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A dev log or journal can be very helpful, here are 2 ways in particular that really help me: - context switching - if you have a backburner or side project, it

A dev log or journal can be very helpful, here are 2 ways in particular that really help me: - context switching - if you have a backburner or side project, it's easy to get pulled away from it for days or weeks (or more) at a time, and when you do make time for it, it could be just a few minutes here or there. The very last thing I do during each dev session is list the 2-3 things I hope to tackle in the next session. When I eventually make it back to the project, I can just jump right in on one of those items and not waste any time trying to get my bearings again. I slightly disagree with the author that the journal isn't a good place to track your todos - it's a great place if you are a solo dev and/or if the work is in its early stages - you want to capture quickly important ideas of things you might do later, and sometimes just writing them down helps you not work on them right now. - "impossible" bugs, or ones that are difficult to reproduce consistently - the journal becomes the little notebook just like the detective in a TV show. You pour into it every single clue, every bit of data. That process leads to you asking yourself certain questions or thinking of things to try to flush out the bug. This journaling is especially helpful during a crisis situation where it's easy to spin your wheels, panic, waste time, etc. - that methodical act of writing things down is calming and organizing.

Metaluim 3y ago
I do something similar to your first approach just as I'm about to context switch (either because the day has ended or I have to work on something else). I write a small summary of what I was doing and what were my next steps at the time, and I write this either directly in the code, in paper or sometimes in a text file. I call them ENDSNAPs (end snapshots).
alwillis 3y ago
A few tools I've come across that I've used. Doing [1] by Brett Terspstra; "A command line tool for keeping track of what you’re doing and tracking what you’ve done." NA [2] (Next Action) also by Brett Terpstra; "A command line tool for adding and listing per-project todos." nb [3] is "a command line and local web note‑taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application" nb supports multiple notebooks, Git-based version control and a bunch of other things [1]: https://brettterpstra.com/projects/doing/ https://brettterpstra.com/projects/doing/ [2]: https://brettterpstra.com/projects/na/ https://brettterpstra.com/projects/na/ [3]: https://xwmx.github.io/nb/#home https://xwmx.github.io/nb/#home

Metaluim 3y ago

I do something similar to your first approach just as I'm about to context switch (either because the day has ended or I have to work on something else). I write a small summary of what I was doing and what were my next steps at the time, and I write this either directly in the code, in paper or sometimes in a text file. I call them ENDSNAPs (end snapshots).

alwillis 3y ago

A few tools I've come across that I've used. Doing [1] by Brett Terspstra; "A command line tool for keeping track of what you’re doing and tracking what you’ve done." NA [2] (Next Action) also by Brett Terpstra; "A command line tool for adding and listing per-project todos." nb [3] is "a command line and local web note‑taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application" nb supports multiple notebooks, Git-based version control and a bunch of other things [1]: https://brettterpstra.com/projects/doing/ https://brettterpstra.com/projects/doing/ [2]: https://brettterpstra.com/projects/na/ https://brettterpstra.com/projects/na/ [3]: https://xwmx.github.io/nb/#home https://xwmx.github.io/nb/#home