On Being an Effective Developer
summary
Effectiveness equals doing the right things quickly, so the concrete moves are: limit WIP to 3–4 items and say no (or trade priorities), stop context switching by tallying app switches for a day, master enduring tools—Git (learn interactive rebase and worktrees; only ~10% know rebase), bash aliases, regex—and generate a “50 most used commands” list. Capture tiny solutions in a low-friction note tool, use Anki/spaced recall, copy vetted gitignore templates from GitHub, read source code and steal like an artist to assemble working solutions.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction and welcome
- 3:19Defining effectiveness
- 8:17Mastering the rules first
- 10:23Learning to say no
- 15:20Asking better questions
- 20:36Know your tools deeply
- 28:09Improve your search skills
- 32:43Reduce friction with notes
- 38:44Read source code regularly
- 44:09Steal like an artist
- 47:01Practice and deep work
- 48:25Check your ego at the door
- 50:08Be direct and honest
- 52:14Summary and closing
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