Twenty years ago, if I was asked to do something like port an API from one language to another, I'd just tackle it. And it'd turn out like complete shit. But co

Twenty years ago, if I was asked to do something like port an API from one language to another, I'd just tackle it. And it'd turn out like complete shit. But co-workers would be happy because its done, and they'd say I was a great programmer since it was completed so quickly, and as a result of my port we'd have new technical debt that would probably haunt the team for years. Today it'd take me much longer, and the end result would be better. This is experience, because I know many of the ways in which a port could go sideways. The way I deal with massive bodies of work would be to handle it in well tested small pieces. If you're having difficulty figuring out how to arrive at these small pieces, then that's the challenge right there. You'll get good at it by working towards it. I know that, despite my age (44), its not cognitive decline. It's experience and the end result of my work is simply better.