Why Slowing Down Made Me a Faster Developer?

As I advanced in my career, I realized something painful: skipping foundational soft skills was the dumbest mistake I made early on, and now I was paying the price.

When I entered the real world of software development, gaping holes in my knowledge surfaced. I had surface-level understanding that left me struggling with basic terminology, speaking code fluently, and applying theory to real problems. I constantly felt like an imposter—and looking back, I was. This wasn’t just a knowledge gap; it was a mindset flaw. I’d confused “moving fast” with “moving forward.” Now I know that foundations aren’t a stage to rush through.

The reason this happened was because I skipped basic soft skills while learning web development created bad habits that caused this setback. I used to pride myself on grinding through marathon coding sessions for hours on end, then realized this approach was counterproductive—my productivity would inevitably drop over time. This forced me to adapt and work within my brain’s natural limits.

In this article, I want to share the habits that helped me develop the right attitudes for learning, researching, and collaborating—the soft skills that actually transformed my workflow.

What Soft Skills Actually Worked?

I used to pride myself on grinding for hours. Then I realized marathoning coding sessions was bad your productivity drops overtime. It forced me to work with my brain’s limits, by spending time writing out tasks before hand, spending time googling questions, and then finally completing them in the allocated time slot. Each number will represent a slot time using the Pomodoro Technique:

1. Rubber Duck Debugging: This debugging method involves articulating problems in spoken or written natural language. When approaching a new problem, I spend the first pomodoro session asking myself debugging-specific questions: What is this code supposed to do? What’s actually happening? Where might the problem be? I work through these questions mentally, then write out my analysis and review it before moving forward.

2. Pseudo-code Planning: In the second pomodoro session, I write pseudo-code as my blueprint. This is an informal way of writing out the logic of a program using plain English mixed with basic programming concepts—it’s not actual code that runs on a computer. This step prevents me from jumping straight into coding without a clear plan, which used to lead to those unproductive marathon sessions where I’d code myself into corners.

3. Research and Preparation Strategies: Before touching any code, I dedicate time to researching similar problems and gathering resources. This includes checking documentation, looking up relevant Stack Overflow discussions, and bookmarking useful references. By front-loading this research, I avoid the time sink of constantly context-switching between coding and googling mid-flow.

4. Coding and Implementation: Only after completing the planning phases do I begin actual coding. With a clear roadmap from my pseudo-code and research already done, I can focus purely on implementation. This structured approach has eliminated those frustrating sessions where I’d write code for hours only to realize I was solving the wrong problem.

The irony in all of this?

Learning all of these things made me realize shortcuts are a privilege, not a right. The only time you’ve earned the right to take shortcuts is when you’ve mastered the long way first. When fundamentals become second nature, ‘tricks’ transform into tools—but skip the groundwork, and those same shortcuts become traps. You’ll cut corners you don’t understand, only to drown in complexity you can’t untangle.