What I learnt in my 20s: a retrospective
Learn to touch type
An underrated skill, and I only learnt it a year ago. My thoughts reach the computer much faster when I don’t look at the keyboard. It’s easier said than done, but well worth it. I use the Colemak keyboard layout.
No solution is perfect
Whatever works, works. Let it be.
Don’t over-engineer or over-program
There’s a philosophy called KISS: “Keep it simple, stupid.”
Write down notes and docs
You’ll need them later. Handwritten notes are good too.
The Pomodoro Technique is total nonsense
Work till you’re tired, but move around often. More on that here.
Get a physical timer
Like a mechanical kitchen timer. Don’t track your time; set a timer and move around when it goes off.
Fuzzy matching
An alternative to regex matching. A pretty cool and useful concept.
Read some code
GitHub is full of it.
Never set up your own server for email or a website
It’s a total waste of time, and maintenance is a hassle.
Buy a cheap domain and set up your mail and website with Google Workspace.
Follow programming blogs
YYYYMMDD
Use this date format, or ISO 8601.
Exercise
The more blood flows to your brain, the better you work.
Use AI (ChatGPT) when you can, but don’t depend on it
Read the manual; don’t Google everything
Cryptocurrency is a total scam
But hey, the tech is interesting.
Rules for coding effectively
I’m an intermediate programmer, and I’ve been programming for about 6 years. My time writing code taught me this:
- Simplicity is better than complexity
- Good code is better than bad code
- Less code is better than more code
- No code is better than any code
Avoid coding at all costs, and only write code when you can’t solve the problem any other way.
Use the terminal as much as you can
The more you work in the terminal, the better your work will be (for programming, anyway). tmux + Vim or Emacs will take you places you’ve never been.
You need to have a website
Turn off YouTube watch history
It’s a rabbit hole. The same goes for Reddit and other social media apps. More on that here.
Cut your nails
It definitely improves your typing speed and eases finger strain. More on that here.
Develop fundamental skills
Athletes and musicians pursue virtuosity in fundamental skills much more rigorously than knowledge workers do.
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot
How to shoot yourself in the foot
Talk to people
Most problems at work are solved by talking more, and more clearly. Describing the problem properly takes care of the solution by itself. And chit-chat often. I need to do more of this myself 🙂
Review your code every year
In a year, your thinking changes a lot. You might find a better way to solve it.
Email people
Have a question? Email people. Most people at work, and tech bloggers, will definitely respond.
You need a business card
Neat, with only a little information. Always carry five with you.
Join programming Discord servers and chat with more people
Most people are friendly. So far my experience has been good, and it’s less toxic than Stack Overflow. You can always leave a server and join a better one, or create your own.
Contribute and donate to open source
Report bugs. If I can do it, you can too.