Every developer has that one thing in their workflow that quietly drains hours without us noticing. For some people, it’s context switching. For others, it’s debugging rabbit holes.
For me? It was something embarrassingly simple: re‑reading the same code over and over because I didn’t trust my own structure.
I’d jump between files, scroll endlessly, rewrite functions that already existed, and constantly ask myself: “Wait… didn’t I solve this already?”
Turns out, I wasn’t suffering from lack of skill, I was suffering from lack of architecture discipline.
So I tried something new: a tiny rule that changed everything.
✅ The Rule
Before writing a single line of code, I force myself to answer one question:
“Where does this logic live?”
Not “how do I implement it”, not “what library should I use”, but simply:
Where does this belong in the system?
And suddenly:
My files stopped growing into monsters
My functions became smaller and more intentional
My debugging time dropped dramatically
My future self stopped hating me
It’s wild how much clarity you gain when you treat architecture as a first step, not a cleanup phase.
✅ The Result
I write less code, but ship more features. I spend less time debugging, and more time thinking. And the best part: I finally trust my own codebase again.
When I first started programming, I thought the challenge was just memorizing syntax and frameworks. I quickly realized the real challenge, and the real skill, was solving problems, not just writing code.
Here’s how my perspective shifted over time:
Error Messages Became Teachers
Every runtime exception wasn’t a failure, it was a clue. Instead of getting frustrated I started asking: What exactly is the program trying to tell me? That changed everything.
Thinking Before Typing Saved Time
Writing code without planning is like building a house without a blueprint. Sketching the logic first, even in comments, reduced bugs and made refactors easier.
Debugging Taught Patience and Precision
Debugging isn’t about brute force. It’s about isolation, hypothesizing and verifying. This mindset helped me outside coding too — in databases and backend logic.
Explanation Clarifies Understanding
Writing comments, explaining code to others (or even myself), and blog posts helped me think clearer. Teaching is the best test of understanding.
What I learned is simple:
Programming isn’t about knowing everything, it’s about solving problems with logic, clarity and persistence.
And that’s a skill you carry to every project, system, or language you touch.
If you’ve been feeling that silent productivity drain, try asking yourself that one question before you start typing.
Your future self will thank you — and your git history will look a lot less chaotic.