I am pretty sure anyone who opens this would wonder what a shoe brand has got to do with coding? But just hear me out on this one. Let me start by saying a story that even led to me writing this in the first place.
I spent about three hours yesterday staring at a blank VS Code window on my pc. Well I was not literally staring at it for three hours because that would be a bit psychotic. I had my VS code opened and I was ready to work on a project I had in mind.
But a friend sent me a TikTok video and I made the mistake of opening it. I read the comments and laughed for about 15 minutes. TikTok comments are actually always funnier than the videos themselves. Anyway I ended up just doom scrolling on TikTok for about three hours and then switching through my social media apps. I then just got bored of everything and realized that I had successfully wasted my time. I then asked myself what I was even looking for. I could have used that time for something extremely productive.
The Trap of Waiting to be Ready
We look at what experts are doing and we feel small. We think we need to be perfect before we even type our first line of code.
But while we are waiting to feel prepared, the time just slips away. This kind of overthinking is the biggest thing that slows us down. We are not actually researching. We are just procrastinating because we are afraid to fail.
This is how procrastination slows us down. We overthink everything and we wait for a feeling of being ready that never actually comes. We think we need to watch one more tutorial or read one more article. But while we are waiting, we are just standing still. And standing still is not a good thing, because as you are standing still, some are crawling, others walking slowly, some walk briskly and most are running.
The Nike Philosophy
I started thinking about that famous Nike slogan lately. "Just do it".
It sounds simple, but it is actually the best coding/ life advice ever. In the world of tech, we often try to learn everything before we do anything. We want to master Python and Git and every other tool before we build a single thing.
The truth is that you only learn by doing. You do not learn to swim by reading a book about water. You have to jump in. Coding is exactly the same.
You learn when your code breaks.
You learn when you spend an hour fixing a weird path error.
You learn when you finally make that first messy commit.
The Cost of Overthinking
If you wait until you feel like an expert, you will wait forever. Procrastination is just a fancy way of saying you are afraid.
Just getting up to do something is what actually gets the job done. Doom scrolling and overthinking will only make you feel worse.
I am learning that it is okay to be confused. Most of us are just Googling things as we go anyway. I don't know who needed to hear this but if you are like me and you procrastinate a lot, JUST DO IT anyway. And you will eventually get better at whatever it is :)
Top comments (17)
Maame, this really hit home for me.
I’ve realized that most of the suffering doesn’t come from the actual coding, it comes from the resistance before starting. The blank editor feels heavier than any bug ever will. But the moment I type something, even if it’s messy or wrong, that weight disappears and it turns back into a solvable problem.
I’ve also noticed that clarity rarely comes before action. It comes after you’ve already started and bumped into reality a few times. Waiting to feel ready was just my mind trying to avoid that discomfort.
“Just do it” sounds simple, but it’s honestly one of the hardest disciplines to practice consistently. Thank you for putting words to something a lot of us quietly struggle with.
Exactly Aryan! I always say it’s better to do something and fail than to not do it at all. I do trust we will all be fine eventually:)
Great advice! I've found that the hardest part is just starting from zero.
Nowadays, whenever I have an idea, I ask AI to write a base demo first. Having existing code to refactor and optimize (even if it's messy) is so much easier than staring at an empty file. It forces me to learn by fixing, exactly as you said!
I agree, its better to start and get it messy than not to do it at all
Just do It 💯🤞
Exactly! Just do it :)
Reading this made me realize that just make it exist firstyou can improve it later
Absolutely
Well put Richard, if you keep going, it is always better than being still even if you don't get it right
That's right, this is a speech I had to address at the beginning of the journey a month ago. The fact that I have a blank sheet of paper and feel completely lost, but over time I've learned to reason that if I can think it, I can do it.... So thinking is fine. But we don't have to think about the code just the final project, also because slowly the work takes shape
That’s just it Luigi, better to start and get things messy than not at all
This hit way too close , that I’ll start when I feel ready loop is so real. Half the time it’s not even laziness, it’s just fear of starting and seeing where we actually stand.
needed this reminder, thanks !!
Exactly so! You’re welcome :)
I felt this in my soul. There’s this weird psychological trap where we think that if we aren’t producing 'Senior Level' architecture on the first try, we’re failing. But you’re 100% right: Nike had the right idea. >
The hardest part of coding isn't the syntax; it’s the resistance to being a beginner. We procrastinate because we’re protective of our own ego—if we don't start, we can't fail. But a messy, bug-ridden script that actually exists is worth infinitely more than a 'perfect' architecture that only lives in your head. Jumping into the water is the only way to realize you can actually float. Great reminder for anyone currently staring at a blinking cursor!
rightly so!
Just Do It = eternal truth. Perfectionism is the silent career killer.
Analysis paralysis > shipping something imperfect.
I once shipped broken sharding prototype → iterated 3x faster than perfect design docs.
The math: 80% solution day 1 > 100% solution week 4.
Nike's slogan works because momentum > preparation. Brilliant reminder 🚀
Yeah waiting for things to be perfect will give unnecessary pressure imo
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