[jecxjo]

The three major things I did was automate everything, document everything and require justification in every task I do.

Whenever I had a task that recurred more than once, the second reoccurrence was when I implemented automation of that task. Didn't matter what it was or how much time it actually saved. The purpose was to have documented, reproducible results on any task I do. I often switched roles and then a year or two later I suddenly had to perform an old task I was "really efficient at." With automation i was able to do the task right away with almost no need to jog my memory.

Documentation requires you to get in the habit of writing. Doesn't have to be good, doesn't have to be smart and color coded. You just have to do it. I have vimwiki setup to a git repo and every discussion, every meeting, every project or note I took ends up here. Searching is easy enough and I don't have to worry about losing anything.

The last one deals with people so it requires tact. Whenever I'm asked to do a job that is a one off of something else or has additional work attached to it, I ask what the justification for the added engineering time would be. The point is to make me available for as much development as possible so if I'm stuck doing things that aren't actually needed it wastes resources. It also reduces complexity as there are minimal special cases for things.