If I ask a developer, what is the most terrible part of a project lifecycle, the answer would certainly be “Deadlines – Need it now/Need it today/Need it by this date”. This is where the love story between a programmer and his code turns into a deadly fight between the ticking clock and his speed. Hold on, it’s not that bad. There are few tips which could help convert this irritating ticking sound into a nice music piece:

• Gather the Docs:

  Basic and simple step. Take all the notes and document in the form of email, wireframes, specifications, flow-charts and paste it somewhere easily accessible. It will help you cut out time going back and forth in the specifications as you will get them right in front of you always.

• Create a Schedule:

  Project plan is important. Create milestones on your calendar and set personal daily reminders to ensure progress is made on the projects as expected.

• Preach Reusability:

  Don’t reinvent the wheel. Make reusable code and use it in every project as needed with specific updates. A big time saver.

• Stop Iterations :

  A project/task done once perfectly is the key to a project’s success. Iterations give a tough time and hence should be avoided.

• Be Gutsy to say ‘enough':

  Bottlenecks occur if you don’t know how to say “Enough”. As you are aware of the tasks in hand and the project deadlines, you must learn to say that your bucket is full.