After a few years in the trenches, here are three things I wish someone had told me:

1. Saying “No” Is a Skill

The hardest part of being a dev isn’t algorithms or frameworks — it’s pushing back.

  • No to overengineering “future-proof” features.

  • No to deadlines that break you.

  • No to shiny new tools that add more overhead than value.
    A well-placed “no” is often the most professional answer.

2. Only Keep Tools That Save You Hours

I’ve tried all the AI hype. Most didn’t stick.
✅ Keep: Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT → they actually save time.
❌ Drop: AI note apps & auto-doc generators → cool demos, but zero ROI.
Rule of thumb: If it doesn’t save you hours every week, it’s noise.

3. Commit Messages Are for 3am You

“fix stuff” → useless.
“final-final” → worse.
Now I write commits as if a stranger will debug it at 3am (that stranger is usually future-me).
Not fancy, just: what changed, why, and anything that will stop future-me from swearing at past-me.

These three small shifts — saying no, filtering tools, writing better commits — have saved me more time, stress, and energy than any framework upgrade ever did.

💡 What’s your “I wish I learned this earlier” developer lesson?