When you use the tools around you to collect your thoughts, do you think you’re doing valuable work?
When you automate a piece of your software build, write a test or create a deployment script, do you think you’re saving yourself from a future of manual labour?
When you have a session with a stakeholder which discusses their needs, do they think they are going to get what they want?
Will the Jira ticket ever get read?
Will the automation always work?
Will the customer get what they want?
How much of what you do every day is contributing to the success of the customer? How much of it is designed to make you feel better about what you’re doing?
Instead of just writing a Jira ticket or making an automation – could you implement a feature today which will improve the life of a customer by 1%?
Then you would be winning.
You can always save the days when there aren’t any customer requests to work on your housekeeping tasks. Don’t let the busywork win.
Richard Bown is a writer and freelance software engineer. He is the author of HUMAN SOFTWARE a novel where small-town folk go up against AI and heartless corporate profiteering. Find out more and buy at humansoftwarebook.com
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