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Paul Hallett
Paul Hallett

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Be comfortable with being uncomfortable

One piece of advise I often give to new developers or people who find it difficult to accept they don't know everything:

be comfortable with being uncomfortable

I have been programming for over eight years now, I've given tech talks and built open source projects, and I've been a tech lead for two years.

I regularly, almost daily, do not know how to immediately solve the tasks I am given. Over the years I have learned tricks to help me discover a path to a solution, but I rarely have a solution jump up straight away.

This is a common situation for programmers: we are problem solvers. We don't just write lines of code. Problems are problems because they don't have easy solutions.

So when you're faced with a problem and you have no idea where to start remember: that's okay, it's part of your role. You will figure it out.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Every time you learn a new technique to help you problem solve: remember it, and use it when you encounter a new problem.

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