In the article by Kaspar von Grünberg, CEO of Humanitec, several common mistakes in developer productivity are discussed. Adopting microservices without proper tooling can lead to increased maintenance and deployment complexity. Containers can also be a hindrance if not used correctly, with hard-coding configuration files being a particular issue. The adoption of Kubernetes without proper planning can result in teams struggling to manage the cluster, leading to decreased productivity. Additionally, forgetting to implement Continuous Delivery, having unmanageable test automation, managing databases oneself, and going multi-cloud unnecessarily can all hinder developer productivity. To avoid these common pitfalls, it is essential to adopt best practices such as using managed Kubernetes services, implementing Continuous Delivery, and structuring workflows for efficient testing and database management. By doing so, teams can improve their productivity, increase innovation, and achieve a better work-life balance.