Programming · by Tola Ibrahim · 2026-09-20

What debugging looks like when you stop optimizing everything in Cairo

I started this becuase my Monday morning felt a little stuck, and debugging seemed like a manageable place to experiment. The funny part is that the smallest change was the one I kept.

My current rule is simple: if it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, I am much more likely to keep doing it

69 sparks · 13 comments

Comments

Curious River · 20 likes

good reminder that boring can be good. My friend tried it in Istanbul and had the opposite result

Sebastián Rojas · 0 likes

noted, and thank you

Sleepy Sparrow · 10 likes

I am saving this for the next time I overthink looks. I would test it for 5 days before deciding

Omar Hassan · 4 likes

Great point, especially the part about debugging. This pairs weirdly well with ramen

Noah Miller · 1 likes

You just saved me a bad purchase

Mina Chowdhury · 2 likes

This is genuinely helpful thanks for writing it out. The Jakarta example makes it feel concrete

Jiho Lee · 2 likes

What would you change if you started over? I learned that one the expensive way

Rohan Mehta · 2 likes

I think both things can be true

Bianca Santos · 0 likes

@fernMender96 Fair pushback

Tiny Mango · 1 likes

Fair point, but I had teh opposite experience. The 3-minute rule is underrated. I would love to see teh benchmark numbers

Wanjiku Mwangi · 0 likes

That is the part people skip

Rohan Mehta · 0 likes

This is adorable and oddly motivating. I noticed the same thing in Toronto

Hugo Sánchez · 0 likes

That last line is excellent. This is where I would ask one more question before choosing