From the tradition of Peter Drucker, do not think in terms of priorities so much as goals. Anything and everything could be called a priority, when in fact, there’s always only one priority in the given moment. Think in terms of time management, to ensure the things you might otherwise be juggling actually get accomplished. Preserve a bias toward action rather than “analysis paralysis.”

The mental carrying capacity for too much change at once is difficult enough, but the real-world complexity that you cannot yet understand is the actual problem. Try modifying one thing at a time, wait to see how that turns out, and then move on to the next challenge. Always point upward and forward.

Avoid fleshing out too much fine-grained work long in advance. This only serves to create a deluge that leads directly to stress, and destroys creativity, productivity, and joy. Too much detailed information and planning can overwhelm—the boulder will surely slip. Instead, manage toward decreasing conceptual resolution as the future unfolds, and take action one step at a time.

Avoid placing unnecessary administrivia into workflows out of habit or convention, when people can be trusted to innovate and work on their own. No bullshit creates an inspirational developer experience.

With respect to process—if anybody’s unsure why they’re doing something and nobody exactly remembers the origin of the organizational or process element, it’s better to eliminate it first and restore it later when (and if) the need arises.

Maintain consistently high standards in anything in life, as you never want to find yourself removing band-aids and duct tape later. Worse yet, if you’re building systems of people or things, one failure point can make everything crumble, especially if a solid foundation has not been laid. Rubber bands, paper clips, and chewing gum might work for MacGyver, but not for a founder of a company or a pursuer of a life.

Any opportunity to learn from mistakes and improve things because of them shouldn’t be skipped, no matter how irritating the process may be. These are the times we all commit to a better future.