Before COVID, almost half a decade ago, the productivity weblog Lifehacker ran a ‘How I Work’ series for many years. It is a great resource for how well-to-do people went about their days.
A key philosophy of mine is that processes are fundamental to success, and how well you adhere to your own processes signals how likely you are to achieve an endeavour or goal. Of course, not all processes are perfect, reflection and refinement should be included with any sturdy process.
To consider a personal process an achievable one, it has to:
1) Align with your values or belief system,
2) Realistically fit into your day.
Especially with kids, there is only so much time and energy available in a day. Sometimes subtraction of a process is the best move, rather than a tweak. The advantage of simplification is to remove opportunity cost or test if it was meeting a need. For example, I stopped using budgeting software once when significant milestones were hit. On reflection, I probably didn’t save as much as I could have if I kept the process of using the software even with the time investment each weekend.
To begin my development blog, I wanted to take stock of where I am today in a “How I Work” format.
My name is Campbell Sinclair, & this is how I work…
I have worked in software product development teams for over a decade across retirement-scheme insurance, stock market finance, identity verifciation tools & commercial broking industries.
Current Mobile: iPhone 11 Pro (wireless charging only!)
Current Personal Computer: A new PC tower build with dual-boot Linux Mint & Windows 11.
Background to Today
My introduction to learning about software development occurred during my youth, as is common in the industry. Although my parents & older siblings grew up when computers were being introduced, I was really the one who did most of the tinkering and with that came times I was prevented from doing things. Like writing early 2000 HTML table based websites!
At University I studied Business Information Systems which is a discipline really situated in the middle of software development, software tooling and business practice.
This naturally leads into more interpreter-type roles. Which can be tricky to do as a junior into the industry because it’s just as much about knowing which questions to press based on contextual knowledge, as it is about building bridges between colleagues. As a result, I spent a number of years on the support desks while assisting in tasks such as testing, go to market plans, stories based on customer feature requests for the backlog & bugs - before getting to my hands more involved.
Workspace setup
My home setup is my primary desk thanks to hybrid working. It is in a study nook in my house, which has a hardwood standing desk (a motor to lift the desk from the legs), 2 monitors & a dock to pair up the peripheral devices to the computer.
I also have a number of laptops from personal use & for roles over the years, but apart from my laptop which I take into the official work office they have seen intermittent use lately.
My mouse is a Logitech MX Master, while the typing tool is a Keychron mechanical keyboard.
Tools
Notion is my go to bridging productivity app. It is incredible for sorting out recipes to easily decide what to cook for the week, organising my to-do list & being able to quickly spec out mini-projects I take in my personal life.
On my phone, the gmail app is my most used beside Notion. Although getting a personal inbox-0 is quite hard with all the newsletters I have subscribed to & want a way to keep up to date with.
For communicating with friends, it is still all about Discord or Signal.
Hobbies and Recharging
I am one of the gaming generation, although my relationship with it has become complicated over the years. It is an easy time sink for no direct benefits. While I believe a lot of my problem solving and persistence skills have come from this hobby, there are some potential drawbacks I have found over the years too.
My latest hobby which I am sticking to is gardening. Right now we are experiencing extreme heat fluctuations, so getting the most out of my seeds in the turn of the season is a core focus. It is a bit of a challenge when germination occurs and they cannot maintain the water supply needed to stay alive due to insufficent roots!
Everyday thing that I am better at than everyone else?
My super power would be the ability to see the big picture elements of what is happening and to identify potential risks & see them through to eradication. Everyone has their own priorities. Understanding the why, how & when of projects allows you to better appreciate the trade-offs, incentives for different parties and why decisions were made.
This allows better prioritisation ability when new information comes to light, because the purpose & decision making history is there. Which is the foundation to understanding what is important in a piece of work.
Examples of this really shine though when you have had a chance to expand on domain knowledge. Or when you know that there is a feature being built which requires some experimentation or a proof of concept. It is easy to spot a deadline, but making a plan B with enough headwind can save a lot of stress!
The best advice I ever received
Knowledge isn’t power, applying it is power. While I think it’s an abridged quote from a famous investor, the truth still stands. You can sharpen the saw, attain all the knowledge you want. None of it really matters if you do not have anything to show for it.
Also, “fix your problems” - in a nicer way than it was said to me! Rather than quitting when faced with difficulty, talk to people to understand the issues and find common ground to continue with mutual acceptance. This isn’t solely for employee-employer relations (it can help), but more finishing things you agreed to start even if you find bigger bumps than expected. This can really help with maintaining and keeping core partnerships you develop throughout life. Paying attention, seeing something through that has been committed to, is just as valuable in relationship contexts as knowing when to quit in a project context.