My Principles

Rules and reminders I keep coming back to. Written for myself.

On Life

People die. Including me. Life is counting down — I don't know how much time I have left. Don't waste it on things that don't matter.
Treat every day and every person seriously. Not as a performance — as a practice.
Try new things more often. The default is to stay comfortable. Push against it.
No games. Appropriate rest. Games are a trap. Rest is not the same as gaming.
When something comes up, don't rush. Think first. What's the best solution? Rushing almost always makes it worse.

Done is better than perfect. Agile and iteration exist for a reason. That said — if "imperfect done" is meaningless, do it right. Know which situation you're in.
Don't write what already exists. Use existing code, libraries, and tools. Build on shoulders. (Exception: when learning.)
Think before you build. Plan the design before writing code. It prevents rework and makes the system easier to extend. An hour of planning saves a day of debugging.
Break big goals into small steps. Mark the key milestones. Don't delay because the goal feels far away. Don't get complacent because it feels close.
Sleep and work rhythm matter. Find your golden hours — mine tend to be mornings. Protect them.
If you can't remember it, write it down. Notes, bookmarks, second brain. Memory is unreliable. Systems aren't.
Build your own tool library. Personal scripts, snippets, prompt templates — things that make your specific workflow faster. Searchable, reusable.
Talk to other developers. Follow people doing similar work. Sometimes just knowing a tool exists saves you hours of searching for it later.
Find your flow triggers. For me: headphones, coffee, deep breath, no notifications. Figure out what puts you in focus mode and set it up deliberately.
Repetition builds speed. The second time you do something, you're faster. Do more projects. Accumulate experience. Skill is just reps.