115 – Become a More Efficient WordPress Developer
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Become a More Efficient WordPress Developer
There are 100 million things that we can do with our time, okay, well, probably more, but everything you do will take away from other things you could be doing
This past week, I took a good look at my life and the things that I wanted to become an expert at by the end of the year
And I want to be more efficient when developing. I’m always trying to ‘hack’ my life so that I can squeeze ourt the most productivity I can
1. Plan Your Day in Advance
This is one of the most beneficial things I do. At the end of each day, I try to summarize what I need to accomplish for the next day. This helps me hit the ground running when I get into my studio in the morning.
2. Check Your To Do List Every Few Hours
One of the worst feelings in the world is to check your to do list at the end of the day, and see that you’ve accomplished nothing that was on your must-do list. Check your daily tasks throughout the day to make sure you are staying on track.
3. Simplify Your Tools
Try to use as few of tools as possible. This includes pieces of software and gadgets and widgets. Learn to get by with the simpliest set of tools and learn how to use them efficiently.
4. Do Your Most Important Task First, before checking email
I find that when I do my most important task first, it gives me an emotional high to take me through the day, plus gives me momentum to attack my next task.
If I check my email first and see a note from a client, I might get upset or it could shift my focus for the rest of the day.
I like to accomplish some big items first before I get distracted by the outside world.
5. Screen Your Calls
During the day, I rarely answer my phone. If someone calls and it’s extra urgent, they will call multiple times in a short period of time. If that happens, then I’ll pick up the phone, otherwise, it goes to voicemail and I keep working
6. Organize Your Workspace
For some reason, I feel more productive when my desk is clean. When things aren’t cluttering my work surface, I can focus on the task at hand. Try to keep your desk clean a priority
7. Work During Your Prime Time
As developers, we can work virtually anywhere, any time. Personally, I’m a morning person and usually get my best work done before 10am. That’s just me. If you are someone who codes better at night, then schedule your day in a way that you do most of your work then.
8. Do Small Items Immediately
If you can finish a task in less than 5 minutes, just go ahead and do it now. It will keep your to do list less cluttered and it will give you satisfaction of completing projects for the day.
9. Centralize All of Your Information
This is another hard one, but it helps tremendously. If all of your information is in the same spot, it saves you a lot of time when you don’t have to go and look for it in several places.
Plus, you can feel more relaxed knowing you have all your tasks written down in one place and you won’t accidentally take on a new project if you have too many other projects on your plate.
10. Stop Multi Tasking
Our brains were not made for multitasking, so we need to stop pretending like we are more efficient when we are doing multiple things at the same time.
Stay focused on the task at hand and remove all other distractions (shut down programs, close web browsers, etc.) until the task is over.
11. Use a WordPress Framework
By using a WordPress Framework, you will become familiar with the code inside and out which will make it much easier for you to add features / styling / updates to every website you build.
Also, you won’t have to worry about learning how someone programmed a theme before you actually start using it.
In this episode, I briefly describe the differences between:
- Builder
- Genesis
- Headway
- Standard
- Thesis
What do you do to make yourself more productive?
Call To Action
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Thank you!
Feb 15, 2013I was researching on what wp framework to use and stopped on PageLines. Are you familiar with it? Any information would be hugely appreciated. Thanks so much
@lexs I’ve never heard of PageLines, but it looks similar to Headway that you can create unlimited numbers of page layouts. It looks like like it would be a good one to use, plus it’s on sale right now. Remember, my opinions come from looking at their website and not actually using it.
Feb 15, 2013Thanks for the list, Dustin. I am always looking for ways to be more efficient although more times than not I am tripping over myself trying by getting distracted…by good podcasts like yours! What I need to do more often is to Get a good night sleep and Shut everything down on my computer besides good music and the project I am working on.
Feb 16, 2013@CascadeVDesigns Keeping minimal web browsers open is my weakness, lol! It’s a constant struggle. I also find that walking away from a site I’ve been working on for too long helps as well!
Feb 16, 2013These are great tips, Dustin. Planning your day is so important, because otherwise “urgent” tasks creep in and postpone the important tasks. I wholeheartedly agree with you about ignoring phone calls. I almost never answer phone calls; instead, I let them leave a message, then see if it’s important. A lot of the time people don’t even leave a message, because the call wasn’t important.I’ve also found that “batching” my tasks is helpful. For example, I’ll do email for 30 minutes, then close the email tab and work for 1-2 hours. Then I’ll take a break and check email before going for a walk. Being able to focus for periods of time makes me so much more efficient than constantly dipping into and out of tasks.
Feb 18, 2013I have been using weaver ii for framework. It has a free option that covers most used functions I use. So if you want to try one for free give weaver a go.
Apr 1, 2013@stefangr Looks great! Thanks for the resource 🙂
Apr 1, 2013