Habits are the key to success. If you want to run a marathon, you better make it a habit to run every day.
Same goes for programming. If you want to become a great programmer, then you need to code every day and implement at least these habits.
Having good day-to-day habits are very crucial to reach your goal. These habits will skyrocket your efficiency. These are the habits which I follow in my every daily life.
1. Exercise/work-out daily
Take out some time to play sports or work out as a healthy body and a healthy mind are essential to be able to code for longer hours. This will improve your productivity.
2. Do Projects
If you do projects regularly, you will dramatically improve your skills as a developer.
3. Eat the frog first
Always do the task you hate the most first. After finishing it, that will be your ahaa! moment. You'll have time to think it clearly for the rest of the day.
4. Stay Hydrated
Always have a bottle of water next to you. Having so will help you keep hydrated and increase your productivity.
5. Understand the Code
Next time you copy code from Stack Overflow try to understand how the code you're copying works. Try to read each line of code as a story. Every line you copy or write has to have some story.
6. Invest in your self
Always invest in yourself. Your brain is your biggest asset in life. Invest time in learning new technology, develop your skills. Invest in books, courses, mentors.
7. Solve online coding problems
Solving online coding problems is the most crucial habit which will be very very useful to develop your logic and problem-solving skills. The more problem you solve, the more you'll build your skills.
8. Contribute to open-source
The more you contribute to the open-source project, the more you learn. This is also the best way to learn to work with others.
9. Read books (most important)
A good book will give you an overview of a specific field, and guide you through the author's angle from the start to the end of a topic. It's like keeping your feet in someone else shoes.
10. Communicate with others
Communication comes into play when writing documentation for frameworks and libraries you've worked on, or when sending emails or slack messages to coworkers. Communication is an essential factor in how two or more people convey complex ideas and concepts to each other, which is core to collaborating as a software developer. As a developer, you will work as a group.
Teach other developers (Additional)
Teaching is the best way to learn. If you teach or help others, the better you'll become in understanding the basics. I spend 2-3 hours of my day teaching/helping others.
To sum it up
Habits are who you are. Improving your practices will drastically help you in becoming a better developer.
I hope these tips will help you improve your habits.
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Please don't hesitate to drop a comment here if you want to discuss any of these tips. I'll be happy to know what helps you become a better programmer.
Top comments (1)
Thanks for sharing! As I just started my developer career, I learned that sometimes my workload can get overwhelming. To reduce that, I will write down my to-do list, break them down into smaller tasks and prioritize them. I'll do the hardest and the most important first. I like to use task management software to manage my tasks. I really like Tick Tick and Quire.