For years, my default solution to getting better was simple.
Code more.
More hours. More side projects. More late nights.
It helped, but not in the way I expected.
Eventually, I realized the biggest improvements in my work had almost nothing to do with writing more code.
Coding More Mostly Made Me Faster at My Bad Habits
I got very good at:
- Jumping into implementation too early
- Adding complexity “just in case”
- Avoiding hard decisions by abstracting them away
More practice made these habits efficient, not correct.
Speed hides problems. It does not fix them.
The Moment I Slowed Down
The shift happened when I joined a codebase I didn’t build.
Everything felt harder.
Simple changes took longer than expected. Bugs hid in places I wouldn’t have predicted. Reading code felt exhausting.
That was uncomfortable, but it was also revealing.
I started asking different questions.
What Actually Moved the Needle
1. Thinking Before Typing
I now pause before writing code and ask:
- What problem am I actually solving?
- What happens if this fails?
- Who will read this later?
That pause feels slow. It saves time.
2. Naming Things Carefully
Bad naming causes more bugs than bad logic.
When names are clear:
- Code reads like a story
- Fewer comments are needed
- Mistakes become obvious sooner
This is not glamorous work. It is effective.
3. Reading Code More Than Writing It
I learned more from reading good code than writing new code.
Understanding why something exists is far more valuable than knowing how it works.
A Hard Truth About Growth
You can code every day and still plateau.
Growth often comes from:
- Reviewing your own mistakes
- Letting others critique your work
- Revisiting old decisions and admitting they were wrong
None of that feels productive in the moment.
All of it compounds over time.
This Changed How I Measure Progress
I no longer ask:
“How much code did I write today?”
I ask:
- Did I make something clearer?
- Did I remove unnecessary complexity?
- Did I leave the codebase better than I found it?
Some days the answer is no.
That honesty matters more than output.
Final Thought
Writing more code made me comfortable.
Writing less, but thinking more, made me better.
If you are feeling stuck, the solution might not be another project.
It might be a slower one.
Top comments (3)
I feel the same.
This is a valuable reminder that less code can mean more impact.
I feel you, clarity is kindness to future readers 🙂.