Topic Archive

Productivity

  • Goal setting tips

    PyBites Team

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    1 min read

    Listen here: Or watch here: Happy New Year and welcome back to the Pybites podcast.  This week Julian and Bob talk about setting goals for this year 2023:– How to set your goals this year.– When and where you begin to setting your goals– How to set realistic goals that are achievable and sustainable.– How to set goals you can control.– How to love the process towards your goals.– What actions should you take to enable you to reach your goals.– How goal-setting processes can help you find purpose and meaning in your life.– The importance of small steps with…

  • A super simple Zettelkasten note taking system

    Bob Belderbos

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    3 min read

    Yesterday I found this amazing gist that got me running with Zettelkasten in no time 💪 Check out this short YouTube video where the author demos this workflow: As the Zen of Python wisely taught us: Simple is better than complex – and this is so true for what can easily be an overwhelming task of putting a note taking system in place, specially the Zettelkasten. In case you’re not familiar with Zettelkasten, read up on it here – definition quote: A Zettelkasten is a personal tool for thinking and writing. It has hypertextual features to make a web of…

  • How to get more things done consistently?

    PyBites Team

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    1 min read

    Listen here: Welcome back to another podcast episode. In this one we answer a question that was asked by Shreyas:  I would love to listen to how you and Julian manage your lives in terms of day time jobs + PyBites + families! I know you touch upon it a few times in the few podcasts I’ve covered so far, but would love the strategical details!  We provide some useful / practical tips how we manage our busy schedules, maintain a healthy balance and overall get a ton of things done every single week. For much more on this, check…

  • The importance of setting boundaries

    PyBites Team

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    1 min read

    Listen here: This week we talk about boundaries (again), specially at work. How can it be that 12 hour days are becoming the norm? This has to stop! And it’s insidious, because the extra work always seems to sneak in! First we look at where we think this is coming from. Then we offer some practical tips we’ve learned over the years that will have you better manage this. Books we’re reading:– The missing Readme– Robust Python (type hints)– The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change– They are part of our Podcast reading list. If you struggle with boundaries, get a copy of our Productivity…

  • The Importance of Disconnecting as a Developer

    Hugh Tipping

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    3 min read

    You don’t need library to download the scent of honeysuckle. You can hear the music of a chattering creek without a secure connection or authentication. We spend so much time connected to and with our tech and our code that we forget what it feels like to be connected to the world around us, to nature, and even to people “in real life.” I suggested to a friend, a talented and prolific coder, who had been feeling stressed and a bit off balance lately, to make a conscious effort to avoid tech, just to be present with her surroundings and…

  • Automating the Boring Stuff and Plotting Student Data

    Russell Helmstedter

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    12 min read

    My name is Russell Helmstedter. I am a middle school math and computer science teacher at De Anza Academy of Technology & the Arts (DATA). My first exposure to Python was in March of 2020. For some reason, I was stuck at home and couldn’t go out and do things. I decided to learn how to code. After googling things like “what coding language should I learn” and “learn how to code”, I found Al Sweigart’s Automate the Boring Stuff. I was hooked. I began learning everything I could about Python. I started listening to podcasts, reading blogs, searching for…

  • How to stay motivated and beat procrastination

    PyBites Team

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    2 min read

    Listen now: Whether you like it or not we are emotional species so you have to manage your motivation, it’s not a given! In this week’s podcast we feature two segments from our productivity course: motivation and procrastination. We teach you various techniques to keep your motivation high: – Desire breathes motivation. – Go back to your goals regularly. – Visualise your future self. – Get an accountability partner. – Respect your bio (sleep, diet, exercise). – Work with people that are one or two steps ahead of you. Then we talk about the Procrastination monster that ruins that good…

  • How to achieve more deep work

    Bob Belderbos

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    1 min read

    Listen now: How much deep work do you get done on a typical work day? In our case, we thought plenty. It turns out that lately it’s been less and less. As the authors of Practical Productivity with PyBites this came as quite a shock! But as you’ll learn in this episode, productivity is insidious. You can be well on track with your goals, focus and habits, but then gradually, things start to slide, and before you know it you’re completely off-track. In this episode we talk about how we became aware of this and provide you with some tips to help you…

  • Give It Just Five Minutes

    Hugh Tipping

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    2 min read

    You know those nights when you want to work on writing or your coding project or side gig? You want to grow outside of the confines of a day-to-day job but you feel like the job has taken everything out of you. You get tired. You feel like you’re on the last bar of the battery. At the same time you feel like people around you are advancing and progressing on their projects. “How do people do this?”“How can they not be tired?”“Where do they get the time/energy/motivation?” All these questions float around a pool of wonder as you envy…

  • Applying the Hedgehog Concept to Learning Python

    Bob Belderbos

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    2 min read

    In this post we’ll look at how to apply the hedgehog concept to get more meaningful work done using Python and in your career. The other day I posted on Twitter: Don’t get stuck in tutorial paralysis, start building.  Yes, it’s uncomfortable but you will learn so much more by deliberately applying what you learn to your specific needs. Then use books, videos, etc in tandem to cement your learning. To which Yerman responded:  Any recommendations on what to build? It was a great question and reminded me of the book Good to Great I read a while back. In this book Jim…