principles

Happy Friday, ladies and gentlemen!

You know, I was sitting on the sofa thinking… What the heck should I write you about?

Sure, I could talk about AI, the job market, or the future of the JavaScript ecosystem.

But, you know what?

Those topics are too dense for a Friday!

Today, we will keep it light instead. Here is some express wisdom that will make your life simpler and better...

1. You have to do less things

Crazy huh?

Your inbox is probably full of things you should do to become a better developer.

Probably some new AI tool you should learn, some design patterns you don’t know, or even some productivity hacks promising you an easier life.

You know what will actually lead you to an “easier life?

Doing none of that crap.

If I look at my last 10 years of coding there is one pattern that became obvious: The more Senior I got, the less stuff I did.

Guess what? I achieved a lot more.

Why? Because, as it turned out, 90% of the stuff I was doing was dead wrong! Then I realized that it is not about doing more; it is about doing better.

Better do average progress on the right things than tons of progress on the wrong ones. You will only make your mistakes bigger!

On to the next point…

2. And you have to do one thing at the time

Multitasking doesn’t work. Your brain can’t switch tasks like a hip-hop dancer switches moves.

In my Junior years, I used to have 18 Chrome tabs open at any given time of day. I worked with my phone in my pocket, answering silly WhatsApp texts.

And then I wondered why I couldn't get anything done.

Well, junior Dragos realized that work is work. Work means no damn phone close to you. You are not a police officer or ambulance driver. If something is important, you will get to it during your break.

And about the open tabs? No more than 3.

Anything more than that and ya fooling yourself. Call it garbage collection.

Simple things like this will make you a productivity machine—or at least better than the average programmer.

3. Diversification is for suckers!

If social media did something well besides making kids more anxious and neurotic, it's been installing a huge Fear Of Missing Out in our heads.

In the case of developers, if you are not learning X programming language, you are falling behind. Or if you are not using these 100 VS Code extensions. Or if you are not getting into blockchain, AI, the internet of things, or the shiny object of the moment.

Let me tell you something.

The grass will always be greener on the other side. Don’t let FOMO distract you from things you are already doing well.

Properly using “for” loops to flatten an array won’t get in your feed anytime soon. But mastering that skill alone will make you a much better developer.

If you are bad at one thing, there’s no reason for you to pursue four other new things.

Talking about that, if you are wondering what Bogdan and I are doing and why we have pulled out of social media recently it's because of the same reason.

We are working more than ever in helping our students succeed!

Doing the exact same thing 4 years ago, but better.

And you know what?

We would be doing this for at least the next 5 years. Or maybe 10. As long as it takes us to fulfill the vision behind theSeniorDev.

Question for you… What is your vision?

Think about that, maybe write it down. The first step towards becoming a better developer is to define it.

By the way, Bogdan and I will be packing our bags in about 10 days. We're taking a family trip to Spain and spending some holiday days.

We’ve opened 5 new spots for developers looking to join before we close doors for the holidays.

If interested, book a “get to know” https://www.theseniordev.com/apply chat with me here!

Have a lovely weekend! Dragos