3. Managing Your Work
Planning what you want to accomplish, prior to beginning work on those tasks will greatly reduce that amount of time you try to figure things out as you are working.
Spending some time preparing for your next days's work will also help you to keep things organized. Writing down your next steps or possible solutions to an issue you're having will prevent you from having to go back and figure out how to resolve them.
There are several ways of prioritizing your work
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Most important to least important task
This method is used when you have specific deadlines on feature sets. If another team is waiting for your work to get done, you want to finish these tasks first, since it is holding up another teams's efforts.
It is also used on features that are critical to this release. Some features can be delayed for other releases. Or they are not a key component to your application.
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By the amount of time it will take to complete a task
If you have some tasks that will take a short amount of time, you can knock them out before you begin work on a task that will take a much longer time. Shorter tasks can also be completed if you are stuck on a particular task and waiting for help. Whenever you have extra time, completing smaller tasks can move your project along.
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Administrative tasks
Don't forget to allow time for emailing, updating tickets, writing documentation and Slack messages. There should be a definite time frame for doing these tasks. They should not interrupt your work.
Avoid distractions. If you are working from home, take care of tasks that you need to get done before you begin your work. Or set up a home office and work as if you were at an actual office. If working from home does not afford a "distraction-free zone", consider working at a library or other public space.
Keeping a record of work you have to complete and what you have in process will help you keep things organized. It can be a digital record, a yellow pad or notebook. Being able to see a list of outstanding work and work you completed will help eliminate forgetting items on your to-do list.
Track what percentage of your task you've completed. This will help you in estimating remaining effort and notifying the team of your progress.
Tracking how many tasks you've completed vs what you have outstanding will also be beneficial to you and your team.