Today, there are many ways to achieve the same goal. When writing code, for example, one can use a fully equipped IDE like IntelliJ, something super lightweight like Vim, or, if you are really mad, Notepad++. You could dedicate hundreds or thousands of hours switching between different tools, experimenting and starting from scratch every time, and still not find something that really works for you. I believe that a true craftsman of any discipline needs to invest in their tools. Here are a few reasons why.
Note:
I will focus more on software engineering tools, but these ideas apply to any discipline. If you are interested, I have built my own nvim, tmux and system configuration, including window management, which you can check out on GitHub.
You May Never Find a Match
As I alluded to, I have spent a long time switching between tools, but nothing really stuck for me. Sometimes, a tool was just so complex from the outset that I would get overwhelmed and start another tirade against “bloat”. It seemed like these complex tools had all the things I didn’t need but nothing of what would actually make me productive. I am sure that in a lot of situations, what I wanted to do was absolutely possible, but it wasn’t easy for me to find out how. I could locate a solution with a bit of digging online, but I wasn’t a big fan of having to consult other sources when I wanted to make a seemingly simple change.
I was so opposed to sinking time into learning how to use these external tools that I just neglected to. My workflow was slow, and interacting with my machine felt sluggish. If you ever see a true master at work, everything looks effortless. They act as quickly as they think. I realised that no matter how much time I invested into learning someone else’s tool, I would never get to that level, and that I would always have to deal with an extra layer of thought.
I needed something more flexible. So, I decided to create my own things.
Breaking Free
Now, investing in building your own tools is not a trivial process. I knew it would take time, and planned accordingly, but it still took longer. I worked on nothing else for a solid month. While you may think this is overkill (and in some ways I agree), I managed to build such a strong base for myself. I got to understand the tools I was using deeply, because I built them myself. Now, changes become simple, and things are moulded to me.
It took a while for me to break out of searching for the most “optimal way” to do things according to what others suggest. I would keep searching “what’s the best way to do X”, but eventually I realised that the best way to do things was the way I felt was best for me, and that’s when I truly broke free.
The greatest benefit I experienced was more drive to complete the work I was doing. I genuinely enjoyed using these tools, and work became more about the doing rather than the how to do. This meant I could work longer, harder, and at a higher quality than I ever could before.
You learn by doing
By building your own tools, you also develop a greater understanding of the underlying work itself. Why faced with certain situation in which I wanted my tools to perform a certain action, I needed to understand how to go from the situation to the action. Or, when I found my tools breaking, I needed to understand why this happened. By understanding these questions, I learned how my tools were being used at a deeper level. Instead of just thinking about how I was holding my chisel, I started to think about how my chisel was interacting with the marble beneath it, which all leads towards better craftsmanship.
The Downsides
Now, there are some downsides to building your own tools. The first and most obvious one is the effort required in the first place. It can be daunting when there are so many needs and things you need to implement but with no idea of how to get started. Just take it slow; there is no rush. Crafting tools takes a long time, and the fact that you get to start from nothing is actually a great benefit.
It’s also easy to get whipped up by the so-called shiny object syndrome. Once you start making tweaks, you might end up spending a few hours engaged in a pursuit that doesn’t bring you a lot of value. Before you sit down to work, spend some time thinking about exactly what you want your tool to do and how to achieve that functionality during your next work session.
Be warned, once you have created tools that work for you, it’s very difficult to go back to the old ways. Everything else you use just feels inefficient, and you end up making a lot of mistakes. It’s important to be able to find ways of moving your tools around, so that no matter where you go, you’ll have access to them. Make sure you invest some time in exploring the portability of your tools.
A Better Path Forward
Building tools for myself has been the greatest return on investment in recent memory. I now have things that are suited precisely to my needs, and that will change and grow as I do. Break free from using things that were made for the average craftsman and build something exceptional for yourself.