Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the snacks are so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let me code, let me code, let me code!
What should a software developer do over the holidays? Many take off to be with family and friends during the last two weeks of December. Others (including me) have spouses who must work or have used up vacation, so they find themselves working in half-empty companies.
There are indeed some benefits to working over the holidays:
- Fewer interruptions
- More relaxed pace
- Good time to catch up on things
- Arrive later, leave earlier
- Usually lots of good food
But of course there are downsides:
- Miss your family and friends
- Co-workers can be grumpy
- Can be tough to motivate yourself
Many software companies recognize the holiday weeks will have diminished production, so the management accommodates this reality by encouraging developers to spend the time “sharpening their swords.”
There are many things a developer can do over the holidays to improve his/her craft and work environment:
- Test new tools
- Read programming blogs, magazines and web sites
- Fortify your system: evaluate your firewall, anti-virus, backup, etc.
- Upgrade your hardware and software
- Automate some part of your work
- Refactor some code that needs attention
- Learn something new that will come in handy next year
What did you do over the holidays? Take our poll or leave a comment below.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Peace.
Article published on December 21, 2007
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Tags: Holidays, Worker Productivity
December 28th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Wow… I just voted in the poll. Am I the only one who plans to automate work?
There is so much of daily tasks that can be automated.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Some times i study for the masters, and some times working as a part time for another company.