1. Don't stay in a job that makes you miserable. 2. The design and specification stages of programming are not pointless enterprise makework, they are genuinel

1. Don't stay in a job that makes you miserable. 2. The design and specification stages of programming are not pointless enterprise makework, they are genuinely useful. When writing a program, make sure you understand what you're trying to achieve in detail, and write a plan about you intend to do that. If you don't know what you're trying to achieve (and by extension your customer/client doesn't either), schedule in some research / exploration work as the first part of your plan. Once you have a better idea, redo your plan (and maybe your budget) and check it with your customer/client. 3. If something is going wrong, or you think something is going to go wrong, it's much better to tell someone as early as possible. Even if it's your fault, don't sit on your shame - get some help. For example, if you're going to go over budget, you may be able to get some more budget. Or you may be able to get some features cut.