Last week, I had plans. Big ones. I was ready to write, connect, and share—but life decided otherwise. The product I was working on was overdue. The Figma designs I needed to start implementation were delayed. Instead of diving into code, I was navigating the chaos of waiting on updates, piecing together controllers, managing many-to-many relationships, and ensuring the talent assessment feature worked seamlessly.
Imagine this: users taking tests with questions fetched one at a time, no cheating allowed. Sounds simple on paper, right? But behind the scenes, there were endless scrums, nightly coding sessions, and juggling integrations like the one with Indeed, which threw a wrench into my timeline. Oh, and don’t forget multitasking between meetings and actual development. By the end of the week, I wasn’t just tired; I was a walking error log.
So …….. It’s 11 PM on a Wednesday. My laptop screen glares back at me, filled with tangled controllers and a stubborn many-to-many relationship that refuses to cooperate. A cold coffee mug sits forgotten on my desk, while Google notifications buzz like a persistent fly. The Figma designs I’ve been waiting on all week are still are finally here, but the deadline? That hasn’t budged an inch.
Welcome to my week: a blend of setbacks, scrums, and late-night coding sprints.
- The Myth of Always-On Productivity
Here’s the thing: in tech, there’s this unspoken rule that you’ve always got to be “on”—ready to handle every task, solve every bug, and balance every meeting with ease. But weeks like this remind me that trying to do it all is like running a marathon without stopping for water. Between fixing question-fetching logic for a cheating-proof test and resolving an integration snag with Indeed, I felt like I was drowning in code—and emails.
It hit me: productivity isn’t about being busy. It’s about pacing yourself to handle the chaos without burning out.
- Embrace the Setbacks
The delays last week? They weren’t just frustrating; they were humbling. Waiting on Figma updates weeks before meant I had to pivot—starting what I could while juggling daily scrums and re-prioritizing every hour.
Setbacks force you to see opportunities in the gaps. I focused on what I could control: building flexible controllers, refining the talent assessment logic, and ensuring test questions flowed seamlessly. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but it was progress.
- Plan Less, Execute More
I used to think a perfect plan would save me in weeks like this. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Plans crumble when the unexpected strikes—delays, last-minute design changes, or integrations that decide to act up at 9 PM. Instead, I learned to focus on what matters: making smaller plans and executing them well.
Like breaking down that massive many-to-many relationship into manageable chunks, I took it one step at a time. Every small win kept me moving forward.
- Final Thought: Progress Over Perfection
Last week taught me this: you can’t control the chaos, but you can control how you navigate it. Mondays are for starting fresh—not with a perfect plan, but with a commitment to progress. The beauty of setbacks? They teach you resilience. And the beauty of coding? There’s always a way forward, one line at a time.
Here’s to a new week, fewer bugs, and more breakthroughs. Let’s build something incredible.
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