Tapping Into Your Dev Beast Mode

Before jumping into the gist of this article it is important to understand what it hopes to achieve by the time you finish reading. Unlike the magician above, I am willing to share with you a simple secret trick I stumbled upon recently while trying to deliver a certain work task.Do you feel overwhelmed by your current work/study load? Do you enjoy your free time, grabbing some drinks or watching a game? Is the work-life balance suffocating you? Would you like to impress your new boss?If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then surely this article is for you. After reading, you should be able to harness the times when you are most productive, capitalize on them to produce your best works of art while managing to create enough time for you to have sufficient personal time and enjoyment.Almost everything will work again if you unplug it, including you. — Anne Lamott

Why Beast Mode?

As humans, we are inherently flawed in various aspects of our own lives, these flaws are characterized by 3 phases i.e. Minor Flaw, Major Flaw, and Fatal Flaw. Now it is important to be able to recognize what phase a certain flaw currently is in as that way you can be best situated to assess how much needs to be done to transition it from for example Fatal to Non-existent.

For the purposes of this article, we shall have a brief overview of what each phase could mean.Minor Flaw — likely to slow-down progression but very possible to avert if noticed.Major Flaw — likely to deter or stop progression for a certain period of time and if not dealt with has permanent consequence.Fatal Flaw — prevents the start of progression and possibly affects surroundings and people.

Beast Mode is a close to ideal atmosphere whereas a person you function in a vacuum that is isolated and free of flaws.While in this state, the human brain is believed to be most creative, acute, resourceful and productive hence the nomenclature. This is also why we are now going to address the pertaining question of how to get you there.

via GIPHY

At this point in time, you’re probably as confused as this dog is after reading the section above, right? But worry not as it is at this point that we shall draw the nexus between ideology and fact.

While building up to the writing of this article which was meant to be published a week before, I had one Fatal Flow which was a lack of focus and this prevented me from starting my writing. Throughout the week I had failed to find the vacuum that is Beast Mode to allow me to deliver an article worthwhile.

The path that gets you to Beast Mode has but only 3 gateways that need to be unlocked before you are allowed into the promised state that is Production Haven. In no particular order, these are the key aspects that need to be addressed as a means of finding your way into the desired state of Beast Mode; Purpose, Environment/Atmosphere, and Timing.

Purpose

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it”- Buddha

When driving a vehicle to a certain destination, fuel is a prerequisite and a driving force. Be it an electric vehicle, electricity would still act as that source of energy. Well, the same goes without saying for Beast Mode. It runs on huge chunks of energy that are simply fuelled by purpose.

The simple reason as to why purpose is important is because, with purpose at the forefront of whatever to do, you’re able to set goals, timelines, and steps that would be required for you to complete a certain desired task. Otherwise, without having the purpose to set your goals, one would easily run out of energy to go on as you would have no clear sight of what there is to be achieved and without this, you simply have no reason to go on.

Now purpose can be anything that pushes you and cheers you on, it could be that promotion, bonus, more hours of sleep, or even that date you want to go on. A goal, however, would need to be something measurable. For example, as a developer, your goal could be to have a PR/MR raised and merged by EOD.

Environment/Atmosphere and Timing.

Neither comprehension nor learning can take place in an atmosphere of anxiety. — Rose Kennedy.

These two aspects work hand in hand and usually one leads to the other. Either an optimum atmosphere could be influenced by timing or vice versa. However, it is equally important to have both put into consideration. On that note, it would be very helpful if we had more context into what is meant here.

Environment/Atmosphere — is the situation, surrounding or current physical location within which you exist at the moment of initiating Beast Mode.

Timing — this is as the title suggests, the period in which you choose to execute the Beast Mode or it can also be the period in which you intend to be in Beast Mode.

As a Developer or even a business professional, it is important to identify the conditions which align to allow you to focus and be able to dedicate a minimum of 30 minutes to one activity without being interrupted. These conditions differ amongst different individuals, some of us work best with music while others don’t, some people are unbothered by background action while others aren’t. It is at this point that you should then consider what defines your ideal atmosphere. A few things to note are that it should be free of distractions and serene enough to let you focus your chi on getting work done.

A positive atmosphere nurtures a positive attitude, which is required to take positive action. — Richard M. DeVos

The aspect of timing is important in this situation because certain times dictate specific atmosphere, most developers are lone creatures and which is why a couple of you might enjoy late-night hours to get work done without anyone around or you are quite good at multi-tasking and don’t mind a conversation with a colleague while working. However, it is paramount to know under which category you fall, because if stationed within the wrong timing and atmosphere you are surely not going to have much done seeing as you would be in an illusion form of Beast Mode.

Beast Mode is sacred and should, therefore, be treated that way, what this means is that you would need to sacrifice anything that can set you off the path drawn out by your purpose. All distractions serve to waste your time and energy and as earlier stated, Beast Mode runs on energy that can be depleted if not used purposefully.

The Beast that is Beast Mode.

After putting into consideration all the factors above, you would then be in a position to switch life forms and transition into what we have now come to know as Beast Mode. With this, you have unlocked the possibility of limitless creativity, focus and purpose-driven development.

A task that would have taken you an entire week would be jotted down to a matter of hours or days allowing you to take some time off and bask in the sunshine or take that dear one out on the promised date. At the end of the day, everyone is happy and it’s a win-win situation. You have completed your week’s required task, your boss has received their requested feature and your partner or friends can look forward to that promised night out.

All it required was some purpose, sacrifice for an ideal atmosphere and perfect timing. What better way to crown this up than with some words from one of the Greatest Beast of Soccer.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. — Pele

READ: How to manage communication as a distributed product manager.