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What’s the most time-saving habit you’ve picked up? We are asking e14 in our Join, Share & Win Competition

A new month means a new AskE14!

Engineers, makers, and problem‑solvers are always finding smarter ways to work. From optimising workflows to automating repetitive tasks, small habits can add up to serious time savings.

This month, AskE14 is all about sharing the habits that help you work more efficiently, whether you’re designing, prototyping, debugging, documenting, or managing projects.

Time for the question:

What’s the most time-saving habit you’ve picked up?

Time is a valuable resource in engineering. A simple habit — like better version control, smarter test setups, or clearer documentation. This can save hours down the line.

Competition Details

You'll have to be a member of the element14 Community to join in and take part in this “Join, Share & Win” challenge. It's simple, all you have to do is:

1. You need to make sure you are Register or Login
2. Then answer the following question by adding a reply or commenting!

What’s the most time-saving habit you’ve picked up?

This month, we are giving away:

The Community team will then select the best 3 answers to win the UNO R4 Minima!

Closing date: 1st March

Winners announced: 10th March

UNO R4 Minima

Terms and Conditions

PDF

The winners!

dang74

wolfgangfriedrich

skruglewicz

E14Alice will be reaching out to you soon to confirm contact details

Arnovsharma 7 months ago in reply to robogary

That's true there is same problem with me also!
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robogary 7 months ago in reply to kmikemoo

There are black holes on my workbench. They sit in layers to whisk objects to places I didnt lay the tools down.
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battlecoder 7 months ago in reply to kmikemoo

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.
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kmikemoo 7 months ago in reply to battlecoder

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.
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battlecoder 7 months ago in reply to kmikemoo

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.
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kmikemoo 7 months ago in reply to battlecoder

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.
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battlecoder 7 months ago in reply to cstanton

That's a bit hard to believe, but I'll take it.
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hfwt31 7 months ago

Having good documentation available for components and parts when working on a project is a positive step and increases speed of production.
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cstanton 7 months ago in reply to battlecoder

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

I think it was a statement of admiration.
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battlecoder 7 months ago in reply to Aniket_kumar_raj

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
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