lesson teaches you:

- A basic tactic to prevent you from getting distracted by your smart phone
- A more involved and technical tactic to discourage smart phone user, which Alex is a big fan of
- An extremely aggressive tactic to get your smartphone away from you, used by a Staff Engineer at LinkedIn who's also a parent!

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 16] - Mentor And Delegate

Many software engineers are naturally lone wolves due to their introverted nature. While this can work out as a junior or mid-level engineer, it quickly becomes unsustainable as you reach senior/staff levels and beyond due to the immense workload. This lesson teaches you:

- Why being a lone wolf is terrible for your productivity
- The importance of uplifting others around you when it comes to getting stuff done
- One of the core virtues the best engineers have, which is particularly needed for mentorship

Here's Alex's Meta mentorship case study: [\[Case Study\] Mentoring Junior SWEs \[E3\] to Senior \[E5\] In Just 2.5 Years At Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/EX9563YnxcJb62cCmetg/case-study-mentoring-junior-swes-e3-to-senior-e5-in-just-25-years-at-meta/?playlistId=oLssVMdTJ9NtX5SX1fek)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 15] - Live And Breathe Quality

One of the biggest myths in the tech industry is that in order to move incredibly fast, you need to sacrifice quality and do a mediocre job. This lesson teaches you:

- The dangers of cutting corners when it comes to engineering work
- Why having high code quality leads to you landing code faster
- Different ways for you to weave quality into your work for an immediate positive return on investment for your time

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 14] - Do The Hardest Thing First

When you get a tough project, it's tempting to tackle the easiest parts first because you already know how to do them, putting off the most difficult portions for later (you'll totally figure it out right?). This lesson teaches you:

- The difference between bad and good engineers when it comes to taking on a project
- Why tackling the hardest parts of a project first is effective risk management and a defining behavior of the best tech leadWhen you
- The massive team-wide benefit solving the hardest problem grants you

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 13] - Decomposition

When you get a huge project as a software engineer, it's easy to get overwhelmed and just sort of... do nothing (or close to it). This lesson teaches you:

- What a well-decomposed project looks like with a concrete example
- How decomposing projects hacks your brain to make it more motivated and productive

To dive deep into tactics on decomposing projects, check out our in-depth explainer: ["How do I make software less overwhelming?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/YseMPDw538jhyS1MWlTs/how-do-i-make-software-less-overwhelming/)

Learn from the code quality course here: [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Just 1 Thing

As a software engineer, it is incredibly easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of tasks on your plate. This lesson teaches you:

- What you need to do every single day to give yourself the gift of focus and be productive
- What to do if you absolutely need to get multiple major tasks done in a day
- How to enforce your focus on your singular task by systematizing it

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 11] - Not Every Meeting Needs You

Meetings are everywhere at tech companies, especially massive ones like FAANG. The unfortunate reality is that so many of these meetings are wasteful, especially for more junior engineers. This lesson teaches you:

- The huge mistake many n00b engineers make with meetings
- The most powerful tactic you can use to take control of your calendar
- How to figure out which meetings you can skip
- Tactics to safely delete meetings from your calendar

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 10] - Organize Your Calendar

Now we know that focus blocks are one of the most powerful weapons in a software engineer's arsenal. So how can we get them? This lesson teaches you:

- How to organize your meetings in the most efficient way
- What you should look out for when it comes to clearing space on your calendar

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 9] - Focus Blocks

Context switching is one of your biggest enemies as a software engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- What a focus block is
- Why getting back into coding is so difficult, especially at Big Tech
- The power of focus blocks with involved tasks, particularly with writing code

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 8] - Touch Grass

Let's be real: Most software engineers are out of shape. While this isn't too bad early on, things quickly get worse. This lesson teaches you:

- How to get into exercising as easily as possible
- The many benefits of regular exercise
- A way to hack your brain to make yourself more likely to exercise

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 7] - Get Good Sleep

Sleep is one of the first things to go when software engineers are faced with daunting workloads. Unfortunately, this is a tradeoff with disastrous consequences which doesn't even solve the problem. This lesson teaches you:

