How IT professionals work. Alexey Vladyshev, author of Zabbix

We continue to ask specialists about the mode of work and rest, professional habits, the tools they use, and much more.

It will be interesting to find out what unites them, in what they contradict each other. Perhaps their answers will help to identify some general patterns, useful tips that will help many of us.
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Today our guest is Alexey Vladyshev, executive director of Zabbix company, developer of the open monitoring system Zabbix, which is very popular all over the world.

What do you do in the company?

My area of ​​responsibility lies in two planes: the strategic development of the product and the development of the company. We have to deal with various tasks that are somehow related to this. This is a work on the roadmap, the specifications of the key functionality, in addition - important personnel and financial issues, planning.

One word best describes how you work:

Calm

How many hours a day do you spend on work?

I think that on average about 9 hours. Sometimes up to 12 hours, but this is an exception.

How many hours do you sleep?

7-8 hours. Glad if you can sleep a little longer.

How do you have breakfast?

I have breakfast very quickly.

What are you doing on the way to / from work?

The road to work takes about an hour. Behind the wheel or listen to podcasts on very different topics, or relax in silence.

What kind of todo-manager do you use personally?

I try to concentrate on no more than three large (for a period of 3-6 months) priorities.

For small planning I use a paper notebook, although in the past I tried a huge number of todo-managers.

What kind of task manager do you use / issue tracker / repository?

The team uses Jira, Subversion and the Agile (Kanban) board for development.

Does the company have internal projects?

Yes. These are mainly projects aimed at improving workflow and automation. The volume of such projects is small, and we are little distracted by them.

What annoys you most when you work?

Not annoying, but it interferes with everything that leads to multitasking. I try to focus on doing one thing.

What professional literature would you recommend?

It is necessary to know to whom this recommendation will be directed, depends on the concrete person and his level of knowledge. Therefore, I will try to limit the general phrases.

If you have a choice, then try to read in your own language. I think that it is necessary to separate the process of obtaining professional knowledge and language learning. Try to expand the range of reading those books that go beyond the subject area of ​​your interests. Read classic fiction.

Avoid books sucking one thought on hundreds of pages. This sin American bestsellers. Instead, pay attention to autobiography books and books written by leading figures of the area of ​​interest. Dig deeper.

Good books often contain links to other books. Create your own list of books to read, buy books for the future and choose a book by mood.

What do you prefer: electronic reading rooms or paper books?

Paper books.

What technique and why do you prefer at work and at home?

Trouble-free technology from different manufacturers. Macbook Pro with Linux virtual machines. Mac is used because of the long life of the battery and the lack of surprises when connected to projectors. Often you have to fly and speak at conferences, these two points are very important.

In the past, I was very pleased with Ubuntu Linux.

What do you listen when you work?

Nothing. Music distracts me.

Which life hack allows you to be more efficient?

Morning or evening planning a new day helps to prioritize. A list of completed cases is pleased that the day was not in vain.

What professional advice from the past could you give yourself?

He is still relevant to me: take rest as a necessary condition for good results. Rest more often.

What would you recommend to a person trying to go the same way?

Make decisions based on long-term perspectives and be true to your principles.

What applications and services can't you do without?

I can not do without a phone, messengers and email to communicate with the team and loved ones. A web browser is also required to access the bank.