Foreword

When it comes to producing great work, finding focus and flow is not only ideal for software developers, it’s a requirement. Unfortunately we’re plagued with constant distractions through open offices, group chat, long hours, with no time left to think creatively. My least favorite phrase in our industry is “I’m working from home so I can get some real work done.” We’ve trained ourselves to react to quick wins, constantly switching our attention and shortening our attention span. In turn this has taught us that we have to work long, stressful, and draining hours to get anything done.

For the last 18 years running Wildbit we’ve made focused work a priority, constantly striving for less distractions and a more enjoyable work environment. We’ve been remote-first since we started in 2000 and have successfully launched four SaaS products including Newsberry, Beanstalk, Postmark, and DeployBot. Through this we’ve learned that we can only get our best work done if we have space to reflect, the opportunity to focus, and an understanding of what makes us productive. Internally we obsess over it, whether it’s our 32-hour work weeks, our stance on private offices, our distaste for group chat, and our pursuit to improve synchronous and asynchronous communication. We’re constantly experimenting to find the balance between collaboration, deep work, and time to rest.

We wrote this book because we believe in an alternative method to producing great software. We’ve proven that you can work less hours and produce consistently better results. It requires a change in habits in both your personal and work life. If you’re a developer looking for ways to stay in the flow with more space to think, we’ll guide you through the theory and practice to get there. If you’re running a company, this will provide a different perspective on productivity, leading to new ways to structure your communication, culture, and process for your team.

Chris Nagele

CTO & Co-founder Wildbit