- Why most software engineers get sleep completely wrong in every possible way
- The correct perspective to have with sleep
- The many benefits of getting 8+ hours of consistent sleep every day
- How sacrificing sleep actually makes you less productive, not more

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 6] - Social Pressure > Work Pressure

Too many software engineers focus on finding something cool to work on instead of finding cool people to work with. This lesson teaches you:

- Why a supportive team is far more valuable and effective when it comes to making you productivity compared to working on something shiny like genAI
- Tactics you can use to apply social pressure to yourself and enforce productivity

Learn how to find a good team here: [\[Taro Top 10\] How To Find A Good Engineering Team And Company](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/FWqTGeZYrXFohCOU38sR/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 5] - Focus On The System

Many software engineers simply tell themselves *"I'll do better next time"* when they have an unproductive period - This almost never works. This lesson teaches you:

- Why relying on sheer willpower to be productive is a terrible idea and what you should do instead
- What it means to have a true system around your productivity
- The objectives of a productivity system

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 4] - Stay The Course

It's incredibly easy to get distracted with random incoming tasks, especially at a fast-paced company like FAANG. This lesson teaches you:

- The importance of staying the course and sticking to your high-impact, ruthlessly prioritized tasks
- How to diplomatically push back and say "No" (saying "Yes" to everything is one of the easiest ways to destroy your productivity as a software engineer)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 3] - Finding The Best Things To Work On

If you have gone through this course in order, you now know that working on the right things is far more important than merely working on things faster. So how do yo figure out the best things to work on in your organization? This lesson teaches you:

- How to identify the optimal opportunities within your space
- A formula to classify tasks and projects by quality and stack rank them
- What you need to do with your prioritized tasks, particularly with your manager

To dive even deeper into this topic: ["How to figure out what the most important projects are?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CgCPA60bDDHoOteN7Lmb/how-to-figure-out-what-the-most-important-projects-are/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 2] - The Productivity Giant You Are Missing

When it comes to productivity, most software engineers have the completely incorrect strategy of simply working harder. This isn't sustainable and misses the forest for the trees. This lesson teaches you:

- The true highest leverage thing you can do when it comes to your productivity, explained with an example from Meta and Google
- Why working on the right things is much better than just working on your current things faster

Here's the promotion course: [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 1] - How This Course Works

As a software engineer, you're expected to get a lot done with very little time. The compounding problem on top of that is how incredibly easy it is to get distracted as a digital warrior. This course is here to teach you how you can move faster and waste less time. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like Meta and Robinhood, explaining how he was able to be a high-performing tech lead at both those companies working 30-40 hours weeks (particularly at Meta).
- You'll understand why being productive as a software engineer is so hard and why being unproductive as a software engineer is so easy.
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will:
  - 💯 Know the **true** most important productivity booster

  - 💡 Champion the right **mentality** to foster productivity

  - 🏃‍♂️ Use the right tactics to **move faster**

  - 🛡️ Have shields to prevent you from **wasting time**

  - 🤔 Learn how to **debug** a lack of productivity

If you want to learn how Alex onboarded at lightning speed at Robinhood, check out his in-depth case study here: [\[Case Study\] Becoming A Tech Lead Again In Just 1 Month After Joining Robinhood From Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/X8vpfJooDpsX915ouC00/case-study-becoming-a-tech-lead-again-in-just-1-m)

Startup Employee To Startup Founder: What I Wish I Knew

From 2013 to 2023, Tongbo Huang worked as an engineer or manager at three high-growth companies: Pinterest, Chekr, and Amplitude.

After 10 years working in startups of various sizes, Tongo decided to start his own: [**Sidr Tax**](https://www.sidr.io/). In the past year, Sidr Tax has surpassed 6 figures of revenue and is growing rapidly.

In this talk, Tongbo will share:

- How he thought about taking funding (he previously went through Y Combinator) and why he decided to bootstrap for Sidr.
- How he ended up working on a tax startup and how Shopify is fueling his growth.
- The problem with founders today looking for "exciting" ideas.

Connect with Tongbo here: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/tongbohuang/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tongbohuang/)

\[Taro Top 10\] Entrepreneurship And Tech Startups: <https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/ArtlSzF17v7cad1K6TJG/>

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.