At work, we're using GitHub Discussions for asynchronous communication. We're trying it out and the team has mixed feelings about it. Personally, I think it helps to avoid the distractions we get from Slack notifications.

I've created a "water cooler" category there where we can get to know each other. I don't know yet if it's going to be useful and if people will get aboard but I recently asked the following question there: "What does your typical workday look like?" I wanted to share my post here too because people often ask me this question and I wanted to have a link to share. :)

Here's my post:

I usually have a hard time to focus on things. I need to keep my day very well structured, otherwise I'm not able to get anything done. So, I'm always curious to know how other people manage their time and organize their workflow.

Here's how my day looks like:

Morning

I try to wake up between 6 and 7 am (GMT-3) but I often suffer from insomnia. Sometimes, I wake up at 3 am and I can't really fall asleep anymore, so I try to get some work done because I know I'll sleepy at some point throughout the day and I'll need to take a nap.

After taking a breakfast (usually granola with banana and apple), I go to my office. I have a spare room that I use exclusively for work because it helps me focus. My morning routine is usually the same:

• Check my Google Calendar to see if I have any meetings scheduled.
• Read Slack notifications.
• Read Linear notifications.
• Read GitHub notifications.
• Check if I have any PRs assigned to me.
• Check my Linear board and pick what issues I'll be working on today.
• Write my Range update.
• Reply to comments on Slack, Linear, and GitHub.
• Review PRs assigned to me.
• Mute my Slack notifications to avoid distractions.
• Pick an 1-point issue on Linear to work on. If I have, at least, 4 hours before lunch or a meeting, then I choose a more difficult issue to work on.

Afternoon

I usually take my lunch break around 12 pm (GMT-3). I set one hour for this. It's also a time for hanging out with my wife and watch some Netflix. Sometimes, I take a longer break when I need to go to the grocery store or deal with some bureaucratic stuff (being a freelancer in Brazil can give you some headaches sometimes, especially when you do your own accounting).

When I get back to my office, sometimes I play a Fifa 21 game on PS5 before actually going back to work. Or I play a table tennis game with my wife. It's super relaxing and it helps me to focus. Then, I go back to work. My routine looks pretty similar to what I do in the morning:

• Read Slack, Linear, and GitHub notifications.
• Check if I have any meetings scheduled. I try to avoid starting any tasks one hour before a meeting because it's hard for me to switch focus from coding to something else. I need to have larger chunks of uninterrupted time to be able to code (at least 2 hours).
• Check if there are any urgent PRs assigned to me. If they aren't urgent, I usually review them on the following day or between tasks (if it's a small PR).
• Continue working on the Linear issue I picked in the morning or start working on a new one.
• Before starting working on a new issue, I have a quick look at my notifications again to see if there's anything or anyone requiring my attention.
• I usually leave my office around 6 pm (GMT-3) but, sometimes, I have to deal with other things during the day, so I end up working longer hours to compensate.

I also try to follow the default to action approach. When I'm blocked on something, I start working on something else. There's always plenty of work to do, so I try to avoid rushing people into PR reviews or answering my questions. When I ask you a question, know that I expect you to answer me on your time. There's no rush to get back to me. If it takes you two weeks to answer my question, that's totally fine. If something is urgent, I'll always let you know but I think that's rarely the case.

Feel free to share what your workday looks like too. As I said, I'm always curious to know how other people work and what I can learn from it. :)

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