tapan_k

Here's one from the book The Art of UNIX Programming[0]: "The Unix philosophy is bottom-up and not top-down. It is pragmatic and grounded in experience."

[0] http://www.amazon.com/UNIX-Programming-Addison-Wesley-Profes...

While the VP is asking you to hire, the question is: why is your title not aligned with your responsibilities? Though you do not mention this, I have seen people in similar situations who send signals about not wanting "Manager" in their title. They are vocal about what they do not want to become in spite of what they are already bringing to the table, which can hinder professional growth.

Since you are directly reporting to someone who would otherwise be your skip level manager, you will need to fill in for your manager and ask for the correct job title to begin with. This will ensure two things:

1. Your responsibilities will be algined with your title; and

2. You will have better access to information and authority you need to build the right team, in addition to doing the right thing for people who already report into you.

It looks like https://www.phonepe.com

I appreciate Thunderbird every time it reminds me to add attachment(s) if it finds that keyword in the email text.

I try to attain focus rather than avoid distractions. At the end of the day, I want to make progress and that will happen only if I can focus on my tasks. Some distraction is unavoidable, and hence should not derail a good day because of the annoyance it may cause. Here's what I do to focus:

1. Plan the day. Can be done last thing on the previous day or the first thing on this day.

2. Leave room for unexpected tasks.

3. Leave room for "living life" outside of your work.

4. Execute on the plan with the goal of accomplishing it on the same day.

5. When distracted -- either by colleagues or by your own urge to surf the Internet -- try to get back on track as soon as possible, without losing your cool.

6. At the end of the day, learn from your experience and use that as input to your next day's plan.

7. Go to 1.

> It's a beginner's book, not for someone who have been trying to improve their code (and processes around it) already for some years.

Yes -- a beginner's book for someone starting now, but essential for everybody in the industry nonetheless.

Pragmatic Programmer has influenced enough people that it has changed the industry for better. These ideas and practices may sound common sense now, but were not until popularized -- I suspect -- by Pragmatic Programmer. If you found good practices already entrenched in the ecosystem when you joined the industry, the roots can be traced back to a few good books such as Pragmatic Programmer. Even though these ideas may not have been ground breaking, nobody now needs to spend time convincing their peers about these practices from first principles. Time and energy saved for everyone.

My point is, I have seen enough [senior] programmers to whom clean code etc. does not come naturally, and they always benefit from reading this book. Not that they aren't smart, just that someone needs to present a good case which this book does very well.

I've asked a similar question to candidates, which allows me to have an open ended conversation. My question is: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate yourself as a programmer." The answer to this question rarely matters, but it opens up room for follow-up questions. For example:

1. Why did you pick the score that you did?

2. Have you identified areas of improvement that will help improve your score? What are those?

3. What are you doing to improve in the identified areas, and when do you think you will get there?

4. Give me an example of a strength that contributes to your current score? What is the sample population that you used to evaluate that strength?

etc...

I ask this question towards the end of the interview, and only if I have decided to hire the candidate, and only if there are no more specific questions to ask. Asking this too early and before having enough data points from specific questions, is a waste of time and energy - both for me and the candidate.

I second the habit of making lists. This is my approach:

1. Make lists.

2. Make checklists.

PS: These two are different, and you need both. The first to bring clarity, and the second to make plans actionable by breaking down a goal into tasks.

The answer depends on what you mean by "for a while". If its a few months or a year or two, it does not matter what the alternative career path is, as long as you do land a job that pays enough for you to support your family. If you are looking for alternate career paths for more than a couple of years, why think of this as temporary? Just switch to a different path and reevaluate when you stop having fun. Check this list to see which of the following helps:

1. Take a week or two off. Go on vacation. Maybe you just need a short break.

2. Find a new job as a developer. The change in environment (people and/or technologies that you work with) may do the trick.

3. Switch to a PM role for a while.

4. If you think being a developer is no longer fun, consider a career change.

Whatever you do, do not wait too long for the problem to fix itself. Do something now, before you start to drain out and find yourself unable to muster the energy and enthusiasm to come up with a solution.