Do Fewer Things Better
Becoming a father has radically changed my life (yeah, duh). In particular time is now at an extreme premium and lower priority projects get less, or zero, input. This blog, pyinfra, my ever growing inbox. I have a bunch pending ideas I’ve paused or permanently shelved.
This shift has been surprisingly free-ing. I always had too many things on the go in parallel, each inching forward at a snails pace yet consuming valuable mental capacity. I actually feel more in tune with the things that do remain despite having less time to work on them. When I do find the time, my input is much more effective as I’m better ”dialed in”. Do fewer things better.
This exact problem seems to be very common in software teams as well. Time and time again I’ve seen groups of engineers split over more and more problems. Taken to an extreme everyone works in a silo and productivity grinds to a halt. It’s so much more effective to work on, and crucially deliver, fewer things at once.
I hope to maintain this focussed approach in all aspects of life. I believe it will make me a better and more effective person both at home and at work.