Development

The software industry is obsessed with productivity. We spend billions on project management tools, countless hours tweaking our .dotfiles, and we debate the merits of different IDEs with religious fervor. In this sea of “hacks” and “optimization frameworks,” it’s easy to lose sight of what actually moves the needle.

Most of what we call “productivity” is actually just productivity theater — activities that make us feel busy but don’t result in high-quality, shipping software. As developers, our output isn’t measured in lines of code or the number of Jira tickets closed; it’s measured in value delivered and problems solved.