My biggest time-saving habit is organizing projects better; breaking them into smaller steps on a board; separated by "pending", "in progress" and "completed".

Now, maybe this is different for other people, but this saves me a lot of time because normally trying to "reconnect" and resume a project is a very slow process for me (reviewing where I was with the schematic, or the code, or the prototyping, etc). This is specially true when I'm working on more than one project at a time (which is sometimes unavoidable) or when I can't work on a project for an entire week. Having a quick, immediate way of knowing where I was and what comes next helps me resume my work almost immediately.

This also helps me figure out ahead of time what things can be done immediately, and what steps can't be tackled right now or have requirements that need to be met first (like ordering parts), further assisting me in making better use of my time.

Generally speaking, planning and "thinking ahead"; writing down lists of steps, decisions, requirements, etc (and crossing off those that are completed, done, etc) has become an invaluable habit in working efficiently, both at home as well as at work.

My biggest time-saving habit is organizing projects better; breaking them into smaller steps on a board; separated by "pending", "in progress" and "completed".

Now, maybe this is different for other people, but this saves me a lot of time because normally trying to "reconnect" and resume a project is a very slow process for me (reviewing where I was with the schematic, or the code, or the prototyping, etc). This is specially true when I'm working on more than one project at a time (which is sometimes unavoidable) or when I can't work on a project for an entire week. Having a quick, immediate way of knowing where I was and what comes next helps me resume my work almost immediately.

This also helps me figure out ahead of time what things can be done immediately, and what steps can't be tackled right now or have requirements that need to be met first (like ordering parts), further assisting me in making better use of my time.

Generally speaking, planning and "thinking ahead"; writing down lists of steps, decisions, requirements, etc (and crossing off those that are completed, done, etc) has become an invaluable habit in working efficiently, both at home as well as at work.

How did you even manage to write this big

I don't know if that's a compliment or a complaint, lol.
But that's what happens when I just do a brain dump without much editing, sorry

battlecoder said:

I don't know if that's a compliment or a complaint, lol.

I think it was a statement of admiration.

That's a bit hard to believe, but I'll take it.

 battlecoder Great process!  Not having to figure out where you are in your project plan is very helpful.  I makes me think of the Gantt charts I used to use in project planning.  It was exactly what you said.  What can be done independently - up to a certain point?  When do tasks become dependent on the previous task?  This even integrates waiting for parts.  Great stuff.

It also makes me remember an old school stress management technique: throw out any notes, articles, spec sheets, etc that you have deemed "not pertinent".  Do not hold onto any of it - "just in case".  This saves you from re-evaluating something you've already made a decision about.  Knowing where to pick back up is the project version of that - not revisiting tasks you have already completed.  Great habit.

Getting rid of notes kept "just in case" sounds like an interesting habit too. The temptation to go back and re-evaluate after making a decision is always there.

battlecoder   For notes that I think are "valuable", I've started putting them in a notebook - and then throwing away the piece of paper I took the note on.  90+% of the notes I take are very temporary.  I still stink at throwing them out, but I try.

I think engineers and makers will always be tempted to re-evaluate - but how do I protect myself "in the moment" from that distraction?  Having a plan (or method) to handle the BST (bright shiny things) helps - when I remember it. 

Looks to me like properly organizing notes is an habit on its own. One I'm not particularly good at, but you seem to have a sensible system for.

battle writer