Then I started thinking: is it even important that I can name them? Do I have to be consciously aware of the improvements I've made? But maybe the more important thing to realise is: even if I gain a single improvement from reading a book, something tiny that I did not do before, it is a gain and it is worth it! On top of that, everyones situation is different. This is why the stuff that helped me might not necessarily work for you.
So in my opinion books like these should be used more like frameworks, toolboxes, but not as a manual or bible. Similar to how this post describes the concept of Scrum implementation:
The Scrum framework leaves different options and tactics to play the game, ways that are at any time adopted to the context and circumstances.Even if you implement only a small subset of the possibilities that Scrum provides, you're still benefiting from it and you can choose to combine it with other tools within (or even outside) the Scrum framework to streamline (optimise, improve, whatever) your work(flow) even more. This is something that is explained based on examples and anecdotes in the book Scrum & XP from the trenches, which you can download for free!
In conclusion
While I don't want to sum up the things I do better because they might not work for you, I'll list the things I currently do and things that I wish I would be better at implementing. These are from Blueprint of a productive programmer as the other book (Becoming a better programmer) is basically a huge list of great advice that you should probably read every 4 weeks until you really think you're implementing > 10% of it :).Things I have learned and am able to implement (at least partially):
- Chapter 2 from Blueprint of a productive programmer:
- Minimise Distractions, Stay off Facebook (I actually uninstalled FB and WhatsApp from my phone)
- Avoid meetings (unless it's REALLY clear what needs to be discussed for both parties and other means of communication will NOT suffice)
- Commit to repository often (especially if you have trouble focussing because of stuff like A.D.D.)
Stuff that I really want to do better (but have forgotten to actually keep doing)
- Chapter 5 from Blueprint of a productive programmer:
- Eat the right food
- Take regular breaks
- Prevent or treat RSI
At the same time I found the book as a whole to give me a great insight in overall pitfalls in your daily routines as a programmer. If you're a programmer (and even if you're a pretty good programmer) I'm sure you will gain something from reading it :). Again, here are the books: