🛑 Software engineers should stop planning their days and start planning their lives.
Most engineers stay stuck because they confuse planning with strategy. Learn how to shift from busywork to real progress with a personal career strategy.
Hi everyone, Fran here 👋
Today’s article is the result of a collaboration with
, a software engineer at WiX and author of the newsletter .This isn’t about tips and tricks. It’s about making a shift from purposeless motion to meaningful actions.
From planning your day to transforming your direction.
I’ll leave you with Daniil’s words. Read until the end to see our joint conclusions
Let’s dive in!
You've done this before.
Bought a planner. Wrote a to-do list. Made a morning routine. Maybe even color-coded your week.
It felt good. You felt in control. Like you had your life together.
But a month later?
You're still stuck. Still scrolling. Still feeling behind.
Why?
Because a plan isn't a strategy. And confusing the two is why most engineers stay stuck.
The Busy Trap
Planning is easy. Wake up earlier. Drink more water. Apply to 5 jobs a day. Read for 30 minutes.
It feels like action. But it's just structure.
It's what you're doing, not why you're doing it.
That's the trap.
Ever notice how the most organized engineers aren't always the most successful?
Ever wonder why some engineers seem to accomplish more with less effort?
The difference isn't better planning. It's better strategy.
From Motion to Meaning
Strategy asks harder questions:
Who do I want to become?
What future is worth working for?
What game am I playing - and how do I win at it?
Strategy gives your day direction. It turns motion into meaning. Tasks into tactics.
Without it? You're just managing your time, not changing your life.
Think about this:
You can plan a morning routine. But without a strategy, you'll still dread getting up.
You can plan to apply to 20 jobs. But if you don't know what makes you stand out, you're just blending in.
You can plan to "work harder." But if you're climbing the wrong ladder, it won't matter how fast you move.
The Surprising Shift
A plan is about control. A strategy is about belief.
A plan says: "I'll wake up at 6am." A strategy says: "I'm becoming someone who leads."
A plan says: "I'll read more books." A strategy says: "I'm learning how to think clearly so I can build the life I want."
One gives you tasks. The other gives you direction.
Most engineers spend years perfecting their plan while never developing a strategy.
They get really good at climbing hills that lead nowhere.
The Self-Deception
We cling to plans because they're comfortable. They give us the illusion of progress.
Check a box. Feel accomplished. Repeat.
But here's the hard truth: The world rewards results, not effort.
No one cares how organized your planner is. They care what you can do, create, and become.
Strategy focuses on that end result. The impact. The transformation.
From Planner to Strategist
So how do you create a personal strategy?
Start with a vision. What kind of person do you want to be in 5 years? Not what do you want to have - who do you want to BE?
Get specific. Not "successful" or "happy." Try: "I want to run a solo business." Or: "I want to be the kind of parent I never had." Or: "I want to lead engineers, not just code."
Turn that into choices. What will you stop doing? What will you invest in? What field will you play on - and how will you win?
Watch and adapt. Strategy isn't set in stone. Pay attention. Tweak often. Stay aimed.
Align Your Strategy
Fran back here 👋
For engineers, a big part of this is making sure your strategy lines up with where your company is going and what you want in your own life
If your strategy doesn't line up, it won't work. You can have a great personal strategy, but if it fights your company's goals, it's like swimming upstream.
Align it with your company: Figure out where your company is headed. What are their biggest problems? What projects are getting attention? Talk about your work in a way that shows you're solving their problems. Making a service a tiny bit more reliable is cool, but if the company is losing money because of a bad feature elsewhere, focus your strategy there.
Align it with your life: A good strategy connects things, it doesn't split them. Find overlaps. What are you already doing for your job that you can also use for personal growth or a side project without much extra work? If you're learning a new tech for work, maybe your strategy includes making a blog post or a small tool with it. Do the work once, get two benefits.
That’s personally what I do. I work as a software engineer, then I take what I learn and write my newsletter strategizeyourcareer.com
When your strategy lines up, your daily work and learning build on each other. This makes sure you're not just busy, but busy doing the right things in the right place."
From Abstract Strategy to Concrete Action
So, you've started to embrace strategy over mere planning. You have a vision of who you want to become.
But how does this translate into your daily grind as an engineer?
The temptation is to fall back into the busy trap, juggling multiple tasks and feeling productive, while making no real progress
This is where actually doing things with a strategy comes in. You need to be a 'finisher.' Don't spread yourself thin with a bit of code review, some doc comments, and a new feature you just started. Instead:
Focus Hard: Pick one important task that fits your strategy. Really focus on it until you're stuck waiting for someone else.
Do Batched Work: When you're blocked (like waiting for a review), don't start something totally new. Instead, do all the other small things you've piled up – like reviewing others' code, answering messages, or emails.
Finish It: After your batch work, go back to your main task. Use the feedback, and get it done. Really done.
Back to Daniil.
Here’s the Ultimate Twist
The best strategy often looks like wasted time to planners.
Learning a skill with no immediate payoff? Seems inefficient.
Building relationships without asking for anything? Seems unproductive.
Thinking deeply instead of staying busy? Seems lazy.
But these strategic choices often create exponential returns while planners get linear results.
The greatest achievements rarely come from perfect execution of a plan. They come from the right strategy, even if messily executed.
Final Thoughts
You don't need more productivity hacks. You need clarity.
Because without strategy, you're just getting better at being busy. And when you're busy climbing the wrong hill - even success feels like failure.
So yes, keep planning. But first:
Choose who you're becoming.
Then build a plan that helps you become that person.
The difference isn't just semantic. It's the difference between a life of motion and a life of meaning.
Between checking boxes and changing your world.
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2025 Guide to Prompt Engineering in your editor for Software Engineers by
. Mastering prompt engineering in AI tools can significantly enhance your software development productivity through effective strategies like planning before execution and defining the AI's role. I learned these in a course at deeplearning.ai, but it’s always great to refresh the concepts.Thinking Models, Spring sale and MCPs by
Akos Komuves . Exploring different AI models can significantly enhance productivity in coding, especially when tailored to specific requirements. It’s crazy how better the same tool can be changing the model it uses.
- . Leadership interviews are less about rehearsed stories and more about authentic experiences, especially sharing the challenges and failures you've faced.
Breaking Down Silos in Tech by
and . Breaking down silos and fostering collaboration is essential for effective leadership and a thriving work environment in tech.Essential Components of a Production-Ready Web Application by
. Understanding the essential components for a production-grade web application, from CI/CD pipelines to monitoring and incident management, can significantly enhance your ability to build reliable, scalable systems.
🙏 One last thing before you go:
I am always working to make this newsletter even better.
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See you in the next email,
Fran.
 | A guest post by
|
Huge thanks to Fran for having me! ❤️
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