Have you ever wondered how the normal day of a programmer at the office is? Different personalities will get us different routines, but for now I will tell you my daily routine as a programmer the moment I arrive to the office. Are you ready?
Arriving and saying "Hello" to everyone.
Source
Hello you, you and you.
It's good to say 'hello'. I say 'hi' to people I know or strangers that stare at me (not in the creepy way, of course).
I also say 'Hello' to animals (specially cats and dogs). It doesn't matter if you woke up with the wrong foot, this will make you feel.. less bad (?)
Where is my coffee?
I cannot start working if I don't have my coffee. If there's no coffee in the office, then I go out to buy one.
Seriously, I love coffee. I drink 3 cups (at least) everyday.
You got Mail
And no, I'm not talking about the movie. I'm talking about my inbox. I have to check if there is not an urgent or important email to answer (like "the main web server is down" stuff). I like to keep my inbox organized (I use Gmail) in a way that emails represent pending tasks.
Note: I will write an article about it, later.
Hey Boss! What's up? A meeting?
Yes, meetings, those annoying meetings where project managers, product owners, technical leaders, my boss and other people's bosses talk about the same things over and over.
"When will the product be up and running?"
"What were your estimates again?"
"Wait, what do you mean with 'This can't be done?'"
I know, it's annoying. But you have to be there to answer questions, inform about progress, share good or bad news.
Once that nightmare is over..
Back to my station
I open my terminal, text editor (I use sublime text), music player, put on my headphones and start working. Depending on the project, I'll be programming on an specific language creating a new feature or fixing something.
I like to keep the Gmail desktop notifications on because I want to be aware if there's an urgent email to answer.
Hey! There's another meeting!
Again? And it's about the plans for the things discussed before. I don't know why they didn't say anything about it on the first meeting.
This means stopping the music, getting up, taking my phone and walking to the meeting. Geez!
I won't bother you with this again, so let's forward a little..
Lunch time!
Yeah! It's about time we have some meal. But before that I open the Gmail again to answer emails and clean my inbox. If I'm coding, then I don't answer emails (unless, of course, the email comes from the Big Boss).
There's another rule: if the email cannot be answered in less than a minute, then I'll will be answered after lunch.
Where is my coffee? Part 2
Yup, I have to get my coffee if I want to survive until 5:00 PM. And yes, you guessed it: the same cup. Bonus points if I have cookies or chocolate.
Once I got the mood and "energy"..
Back to my station! Part 2
I continue coding with good music. The playlist can go from rock/pop to games/movies original soundtrack.
If there's an urgent mail to answer, it has to be done before the coding.
Be aware of product owners or project managers.
They always come to you in panic because the client wants something different and it has to be done now or the world will explode..
May the force be with you.