Cut these 5 Bad Habits and Become a Better Developer

We all have our bad habits.

Some of them are minor (like programming in JAVA for instance) and some others are really bad, working against us, and preventing us from learning and improving our work.

And while we, developers, are very technical people, these aren’t “technical bad habits” per se, but rather, they’re very common amongst the tech folk. And the fact that they’re not specifically related to technical problems makes it even harder to identify and get rid of. Heck, some of them are so rooted in our industry that some developers might see them as the proper way of working.

This is why I wanted to cover the top five bad habits that developers need to get rid of right away. So let’s get to it!

Thinking “Tutorial Hell” Is Actually “Tutorial Heaven”

You’ll never have everything you think you need to start building something before you, indeed, start it. So stop trying to learn it all before you build your first solo project.

There are two phases to learning how to code:

You read about it for a while to get the gist of how things work and some of the key processes (like compiling, linting, testing, etc).
You hit your head against a wall repeatedly until you break it, then you find the next wall and start over again. In other words, the good ol’ “learn by doing.”

It’s scary, I know, especially for the first one, you have no prior experience which can cause you to feel lost, without knowing where to start. But it’s also normal; the key here is to start small. Don’t try to build an Instagram clone as your first project. Park that one for the future, and start with something easier, with fewer features.

And for the love of everything that is holy, do not try to build your “original super cool and brand new no one has ever done something like this before” idea for your first project. You’ll be lost without knowing where to start. This is because you lack prior experience in programming, and you’ll be extra lost without knowing what to build first. After all, you’ve never built something like this before.

Instead, focus your first few projects on copying other people’s ideas. That’ll give you a roadmap around what you have to build and what you have to avoid. A to-do app is the classic starting point for many people, and there is nothing wrong with it! You have a perfectly pre-defined universe of problems to solve:

A basic UI with a list of items and at least two buttons (add and delete)
Where do you store your tasks?
How can you interface your UI with the backend?

And that’s it: a simple, concise, and perfect first project.

Next, you can move on to something like a calculator or even add extra features to your to-do app. Keep moving and increasing the difficulty gradually. If you try to jump from project one to what should be project ten, you might get stuck and get discouraged, thinking you’re bad at this. When, in reality, you’re just trying to do too much too soon.

Thinking That Asking for Help Is a Sign of Weakness

You’re not an island.

Even if you’re building something solo, you can’t be expected to have or find every solution to every problem you encounter. Doing it that way is the most inefficient way possible; you’d take ten times longer to finish, and you’d end up learning the same thing.

If you went to school to learn how to write and read, why is it a bad thing that others can teach you how to code?

Asking for help is not weak, it’s the smart thing to do. You’re building something for a reason, whether it is because you want to build a product or because you’re trying to learn something. By asking for help you’re arriving at your destination sooner.

Where can you ask for help? Twitter is a great place. The community around “tech twitter” is very helpful. Make sure you hashtag the technology you’re asking about to make sure those following it can see your question.

StackOverflow is another great place where lots of people find solutions. I’ve used it for many years when I was coding daily.

Even commenting on articles or reaching out directly to authors is a great place to find help. Usually, people writing about tech are prone to help others, since they’re already doing that through their articles. So, don’t be afraid to reach out, you might get pleasantly surprised by the response.

Giving Up

The problem you’re trying to solve doesn’t seem to have a solution? You can’t think of one therefore you’re a bad developer. Wrong.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: all problems can be solved by code; it’s just a matter of having the right amount of time and resources.

I’m sure this is not breaking news to most of you, but if you’re just getting started and finding it hard to solve your problems — hang in there! They can be solved, you probably just need more time and research.

Do not give up.

We all struggle, we all forget the most basic things. Don’t let anyone say you’re not a good dev because you forget how a FOR loop is written.

Working Too Many Hours

Look, coding can be fun, and working is important, so I get it, but there is more to life than just coding. It might not seem like it right now, but if you spend too much time working, or even coding for the fun of it, you’ll miss out on life.

Friends, family, relationships, even hobbies (other than coding, duh!) are all very important facets of life and coding should not be above any of them.

And if you’re thinking “well, if I don’t spend 12 hours coding every day, someone else who does it will get the job I want”, think again. That person will end up burning out. They will not be as productive or as happy about coding in the long run, and you’ll still be there with the same motivation and eagerness to work.

Life is all about balance. If you put too much emphasis on one activity, the rest will suffer. And while you might be having a good time now, it’ll have its effect in the long run.

Forgetting About Your Health

Programming is a very sedentary activity, and our bodies were not built to stay still in a sitting position for so many hours. This means the more you code, the more harm yourself.

Mind you, there is no need to get a gym membership and spend two hours a day to make sure your body stays healthy. That would be great for your muscles, but it’s not mandatory.

There are a few ways in which you can stay active without having to spend too much time doing so.

Active pause. Performing an active pause is essentially taking a few minutes of your day, every few hours, to move a little and stretch. There are many ways in which you can implement it, but the gist of it is that you’re injecting some activity into your muscles. This, in turn, helps prevent stress, improve blood irrigation, and increase concentration levels.
Eating healthy. Having heavy meals can cause episodes of increased sleepiness and lack of concentration. So avoid them, especially during working hours. A light meal during the day will keep you focused, healthy, and ready to tackle those difficult tasks.
Take a walk every day. It doesn’t have to be a long walk, but break the monotony of your day by going out and walking, even if it’s for 30 minutes. Walking is known to improve cardiovascular and pulmonary fitness as well as reducing the chances of heart disease. It’s a great activity overall and it even helps you take your mind off of the problems you’re dealing with. Which, in turn, can also lead to you coming up with innovative solutions.
Drink plenty of water. Coffee is not water BTW. It doesn’t have the same effect and in excess, is actually not healthy. A good cup of coffee is great and can even improve your awareness for a while. However, your body needs water, and we tend to forget about it during our long hours in front of the monitor. In fact, go get a glass of water right now. I’ll wait.
Getting a standing desk. Many developers are starting to go this route, especially now that most of us are working from home, thus reducing even more of our mobility options. The standing desk will allow you to keep a cleaner posture during your working hours. It’ll benefit your knees, hips, and neck mainly because your body will be in a more natural posture (at least mechanically speaking).

And that is just off the top of my head. As you can see, there are many ways in which you can take care of yourself without having to critically change your schedule and habits. Start by picking one and then add others over time, the only wrong way to go about it is not doing anything.

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Do you have any of these bad habits? Are you taking care of your health? Making sure your work-life balance is in check? Do you need help with that?

Leave a comment with your experience getting rid of any of these bad habits, and show others these are all things that can be fixed!