2013-05-23 10:27:51 +00:00
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---
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title: "Divide and Conquer"
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kind: article
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created_at: 2013-05-23
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tags:
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- productivity
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- life-hacks
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2013-06-07 12:35:24 +00:00
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summary: |
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Getting up early and getting things done is one thing. As it
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turns out, there is something more to it: <em>divide and conquer</em>.
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2013-05-23 10:27:51 +00:00
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---
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A few days ago I wrote about getting up early and getting stuff done
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([link](https://ariejan.net/2013/05/21/early-birds/)).
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After giving this a some more thought I figured out that there's something
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else going on as well.
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Getting up early and working during the quiet hours in the morning is not
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the only thing helping me be productive.
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The other factor is having limited time.
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The fact is that I have to make breakfast, shower and get out of the
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door for work on time. This means that my time has a hard limit put
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on it and I have to plan what I do accordingly.
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I've noticed that each morning I try to pick a single task to focus on.
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This can be researching some new tech, or fixing a bug or implementing
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a new feature. Because my time is so limited, it's much easier to estimate
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what task would fit into that time.
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So, why does this work so well for me?
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It forces me to break down features and bugs into smaller pieces that can
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be completed in about ninety minutes.
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During a normal work day I don't have these little units of time with hard
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limits and it's much easier to just keep on going.
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I'm going to undertake an experiment at work to slice my time into small
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units with hard time limits on them and see if it helps me to be more
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productive during a sprint.
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