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Cover image for Productivity Pixel - Manage Information Overload
Valentin Prugnaud 🦊
Valentin Prugnaud 🦊

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Productivity Pixel - Manage Information Overload

With technology today, we are flooded with information. To help me navigate this flow of information every day, I try to follow these tips:

1 - Get on top of things

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I try to compartmentalize my time every day to tackle the tasks that have potential information overload, like reading emails, meetings, actual coding etc….

For more context: I live with a sleep disorder, Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, or DPSD for short. This prevents me to sleep on a «socially-accepted» schedule. 9 to 5 just is just impossible for me.

So the first part of my day is between 12 pm-5 pm, then break, resume for 2/3 hours in the evening, then relax. I sleep at around 3/4 am, sometimes later. So I can split my day in two: the social aspect of my job and the focus aspect.

2 - Categorize my day.

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  1. Read emails and look at my project management software.
  2. Manage my pull requests, code review, merging, update my repositories to the latest version, etc.
  3. Upcoming tasks, ask questions, go to meetings, attend standup.
  4. Coding and documentation.

3 - Alternate between large and small tasks

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I try to alternate between large tasks and smaller ones, to give myself a break. Working on a large task can require me to maintain a ton of information in my brain for a few hours, sometimes days.

After a task like this, I want to give my brain a break and not force it to ingest a ton of information again working on a large task again, so I pick up the small task that doesn’t require loading a lot of information in my brain.

4 Take a break

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This one is a recurring tip, and will probably show up in a lot of Pixels! I try to take multiple breaks every day if I can.

I go for lunch/coffee outside with co-workers/friends, watch something on Netflix if I don’t feel like moving. But I try not to keep using my brain during my break. My brain needs a «reset» to tackle new information.


You can also find these pixels on my Instagram: https://instagram.com/valentinprgnd. I will publish Pixels every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday about career development in tech, code, mental health and health for developers. Follow me for more tips @valentinprngd and check out my podcast https://rebased.whatdafox.com.

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