Double the Efficiency: The Engineer’s Guide to More Productivity

When you work in a competitive field, such as engineering or technology, your skills can be your “most important product.” 

But if you’re not careful, the company you work for could tow-away not only your best years of productivity and expertise but also the bonus that everyone else gets just for working there. 

You might think that having a flexible schedule and maximum freedom is what makes companies worth it, but we’re here to tell you that even these perks may not be enough to keep your job. Here at https://cleanersj.com/ has some more engineer’s guides to more productivity.

This post will give you an inside look at how engineers at large successful organizations get more done in less time. 

It’s based on the experience of engineers at Google and LinkedIn, and it will help you see how you can double your efficiency and double your number of productivity-boosting tricks.

At Google we use tools like Radar, Jamboard and Floodlight to create a collaborative work environment that gives people the freedom to move around the office as they like (so long as they don’t bring their computers). 

We also organize our time by setting up weekly “circles” where employees can focus on most important work within their circles. 

As someone who has worked for multiple companies with different approaches to technology, I found this type of dynamic system is not easy to replicate in my current job as a consultant. 

I was excited to discover that LinkedIn, a similar company in terms of size and industry, has developed a few unique approaches to make engineers more productive.

Here are some things I’ve learned from my fellow LinkedIn engineers. If you want to get twice the productivity from your current job, start by choosing your team wisely.

1. Choose Your Team Wiser

In order to get twice the efficiency from your current position, you should choose a team wisely. It’s important that you’re able to trust your teammates and communicate openly with them. 

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen engineers make is getting stuck in the technical details of their projects. Very few people are able to focus on these tasks for long stretches of time. You don’t want to be one of them!

Many times I’ll meet with clients and they’ll say, “We need about 400 hours for this project.” 

But when it comes to lining up how many hours you have available each day, it’s important to understand that every hour you’re not working is an opportunity lost. 

When I first started consulting, some clients would ask me just how much money they would have to pay me if their project took one extra day. My reply was simple: “One day is like one month.” An extra day would only mean an extra loss of revenue. 

How much work did you not get done today? I know that I lost at least five hours alone to meetings, emails and other distractions today.

2. Have an Awesome Job Title

While at Google, I was lucky enough to work on some of the most impressive work projects I’ve ever seen. From our Chrome browser to our Gmail interface to our driverless car project, each of these projects pushed the boundaries of technology in very interesting ways. 

But working on these types of projects alone doesn’t mean you’ll be able to get twice the productivity. At the same time, your colleagues also need to feel that you’re doing something that matters. 

If your job title doesn’t suggest that you’re directly contributing to one of Google’s greatest breakthroughs, then no one will value what you do and how hard you work for it.

Recently I was consulting with a friend on a project. He needed help creating a small online form, but he wasn’t sure how to charge for his work. He wanted to be paid by the hour, so I wrote him an estimate for what it would cost him to hire me as an employee. 

The total? Just $195 an hour! The difference between working as someone’s employee and as a freelancer is drastic. It goes beyond just having benefits and getting paid by the hour; it affects where you’re allowed to go in the office and how much respect you get from your manager.

3. Plan Your Days

I’ve noticed that most people can’t go more than about five hours without feeling burned out. The most efficient time I ever spent at work was probably two days deciding what my workdays would look like. If you’re trying to get twice as much stuff done, then I think the same set of guidelines will apply here. 

It’s similar to the “Have an Awesome Job Title” tip above, but there’s a bit more nuance to think through for this one. Rather than just spending your entire day working, plan each day by dividing it into even parts of “half-days” or “quarter-days.”

Your personal workday should be broken down into roughly 15 separate 15-30 minute timeslices. You should start each time slice with a five-minute planning/brainstorming session and then divide up your other tasks accordingly. 

This way, you’re able to get more done in the same amount of time without feeling burnt out. If you’re working on editing a document or collaborating on a project, then put that break into an hour block instead of the 15 minutes. Be consistent and plan your days around what works best for you!