I use i3 with polybar and have dedicated workspace icons (web browser, terminal, editor, to-do, email, music, etc) for quick navigation between different applications. Over time I’ve built up muscle memory (i.e $Mod+3 will bring me to my editor) that has significantly sped up my development process. While you could use another window manager for a similar purpose, I find the relatively minimalist approach of i3 + polybar in my case to be fast and highly configurable.