Getting in the zone is harder to do these days with the infinite sources of distractions that are readily available. In this talk, I’ll give you a framework, tools and actionable tips to help you become more efficient, both in work and play. I will draw on my experiences as a family man, college student, developer, business owner, employee and manager using techniques I’ve learned reading countless books and articles in the area of “Productivity”. The end goal is for you to have the focused time needed to do the things that you are passionate about, whether that be writing awesome software or spending more time with friends and family.

1. Personal Productivity
for Developers
Elmer Thomas
Hacker in Residence
@thinkingserious

2. The Goal

3. Summary
Frameworks
Techniques
Tools
References

4. Frameworks: RPM
Specific and Measurable
Results
Motivate yourself with
Purpose
Create a Massive action plan
with specific actions

5. Frameworks: GTD
Main Elements of GTD
Projects
Next Actions
Contexts

6. GTD Workflow

7. GTD Natural Planning Technique
Purpose / Guiding Principles
Why are we doing this?
Mission / Vision / Goals / Successful Outcome
What does success look, sound or feel like?
Brainstorming
How will we accomplish it?
Organizing
When will we do these things?
Next Actions
Where do we start?

8. GTD Weekly Review
Captured, but unprocessed items
Review projects & next actions
Review calendar
Review checklists
Review someday/maybe lists

9. GTD High
Level Analysis
Areas of Responsibility
1 - 2 year goals
3 - 5 year vision
Life purpose

10. Frameworks:
Getting
Results the
Agile Way
3 outcomes for
the year
the month
the week
the day

11. Agile Work/Life Balance
Define Hotspots
e.g. Career, Family, Health, Personal Growth
Set minimums for each Hotspots
e.g. 3 hours of exercise time per week
Monday Vision, Daily Outcomes, Friday Reflection

12. Frameworks:
18 Minutes
Day Begins: (5 Minutes)
Set Plan for the Day
Throughout: (1 Minute / Hour)
Refocus
Day Ends: (5 Minutes) Review

13. Techniques:
Pomodoro
decide on the task to be done & estimate the # of Pomodoros
set the pomodoro (timer) to 25 minutes
work on the task until the timer rings; record with an x
take a short break (5 minutes)
every four "pomodoros" take a longer break (15–20 minutes)

14. Techniques: Digital
Truth Dashboard
It’s the Dashboard to rule all Dashboards
Central point of all your “stuff”
Either link to resources or describe where
they are
This dashboard should be easy to use and
available most anywhere
Automate it if possible using RSS & APIs

15. Techniques: Zone
Hideouts
Schedule appointments with yourself
Noise canceling headphones + music
Signage
The “Hacker Brow”
Growl and/or grunt
Not this zone!

16. Techniques:
Checklists
Daily routines (morning/night)
Weekly routines
Monthly routines
Anything you will do more
than once
Create checklists as you work

17. Techniques:
Templates
New Projects
Think scaffolds
Perfect, then automate

18. Techniques:
Outsourcing
99Designs.com / LogoBids.com
eLance.com / Guru.com / oDesk.com / Workana.com
CraigsList.com
TemplateMonster.com / Genesis Themes
4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Jack Bicer - http://www.septium.com/10tips.pdf

19. Techniques:
Hackathons
Find partners / Barter services
Upgrade your skills
Practice and sharpen existing skills
Directories:
HackerLeague.org/hackathons
TechZulu.com/events
SoCalTech.com/calendar
SiliconBeachLA.com/events-2/calendar
SDTechScene.org

20. Tools
AlternativeTo.net

21. Tools: Feedly
News/Information Filter
Sync with apps (Reeder)
Not just for blogs
Use folders to segregate & focus

22. Tools: Email
GMail
Filters
SendGrid
Incoming Parsing
Event triggers

23. Tools: Mind Maps
MindNode Pro / XMind
mind mapping
brainstorming

24. Tools: Screen
Capture
Jing / Snagit
Skitch

25. Tools: Text Snippets
TextExpander / Active Words
avoid typing common items
faster than a clipboard or text file

26. Tools: Google Apps
docs for quick collaborative sharing
sites for a centralized dashboard
calendar for shared time management
google hangouts for quick video meetings
google talk for IM
gmail for easy implementation of inbox zero

27. Tools: Social Media
filtered news via lists
alternative to RSS
networking

28. Tools: Social
Bookmarking
Delicious / Pinboard
global bookmarking
crowd validated reference

29. Tools: Readers
Instapaper / Readit Later / Pocket
defer your reading, offline
Kindle / iBooks / GoodReader
/ Audible / Downcast
read or listen on the go

30. Tools: Notes
Evernote / Onebox / OneNote
everything box across all platforms
multimedia notes + OCR
offline access

31. Tools: Storage
Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive
easy synchronized storage
keep your larger files at bay
automated backup
email large attachments

32. Tools: Security
1Password / RoboForm / Keepass / LastPass
save time and be secure
don’t use the same password everywhere

33. Tools: Launchers
Launchbar / AppRocket
fast application launcher and file finder
stop dealing with clicking icons

34. Tools: Meetings
Join.me / Google Hangouts / OpenTok + Twilio API
free and easy screen sharing and conference calls
save commute time

35. Tools: Todos/Tasks
Omnifocus / Toodledo
GTD implementation
See what you want, when you want
Pivotal Tracker / Assembla / Asana
Agile implementation
A structure for practicing agile
Great for collaboration

36. Tools: Hardware
Laptop / Desktop
Mac out your SSD & RAM
Keyboard / Input Device
Tablet
Smart Phone

37. Continued Learning
thinkingserious.com
asianefficiency.com
timemanagementninja.com
lifehack.org
news.ycombinator.com
dzone.com
stackoverflow.com
github.com

38. Continued Learning
Getting Things Done, Ready for Anything, Making it All Work
18 Minutes: Find Your Focus
ReWork, Getting Real
Do the Work, The War of Art
Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working
Smarter, Faster, Better
Creating Flow with OmniFocus
Safari Bookshelf Online

39. Continued Learning
Back to Work
The Big Web Show
Mac Power Users
Mixergy
GTD Study Group
*iTunes U
Your Niche

40. Key Takeaways
Be action oriented towards measurable specific goals
Find how to achieve zone time more often
Move towards balance
Create a custom system and iterate often

41. “You can have it all.
You just can’t have it all at once.”
- Oprah Winfrey

42. Thanks!
If you have any questions,
reach out, I’m happy to help!
elmer.thomas@sendgrid.com
@thinkingserious