I used to enthusiastically climb the ladder of abstraction. Learning and applying advanced concepts made me feel smart, plus they were so cool. However, I found

I used to enthusiastically climb the ladder of abstraction. Learning and applying advanced concepts made me feel smart, plus they were so cool. However, I found I never actually reused my super-awesome-advanced code. In fact, it was just more compact, less legible code, like APL. I went back to the basics. I started writing very simple, short, non abstracted libraries/modules that did one thing well, in true UNIX fashion. Now I have legible code, to myself and others, and I actually reuse it. My applications are now built out of battle-tested reusable components, and my productivity is higher.