Hey, 👋🏽 how are you all doing? It's been a long time since I last wrote an article. I have not been well and I have missed this. Getting better and yay 💃🏽 I am excited to write again.
As a tech person, you have heard of how paying attention to details is very important. Attention to detail is a skill where one accomplishes a task with thoroughness while maintaining accuracy through keen observation and concentration. It is a skill that has to be developed because it makes you stand out as a good developer. It requires self-discipline. This skill is not limited to only the tech industry, it cuts across all industries.
What I do to improve my ability to pay attention to details.
1. Reducing social media intake
Personally, time spent on social media affects my concentration. To limit these distractions, I have learned to reduce time spent on social time and turning off phone notifications to limit distractions so that I can allocate ample time to executing my tasks.
2. Practicing self-care
Taking breaks, meditating, and exercising help me calm my mind and reduce stress. This helps me rejuvenate my mind and improves my focus when it comes to executing tasks. When I spend a lot of time trying to fix a bug after trying all google and stack overflow solutions, I take a break first. In most cases, when I come back to it I get the solution much easier because my mind is more focused which means I'm able to pay more attention to the error. Taking these breaks has been quite beneficial to improving this skill. Take time to stretch out.
3. Taking care of my mental health
It's more like practicing self-care though I decided to make it a stand-alone point. Mental health is very important, I learned this the hard way. Poor mental health caused by a number of factors can have a detrimental effect on your ability to pay attention to details, productivity, and efficiency. I usually put everything on hold and have time to heal. Note that you don't have to rush through this, trust the process. You will only be able to deliver on your tasks if you are mentally well.
4. Having a schedule
Creating a to-do list helps me organize my work and time. Having a list of tasks that need to be completed, organized in order of priority helps me focus more. There are a number of applications that can help you to schedule for example Google Calendar. You can also do it traditionally by writing down your schedule in a notebook. Just pick out a method that you are more comfortable with to track your schedule.
5. Stopped multitasking
I used to think that multitasking increases productivity and efficiency. But, it's quite the opposite. Multitasking diminishes my productivity because I have to determine where I last left off. There is a limit to what the brain can process. Over time I have learned that when I concentrate on one task at a time and giving it full attention, my creativity is boosted and I'm able to get all details in order.
6. Embracing my pace
I used to beat myself up for not being quick when executing a task. Sometimes I take days or weeks when I'm working on a task. Doing things slowly helps me review my work multiple times before submitting and this prevents further revisions on minor errors that could have been solved by me in the first place which is far much better than rushing out. I have learned that you can still produce high-quality work while working at a reasonable pace.
Conclusion
Developing this skill is a crucial and vital aspect for a developer especially if you are just starting out in your career. Find techniques that will personally help you improve your ability to pay attention to details.
Thanks for reading!! 🥰