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Tips for Developers to Change Your Life for the Better
Lack of Sleep:
The biggest thing that organized my life, increased my productivity, and made me feel like I was doing things properly, was giving my body the right amount of sleep. The most confusing feeling came when I thought that cutting down on my sleep hours would allow me to work more. The most important thing you need in your work is focus, and focus is closely linked to health. Focus helps you save time, and saving time boosts productivity.
Rest:
If you work in design and programming, especially, you use your mind a lot, and you need to take breaks. Continuous work in this field without giving your mind time to rest or doing something you enjoy will destroy your creativity, and slowly, you’ll find yourself turning into a machine that only executes commands. Do something you enjoy every now and then, whether it's reading, playing games, or hanging out with friends. Don't deal with computers and code for long periods without rest.
Experiment Before Asking:
In programming and design, you’ll face many challenges during your learning journey, and that’s completely normal. When you encounter a problem, don’t ask immediately. Try to solve it yourself first. You’ll lose a lot if you ask first. You’ll miss the information you could have gained by searching for the problem, and you’ll lose the problem-solving skills that strengthen your abilities. Also, when you ask, don't just ask for the solution; ask how to find the solution and what you should look for.
Practical Application:
The easiest thing is to find a good instructor who teaches you well, and you understand it completely, but that's not the most important thing. The real measure of mastery lies in practical applications. They are the true standard by which your skills are measured and how you apply what you’ve learned. Therefore, after studying the basics, continue to build practical applications and never stop. They are the key to understanding and retaining the basics.
Don’t Seek Perfection:
If you follow the path of seeking perfection, you will achieve nothing, and you won’t be able to complete even one idea or project in your life. Every idea you come up with will have a million ways to develop it before releasing it to the public. Imagine a global game that is being worked on by dozens of programmers, designers, and quality testers for years, then released to the public, only for dozens of issues and bugs to be discovered and fixed. The game will never be perfect because there will always be improvements to make and issues to fix. So, there’s a certain level of quality where you should stop and present the work to the public, in order to continue evolving. You should be content with your work and forget the idea of achieving perfection.
Mastery Is Not Measured by the Number of Courses You Take:
Mastery in the field is not measured by the number of courses you've taken. You need one or two courses to learn the basics, and then move on to reading books, references, and documentation, followed by practical application. So, don’t rely too much on watching many courses on the same topic after you’ve learned the basics. What you need is a good foundation, then move on to the practical phase. Don’t spend too much time on the basics; they are good for starting, but what will enhance your skills and knowledge is applying what you’ve learned through real projects.
Think First:
The field of programming and computer science is logic-based. Therefore, you should approach it by thinking first before writing a single line of code and planning what you will use. Good thinking will save you a lot of time and reduce mistakes, re-writing code, or changing strategies. There’s a saying in this context: "Think Twice, Code Once." Most of the questions I see from people are ones they already know the answers to. If they just thought a little more, they wouldn’t ask. Therefore, thinking first will save you a lot in the future.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
Keyboard shortcuts in the software you work with save you a lot of time, whether you're working in programming, graphic design, or anything else that requires speed. Don’t underestimate this skill. Over time, you’ll find that every minute counts in your project, whether it's solving a problem or adding more features. The larger the project, the more minutes you save.
Find a Hobby:
If you work in programming, you need a hobby to turn to from time to time. Find something you enjoy and practice it alongside learning programming so you can continue your journey of learning and working. A hobby is like food for the mind. With it, you will never feel bored, and you’ll always be open to new information and experiences, gaining more and more expertise.
Mistakes Are a Big Gain:
Many people feel discouraged when they make a mistake while learning or working, although this mistake is a big blessing. It gives you a path that your instructor or friend didn’t share with you, giving you new experiences they didn’t teach you, and improving your ability to deal with errors and problems. It also increases your research skills because you’ll be searching for a solution. So, be happy when a mistake happens; it will benefit you greatly.
Don’t Stay Idle, Just Start:
Many people stand at the entrance to a field and are afraid to enter due to what they hear from others, who tell them that the field is hard, or it doesn’t make much money, or due to personal fears. You need to enter directly and not worry; everything becomes easier with experience. You’ll find out what you want in time. Just start and don’t stay idle. A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today and not listened to others.
Written Articles:
One of the best ways to increase your skills and knowledge in your field, alongside watching courses, is reading written articles. These articles contain the experiences of others, and there are many tips and secrets that you may not find in videos or books. So, you should read two or three articles every day to increase your knowledge. When you finish reading educational articles, you can consider yourself having read a big reference with tons of information and experiences.
Teach Others to Learn:
If you think that keeping knowledge to yourself will make you superior to others, you’re mistaken. The best experiences you’ll have in life will come when you teach others. There will be discussions, and questions will make you research and develop, and you’ll gain experiences from people above you and below you in knowledge. So, never keep your knowledge to yourself; share it with others. Think about it: if you were asked to give a session in your university, you would immediately go and search for information to prepare for it, which is what happens in the learning process when you teach others.
Balance Theory and Practice:
Many people learn through examples (Learn by Example) and miss many important basics and concepts. This is a big mistake. There are also some people who focus too much on theory without engaging in practical application, which is another big mistake. So, you should balance between theory and practice and take what you need from both. Learn the theory, then apply it practically, and don’t neglect any part of it because they complement each other.
Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Work and Don’t Undervalue Yourself:
Many problems arise in life from not valuing yourself, like when I entered a company as a graphic designer and told them I was still learning and had little experience. They evaluated me based on that. However, once I started working, I was teaching others things they didn’t know. Don’t undervalue yourself, but don’t be overconfident either. Balance is key, but never put yourself down. Don’t be afraid to show your work, even if it’s very simple; you’ll get feedback to improve, and remember, nobody is born a giant. Everyone starts from zero.
Think About Simple Solutions First:
Most of the time, when I give a programming problem to students, they think of the most complicated solutions, even though there are many simple solutions that do the job. It’s fine to think of tough solutions, but always think about simple ones first, as you might find that the solution is simpler than you thought.
Copy After Understanding:
I was working with a team of developers, and we discussed copying code from sites like Stack Overflow. I told them that copying code without understanding it would lead to problems. The good developer writes their own code, and while it’s okay to copy code when you understand it to save time, copying code without understanding it is problematic. For instance, I had a friend who copied a Pagination class code from Stack Overflow but couldn’t modify it because he didn’t understand how it worked. So, always make sure you understand the code before using it, so you can modify it to suit your needs.
Don’t Wait on the Doorstep:
Many people keep asking questions for long periods before starting. I’ve seen people ask questions and then, after a month, I realize they haven’t started yet. Don’t wait. Start your journey, and you will get answers to your questions along the way. Starting will lead you to answers much faster than waiting for everything to be perfect.
If the Code Works, Touch It:
Once, my boss asked me to find a smart person to work with us. Strangely, he didn’t specify any particular skills. The job was for a system administrator, and when I asked about experience, he said he just wanted someone smart.