Planning for momentum
In software development, there are days that disappear while you work on a single task, and that feels oddly unnatural. At the end of the day, in real life, nobody spends an entire day doing just one thing.
Momentum comes from moving from one task to the next. One thing done, onto the next. Not getting that creates, on one hand, frustration and a feeling of being stuck; and on the other, a kind of negative conformity, almost like quietly assuming that tomorrow you’ll probably still be stuck too.
Some things I’ve tried: (Spoiler: not many work)
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I set a mental timer. I’ll finish this in half an hour. Absolutely doesn’t work. Half an hour passes and, at best (when I actually check the clock), I give myself another ten minutes. Then another.
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I set an actual timer. Same outcome. It’s basically the equivalent of remembering that half an hour has passed in the previous example. I’m not sure why I thought a sound would somehow change the situation.
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I plan ahead. It’s the only thing that actually works, but it’s tricky. More on that in a second.
Planning ahead means a few things:
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Planning is the first action of the day. Before replying to messages, and definitely before handling any quick task or leftover from the previous day. Really, before anything that nudges you into autopilot. You decide how far you want to take that. If it has to happen before brushing your teeth, then plan before brushing your teeth. You get the idea.
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You think through the resources involved. Time, people included, context, dependencies. Then you block that time in your calendar.
Now, reality.
We work with people. People are chaotic, and the more chaotic people you put together, especially if you work directly with clients, priorities will change.
That’s okay.
When it happens, you move the block in your calendar. You become aware of the impact. What else shifts because of it? What gets postponed? Do you now need extra time later in the day?
Whatever the outcome, the goal isn’t to avoid chaos. It’s to be aware of when it happens.
Because when you don’t plan, chaos feels personal. It feels like the day got away from you. Like you failed to make progress. But when you do plan, even if everything changes halfway through, at least you know what changed. You can point to the tradeoff. You made a conscious decision instead of ending the day wondering where the time went.
And weirdly, I think that alone brings momentum back in a controlled way.