Here’s my daily workflow. My day generally starts at 8am and ends at 5pm, but as with everything, there are always exceptions.
Outlook
We’re a Microsoft-oriented company, so the first thing I do is open Outlook. I’ve usually checked emails on my phone already, so generally I have an idea about what came into my Inbox after-hours. I try not to reply to anything before 8am unless someone is freaking out or timing is urgent.
I switch to my calendar to see what today’s commitments look like (service, support, or meetings). If I see a bunch of meetings scheduled back-to-back, I know I’m going to be too distracted to get much work done.
Emacs
Next I open Emacs because I keep a few Org files handy for tracking projects, notes, journals, etc. I only open these up when I feel like I have something to add or need to review.
tasks.org
This is the main file for staging projects. It includes sections for Service, Projects, Research, and Meetings.
I quickly review items under the Service heading to see if someone is waiting on me to provide updated programming. Once I know a service item is completed, I mark it DONE and archive it with C-c C-x C-a.
Items under Projects require more attention. These are usually long-term items with a hand-over date. I try to mark them with a deadline if one is given. I tag projects with active if physical work is happening (and programming may be requested any time now). If it’s tagged waiting that means we haven’t won the bid yet, so don’t put too much time into it (since it might be wasted effort). If a job has been contracted out, I tag the contractor’s name.
Research has projects with very long timelines. Things with no completion dates, but I need to keep them listed so I don’t forget. It’s currently empty.
If I need to gather notes for an upcoming meeting, it gets stashed into Meetings. These almost always have a deadline and can be broken down into topics.
notes.org
Another important file that stores technical notes. If I’m reading or watching something and want to store notes, they end up in this file. If I need to keep a cheatsheet for lab equipment, it goes into this file.
journal.org
And then there’s the journal that catches stream-of-conciousness. I usually don’t open this file, but add to it using C-c c j throughout the day.
For example, I get an email about a project and I want to track it. I locate the project in my tasks.org file and place the cursor at the most representative location then hit the C-c c j chord. This automatically adds a link back to this location to my journal entry. Great for cross-referencing later.
I wish there was a way to paste a link to an Outlook email…
SIMPL Windows
After spending a good hour in Emacs getting reaquainted with where I left things at, I’m ready to begin actual work. For me, this means I spend most of my day in SIMPL Windows.
I would like to move to different tool sets but haven’t been able to make the jump completely yet. For now, I can only pad my SIMPL programming with SIMPL# libraries.
That’s It
From that point forward, the day turns into a hope to finish whichever project I’m working on, but constant interruptions usually prevail.