My work desk
General Principles: How I Allocate Time
Firstly, it is worth noting that I have been working remotely for several years, so my daily schedule is adapted to this mode.
My schedule can vary depending on the day of the week, tasks set for the week, month, or even year. I began to practice this approach when I learned about Stephen Covey’s idea of big rocks (you can read more about it in the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”).
For example, when I was preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification, I devoted a lion’s share of time to studying the material, as well as taking tests. Another example, when I was planning to change my employer to a company where the main communication with the team is in English (yep, English is not my native language), before this event, I spent a whole quarter intensively studying English (I studied French in school, but forgot it since I didn’t use it). Of course, this event made a significant correction to my weekly schedule.
In addition, there are certain rules for planning the week that are needed to avoid overloading oneself and one’s working days.
Monday is the start of the week, so it is necessary to make the start as smooth and pleasant as possible. I don’t overload Monday with additional meetings and activities like studying new material.
As a pleasant bonus that I look forward to all week, in the evening, I go to play soccer (on Monday). It’s sports + socializing with friends. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are workhorses, I load them to the maximum and try to be at the peak of productivity. Friday is the end of the week, you need to finish all tasks, complete everything that you didn’t have time to do, so I don’t overload Friday with additional activities.
Saturday, Sunday — I try to devote time to family, friends, and relaxation. I study what I want, what my soul is drawn to, rather than what I planned. I constantly feel like switching to something new without finishing (in a basic sense, this is a bad habit, but I try to get the most out of any situation). Therefore, I try to give myself time for new things on weekends.
Chapter 2: How My Day Goes
9:00 AM (+- 2 hours) — I wake up. I try to wake up within a certain morning range (around 9:00 AM MSK) to avoid disrupting my biorhythm. I have a glass of water, a light breakfast, grab my tea and start my day (and of course my laptop).
9:20 AM — I check Slack. Before starting work, I always check Slack for urgent messages with high priority. If there are some, I need to quickly adjust my plans for the day. But these are unique, rare cases.
9:30 AM — English time. Before work, I prefer to plan my English lessons, which allows me to quickly engage my mind and wake up. These lessons usually end up 30–40 minutes before the first work call. If there are no lessons, I read news about the IT industry, as well as news from the world of DevOps, delve into the details, and try to expand my network. It’s worth explaining about expanding my network. For example, after reading a technical article or watching a presentation on YouTube, I evaluate the aftertaste. If I feel that the author clearly has a good technical level, I will find & follow him in Social media (LinkedIn, GitHub, YouTube, Medium), subscribe to their updates. The right network is a very important element of development and formation.
10:30 AM — After the previous item, I have 30–40 minutes before the first work call, which is a time for my second breakfast. I try to eat in small portions, so my meals are roughly divided at least into 5 intakes per day.
11:00 AM — First work call. This is a meeting with my team, discussing current tasks, and planning (in Jira, a tool for tracking tasks, most IT specialists use or have used this tool). At this point, I try to understand which tasks I need to prioritize and which ones can be postponed.
12:00 PM — The main part of the work begins with reviewing and grab the tasks in Jira to the progress. If you’re a DevOps engineer, you probably have a universal set of tools, including a favorite terminal with a set of aliases and shell add-ons. In my case, it’s Iterm (previously terminator) + zsh. I also use a browser to open Jira and search for documentation. An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is also necessary, and while most of my colleagues use VS Code, my heart is still with IDEA. Its color scheme and set of plugins make me feel comfortable. It doesn’t matter what type of code I open, bash, python, js, etc. It’s usually a full day (or sometimes several days) of working on a task, such as monitoring or fixing a bug in CI/CD. Along the way, we have online calls with colleagues to clarify details.
02:20 PM — Lunchtime. As they said in the Roman Empire, “Divide and conquer!”. Fractional meals undoubtedly bring benefits, and my doctor tells me the same thing, word for word. I split a regular portion into several smaller ones and return to eating every 30 minutes. Then, with a break of 2 hours, I consume food until 7:00 pm. And not less than 1 liter of water, although it is often 2 liters (the norm required for people of my age and weight).
06:00 PM — In the evening, I try not to work and have a rest. This, of course, does not apply to support, if I have an urgent task, I do it. But, in general, I try not to start new tasks after 6:00 pm. The most important and challenging part of the day is to switch from work tasks to nonwork ones.
07:00 PM — When I first started working remotely, I had a habit of working until 11:00 pm, leaving no time for rest, and sleep was not always good. To make sure the transition happens, I add various nonwork activities in the evening. For example, studying the next section of a course (I constantly take courses to learn), sports, dinner with the family, a walk, and so on.
After soccer championship on the famous “Petrovsky Stadium”
My recent hobby — kite surfing. If you would like to start flying on the water, I can recommend you a great school, kitebrospb in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
10:30 PM — The day starts “yesterday”. I check my calendar, schedule in the evening (usually a few hours before bed). Thus, I understand how active my rhythm will be tomorrow, how collected I need to be, and how to plan my time more efficiently. I took this idea from a foreign calendar. They (unlike my region) start the week on Sunday. At first, I wondered why and for what purpose. When I understood that it could bring benefits, I began to apply this idea every day.
11:00 PM — Sleep. Before going to bed, it’s essential to have the right attitude to ensure that rest is productive, and the next day starts with a good mood. As I mentioned earlier, the day starts “yesterday,” so I try to distance myself from the laptop and phone an hour before sleep. This helps me to return my thoughts from a vast flow of information. I spend this time with my family, sometimes just looking out the window (I have an excellent view of the Gulf of Finland). Now it’s winter, and I like to watch the snowfall, the lights of the bay… I can’t say that my day is significantly different from that of a remote Front-End developer. There is still much to work on, but I try to do everything to make my day productive and interesting.
Summary
In conclusion, spending a day with a DevOps expert can provide valuable insights into how to build your personal schedule.
By following the daily routines and practices of a DevOps expert, individuals can gain a better understanding of how to streamline their own development workflows and improve their overall day scheduling.
Good luck!
Please feel free to add any comments and connect me, kazakov.xyz.
