My full time job is as a software engineer. Part of that requires that I keep up on the latest trends in the information technology world. I actually enjoy doing that, as there are amazing things constantly being invented and implemented!

Because I spend most of my time programming, I have noticed more and more products that bill themselves as ways to "be more efficient" and "write better code faster". I guess that's fine, and I can see what they are trying to do in promoting those "values", but I don't always want that. In fact I almost never do.

I am not sure how busy other developers are, but in nearly every programming job I've had (especially my current one) I have had no need or desire to be faster and more efficient! Yes, there have been times where I needed to get code out quickly, but that has been the very rare exception. Mostly I write code, then spend a long time waiting for others to review, sign off, test and deploy that code. Honestly, if I was any faster at what I do then I would have even more time to spend doing nothing productive! That seems kind of counter-intuitive, but what would I do - spend more time browsing the web? Right now I have more than enough time to code something "the right way", and I have done more "training" and keeping up on the latest trends than is needed.

This idea of not being busy all the time use to really bother me, and make me feel like I wasn't a good employee. That is until I had one boss tell me that we were never going to be super busy, so I should just relax and takes things slowly. Wow - that was great advice! Now I certainly don't feel much stress, and I absolutely don't feel like I need to incorporate AI into my coding so that I can be more productive. I am a slow coder, and that suits me just fine.

I think the idea that "faster and more efficient" equals "better" is only partially true, at best. Perhaps you've heard of the Slow movement? This is where people take their time and try to be really mindful of what they are doing. I love that concept, and have been trying to incorporate more of it in my life.

There are other areas of life where we could apply this logic as well. How about slowing down and enjoying the moment more when doing things like: exploring, watching TV shows, reading and schooling? And I seriously doubt there is anybody who thinks that having faster, more efficient sex is better than slowing down and enjoying it more!

Having said all that, I certainly feel like I am in the minority here. There just seems to be something in us humans that wants to hurry and finish what we are doing so we can move on to the next thing. I am also a part time professor at our local university, and I was recently saddened when the state legislature "streamlined" several bachelor degrees so that they could be completed in three years instead of the traditional four (or more) years. I feel like cutting some of those general education requirements is not a good idea, and will ultimately end up hurting our society as more people don't grasp larger concepts, and haven't been exposed to different ideas.

Ah, oh well. There isn't much I can do about it, other than try to be mindful and experience things as fully as I can. Remember: slow down some, being faster and more efficient is not always better!