Stop coding already!
This is a topic which developers only rarely talk about. It's about the planning and research you can (or should) do before you actually start a new coding project or feature.
When I was a younger developer - especially in the days where I was still a student and was coding only in my free time, I would immediately open my code editor and start a new project as soon as an idea would hit me.
It happened sometimes that I encountered major roadblocks when I was already halfway through. In the worst cases, I had built a system based on so many false assumptions that I had to throw everything away and start over from scratch.
When that happened, a strange effect appeared: sometimes I was able to rewrite a whole system in two days where I had spent more than two weeks before. What happened here?
During my two-week coding session, I learned a lot about the requirements and problems of the system I was creating. Whenever I coded myself into a corner, I was looking for a way out, reconsidered some decisions, and changed parts of the system.
