Web development is a creative and lucrative career choice, but like anything worth pursuing, it can also be challenging at times. If you work for a company, you may find your boss breathing down your neck asking you to work faster, or you may have demanding clients with a string of complex requirements.
If you’re self-employed, it can be even harder to stay productive and get through your workload, particularly if there are other distractions in your environment. So, if you’re a web developer, here are four top tips for efficient working.
Stay Organized
Staying organized is important in any job, especially web development. Being able to manage your workload accurately makes error tracking easier and allows you to work through multiple assignments more productively.
Organization for web developers is two-fold. First, you want to make sure your working environment is tidy, and your schedule is well structured for your tasks. Secondly, you need to make sure you organize your code and avoid using hacks, as more often than not they will create spaghetti codes that are difficult to reuse. In both areas, the more organized you are, the more productive your working hours will be.
Don’t Multitask
People often brag about being able to multitask, but should juggling two or more tasks at once really be a sign of productivity? Recent studies show that rather than making you more efficient, asking your brain to do more than one thing at a time makes it less effective, and those who carry out one task at a time complete their work to a higher standard.
Web development is a busy job, but as long as you stay organized, you can keep on top of your workload. Don’t be tempted to do two things at once. Instead, focus on the task at hand, and set yourself a time limit for each job if you’re up against multiple deadlines. Don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes. Instead, pick yourself up and learn something.
Take Mini Breaks, but Take Them Wisely
Regular work breaks are vital for anyone who works at a computer, so use them as an opportunity to recharge your creative juices. Instead of running errands or making coffee for the office, stretch your body and drink a glass of water, or practice a five-minute meditation. Doing this will improve your productivity and you’ll avoid an afternoon slump.
Swap out your smoking habit for an e-cigarette so you can spend less time away from the screen (if your company allows you to vape indoors, that is). You can buy e-cigarettes and e-liquids from www.auster.com.
Have an End Goal in Mind
Before you even begin a new project, the most effective thing you can do is think about your end goal and use it to structure your work. Think carefully about what the client wants to achieve, and carve out the time you think it will take you to complete it. Be generous, as it’s always better to allocate more time to an assignment and complete it early than be racing to the finish line. In this case, slow and steady wins the race.
