A book for people who build
Productivityfor Developers
Finish what matters.
Make room for life.
A practical, principles-first book about choosing meaningful work, collaborating with AI agents, and protecting time for the people and experiences you love.
Explore the birthday giftBook in development · Approved title and cover
A gift for my 50th birthday
Share a little kindness.
Make room for more.
The first 50 qualifying original readers receive a free digital copy and three single-use invitations to share. Gift recipients receive a copy, not more invitations.
My life is full, and I feel intense gratitude. In celebration, I want to offer a gift to you.
In 2012, I began capturing my thoughts on how to be productive as a software developer. Those notes have grown into Productivity for Developers, a labor of love that I’m continuing to refine.
I hope this book helps you enjoy more of what you love.
The revised digital edition will be delivered by October 31, 2026. This is a reservation, not an immediate download.
The promise
Make useful progress.
Leave room for life.
Start with the person behind the work: what matters to you, what deserves your attention, and what you want your time to make possible.
Then build a personal LifeOS and a chief-of-staff approach to working with AI agents. Clear priorities. Useful context. Bounded assignments. Evidence of progress. Human judgment where it matters.
Choose what matters
Pick one meaningful outcome and define what “finished” looks like.
Give your agents a bounded job
Turn an overwhelming commitment into a small next step, with the context and stopping point it needs.
Review the evidence
Distinguish what worked, what you are testing, and what is still a blueprint.
Protect the time you recover
Leave room for the people and experiences you love, rather than immediately filling it with more work.
The birthday gift
Receive the book.
Pass it forward.
No purchase is needed. Each qualifying original reader receives one digital copy plus three invitations, for a maximum of 200 gifted copies.
Buyers and original gift-list recipients receive weekly book updates at no additional charge. Each release and email is reviewed by Elmer before it is sent. Unsubscribe at any time.
Additional gift recipients can choose whether to receive those updates. Unrelated promotions are separate.
The revised book is still in preparation. Delivery by October 31, 2026.
A guidebook for you and your agents
Principles in the book.
Practice at your pace.
Sample prompts and an overall implementation prompt are being developed to help you turn the ideas into a personal program, using an attached copy of the book and your agent.
A planned open-source companion will provide actual implementation code, versioned examples, setup notes and tests. Its verified link will be added after review. No placeholder download or repository link is presented as live.
A few clear answers
Your gift. Your choices.
What happens to my birthday note?
It stays private unless you separately choose public display. That choice applies only to your note and chosen display name on elmerthomas.com after review. Your email is never part of a public note. Permission does not guarantee publication.
What emails will I receive?
Signup and fulfillment messages concern your requested copy. Buyers and the first 50 original recipients receive weekly book updates at no additional charge; additional gift recipients may opt in. Weekly updates have an unsubscribe option. No unrelated promotional subscription is included.
How do gift invitations work?
Qualifying original readers receive three distinct single-use links. You choose whom to send them to using your own email or messaging app. This website does not need your friends’ email addresses or phone numbers. A claimed gift does not generate more invitations.
What if I submit twice?
Duplicate or retried submissions cannot consume extra places or change existing consent. Save the private receipt link shown after a successful registration to recover your gift links. A duplicate email alone cannot reveal a reader’s private links.