Productivity for Programmers

Last week I attended my first Boston.rb (Ruby user group) meeting. I’ve been meaning to go for a long time, but would always bail at the last minute, since I don’t actually program in Ruby for a living. When I found out they would be watching Peepcodes’s Productivity for Programmers video, I jumped all over it.

I’ve seen some Peepcode videos before, and I’ve always been impressed. In terms of quality, this one was no exception. Plus, who doesn’t want to be more productive??

The Pros

– It was definitely geared more towards programmers, as opposed to other productivity books/videos I’ve seen.

  • Made me really think about my time management, and how I can make the most out of my office time (as opposed to focusing on how long I worked)
  • The focus on rewarding yourself for a job well done, and carving out more time to relax keeps things in perspective
  • Excellent for watching in groups, so you can follow the video with thoughts and ideas on how others are applying these or other techniques

The Cons

  • Consider slamming down some serious caffeine beforehand. The scenery and music is supposed to be relaxing/zen-like, but will probably put you out if you’re tired.
  • Most of the ideas you’ve heard before, just presented in a different way. If you’re a hardcore David Allen / GTD fan, or know the 7 Habits by heart, you’ve probably heard it all before.
  • For $19 it’s not exactly the cheapest video out there

I’m definitely glad I got the chance to watch it, and enjoyed the discussion afterward. I’m not sure I would spend the $ to watch it alone, but I would definitely recommend it for a Friday afternoon lunch-n-learn at work, or a user group setting. Also, check out the guys blog if you want some more info on the kind of topics in the video.