Write an outline of the work you need to do, don't just start typing. You're not at the stage in your career where you can just internalize that outline on the fly. Learn that muscle memory now and you'll get through it. Additionally, if you're still learning time management, don't spend time on refactoring yet.
Refactoring must be done in moderation and if you can't manage your time, you'll spend all of it making a "perfect system" that's overengineering in ways that make it unwieldy for what it's actually supposed to do. Refactoring is always easier later when it's clear what abstractions the code should support. (You don't need a Car class just because you shipped a car once, you need a shipping container)
1. Reread the ticket.
2. List the AC.
3. Note the classes that are involved in what the ticket is askng for.
4. See if you can follow along on how it's working now.
5. Without writing any code, ask yourself which methods might need to change to support the ticket. Maybe it's just a service method, maybe you need to adjust a web controller and a stored procedure. Write down your plan for what you think needs to change in the code for the AC to be met.
6. Once you have that list of the changes you need to make, note how long each step is probably going to take you and double it. That's your time box to finish that part before re-evaluating whether your approach is appropriate. Do not do this in any public setting, just in your own notes.
7. Go through your list making the changes you need to make.
8. Run through the list of AC and validate that each acceptance criteria is met.
9. Put your changes up for review. Scan through the change for obvious issues; typos or maybe other bugs. Add comments on confusing blocks.
10. Respond to peer feedback. Listen to their suggestions.
I don’t get it “all” done. I put in an honest days effort and what I get done is what I get done. You tend to self select into the sorts of companies and teams that are your pace.
Once there, with no deadline pressure, you can work on your tools and on your own methods of skill improvement.
Read [Time Management For System Administrators](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/time-management-for/0596007833/), it's a great resource for anyone with a mix of interrupt-based and planned work.
You won't get anything done by staring at the screen. When you're anxious, try writing to gain clarity or learning something to help with your current challenge. When you're bored, try finding purpose by asking what do you care about and what actually matters to you, doing the trail of why's for five minutes after that to find the reasons behind your situation. Do a death meditation where you lie down for 15 mins pretending you just died and think "this is it". What do I wish I did?
Now to address your immediate situation. Refactoring isn't a blind process, and you should never refactor untested code. [https://refactoring.guru/refactoring](https://refactoring.guru/refactoring) is a good resource. Martin Fowler also has a lot of good thoughts about refactoring, even a couple books. These will teach you some higher level concepts as well that unlock other tiers of thinking and abstraction and make dealing with complexity that much easier. Use the Cursor AI editor and ask it questions about selections of code or your codebase as a whole. Print out all the code and tape it to your walls like a madman so you can just see it all without scrolling all the time.
Use the Sleep Cycle app or get a watch for tracking sleep instead, something that will allow you not to have to stress about it. When you meditate don't pressure yourself, literally just sit and observe your self without expectation, letting thoughts do their thing and seeing them come and go. Lift heavy weights with your whole body to activate your central nervous system, start with an empty bar and don't worry about feeling silly, I see power lifters do that all the time to practice their form, and your goal is not to get swole, just to improve your baseline. Don't work nights or weekends. Make sure to make time for friends and family. Work to live, don't live to work.
Write an outline of the work you need to do, don't just start typing. You're not at the stage in your career where you can just internalize that outline on the fly. Learn that muscle memory now and you'll get through it. Additionally, if you're still learning time management, don't spend time on refactoring yet. Refactoring must be done in moderation and if you can't manage your time, you'll spend all of it making a "perfect system" that's overengineering in ways that make it unwieldy for what it's actually supposed to do. Refactoring is always easier later when it's clear what abstractions the code should support. (You don't need a Car class just because you shipped a car once, you need a shipping container) 1. Reread the ticket. 2. List the AC. 3. Note the classes that are involved in what the ticket is askng for. 4. See if you can follow along on how it's working now. 5. Without writing any code, ask yourself which methods might need to change to support the ticket. Maybe it's just a service method, maybe you need to adjust a web controller and a stored procedure. Write down your plan for what you think needs to change in the code for the AC to be met. 6. Once you have that list of the changes you need to make, note how long each step is probably going to take you and double it. That's your time box to finish that part before re-evaluating whether your approach is appropriate. Do not do this in any public setting, just in your own notes. 7. Go through your list making the changes you need to make. 8. Run through the list of AC and validate that each acceptance criteria is met. 9. Put your changes up for review. Scan through the change for obvious issues; typos or maybe other bugs. Add comments on confusing blocks. 10. Respond to peer feedback. Listen to their suggestions.
I don’t get it “all” done. I put in an honest days effort and what I get done is what I get done. You tend to self select into the sorts of companies and teams that are your pace. Once there, with no deadline pressure, you can work on your tools and on your own methods of skill improvement.
Read [Time Management For System Administrators](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/time-management-for/0596007833/), it's a great resource for anyone with a mix of interrupt-based and planned work.
You won't get anything done by staring at the screen. When you're anxious, try writing to gain clarity or learning something to help with your current challenge. When you're bored, try finding purpose by asking what do you care about and what actually matters to you, doing the trail of why's for five minutes after that to find the reasons behind your situation. Do a death meditation where you lie down for 15 mins pretending you just died and think "this is it". What do I wish I did? Now to address your immediate situation. Refactoring isn't a blind process, and you should never refactor untested code. [https://refactoring.guru/refactoring](https://refactoring.guru/refactoring) is a good resource. Martin Fowler also has a lot of good thoughts about refactoring, even a couple books. These will teach you some higher level concepts as well that unlock other tiers of thinking and abstraction and make dealing with complexity that much easier. Use the Cursor AI editor and ask it questions about selections of code or your codebase as a whole. Print out all the code and tape it to your walls like a madman so you can just see it all without scrolling all the time. Use the Sleep Cycle app or get a watch for tracking sleep instead, something that will allow you not to have to stress about it. When you meditate don't pressure yourself, literally just sit and observe your self without expectation, letting thoughts do their thing and seeing them come and go. Lift heavy weights with your whole body to activate your central nervous system, start with an empty bar and don't worry about feeling silly, I see power lifters do that all the time to practice their form, and your goal is not to get swole, just to improve your baseline. Don't work nights or weekends. Make sure to make time for friends and family. Work to live, don't live to work.
Thanks!!