How IT professionals work. Alexander Kozlov, team leader of SimbirSoft

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.


Today, our guest is a team leader and part-time pre-sale company SimbirSoft Alexander Kozlov.

Wanted to become a mathematician, but "brought" in programming. Since 2010 he has been working in SimbirSoft. Passed the way from the programmer to timlid. For a long time he worked in the role of PMA, he learned the whole development cycle. For colleagues, Alexander is also a mentor and an expert in web development. In addition, he actively interacts with the sales department and customers.
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What do you do in the company?

I directly participate in negotiations with potential clients, carry out all sorts of preparatory activities before launching new projects, work with staff (training, motivation), periodically I can connect to some projects as an expert / team leader from time to time (courses, trainings), traditionally I am one of the organizers and leading internal events, I like to take part in the discussion and implementation of changes throughout the company.

One word that best describes how you work?

Thoughtfully.

How many hours a day do you spend on work?

8 ocloc'k. I try to exclude processing in order not to lose efficiency and not to undermine health.

How many hours do you sleep?

6-7 hours. And I want 8.

How do you have breakfast?

Sticking to protein breakfast. For background include some interesting video.

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

Most often forced to follow the road situation, as I drive a personal vehicle. In the warm season 1-2 times a week I practice moving to work by tram and walking from work to home. At these moments, it is possible to contemplate the world around.

What kind of todo-manager do you use personally?

Google keep, Mac notes.

What applications and services can't you do without?

Google docs, terminal, mail.

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

Jira, Asana, Trello, Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab.

What other tools and software do you use at work?

Mac OS, Vagrant or Docker, atom.

What annoys you most when you work?

Mess and inconsistency.

What professional literature would you recommend?

" Clean Code ", " Mythical Man-Month ", Deadline , well, something from Adizes - for example, " An ideal leader. Why they cannot become and what follows from this ."

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

Paper. There are too many electronics in our life right now.

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

Apple MacBook as the most comfortable tool for work.

But for the iPhone, they never came up with a normal battery, so I remain a user of the Android-smartphone with a capacious battery.

What do you listen when you work?

Music A playlist often consists of rock songs of different directions.

Which life hack allows you to be more efficient?

Complete quick tasks so that you can concentrate on long ones.

What kind of professional advice for the future can you give yourself?

Concentrate.

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

Everything is trivial: not to be afraid of difficulties and to leave the comfort zone. It helps to learn and discover new abilities in oneself.