The Staff Engineer's Path

Here’s how I start, no matter the size of the project: I create a document, just for me, that’s going to act as an external part of my brain for the duration of the project. It’s going to be full of uncertainty and rumors, leads to follow, reminders, bullet points, to-dos, and lists. When I’m not sure what to do next, I’ll return to that document and look at what Past Me thought was important. Putting absolutely everything in one place at least removes the “Where did I write that down?” problem.