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Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the snacks are so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let me code, let me code, let me code!

What should a software developer do over the holidays?  Many take off to be with family and friends during the last two weeks of December.  Others (including me) have spouses who must work or have used up vacation, so they find themselves working in half-empty companies.

There are indeed some benefits to working over the holidays:

• Fewer interruptions
• More relaxed pace
• Good time to catch up on things
• Arrive later, leave earlier
• Usually lots of good food

But of course there are downsides:

• Miss your family and friends
• Co-workers can be grumpy
• Can be tough to motivate yourself

Many software companies recognize the holiday weeks will have diminished production, so the management accommodates this reality by encouraging developers to spend the time “sharpening their swords.” 

There are many things a developer can do over the holidays to improve his/her craft and work environment:

• Test new tools
• Read programming blogs, magazines and web sites
• Fortify your system: evaluate your firewall, anti-virus, backup, etc.
• Upgrade your hardware and software
• Automate some part of your work
• Refactor some code that needs attention
• Learn something new that will come in handy next year

What did you do over the holidays?  Take our poll or leave a comment below.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  Peace.

Article published on December 21, 2007

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Tags: Holidays, Worker Productivity