How to be a sane programmer
> Programming, like writing, painting, and music, is chiefly a creative endeavor not a technical one. Practice... will not make you a substantially better programmer. It will just make you more efficient with your tools.<p>Show me a world-class writer who doesn't obsess about his writing with every waking moment.<p>Show me a master painter who doesn't paint every single chance she gets.<p>And show me a music prodigy who hasn't slogged through 15 years of mind-numbing practice every single day.<p>Only then will I believe that these artists are just getting more "efficient with their tools".<p>In creative fields, it's even <i>more</i> important that you put in a huge volume of work. That's the only way to connect the dots and create something truly unique.