In his commencement speech to the class of 2014 graduating from the University of Texas, Admiral William McRaven, at the time commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (or JSOC) gave the graduates 10 lessons he learned from his time at SEAL training. One piece has stuck with me every since I first heard this speech.

Make Your Bed Every Morning

In basic training, McRaven and other trainees were required to make their bed every single morning. The instructors would come in, inspect their beds, and require the bed be made to perfection. Sounds a little out there right? These trainees would be out in the field at times, sleeping on the ground while on a mission, and yet they were required to make their bed in training every morning to exacting specification.

McRaven goes on to say that this mundane task served a few purposes.

  1. Doing this lets you accomplish a simple task at the start of the day.
  2. It gives you a small sense of pride.
  3. It encourages you to do another task, and then another.
  4. It shows you care about the little things and that they matter.
  5. If your day is terrible, you get to come home to a nicely made bed.

The 4th point is one I want to hone in on a bit. As a software developer, showing that you care about the little things can go a long way. It's one thing to crank out a big PR that adds a bunch of features. But a software developer who cares about the small things will do their best to break down the pull request to smaller ones for easier review and keep things atomic. They will consider variable naming to make sure those are clear and concise. Error handling becomes less of an afterthought. These little things can add up, and as you do them as a team they can turn small teams into mighty forces!

Next time you are about to start a ticket, consider how you can break it down so the PRs are small and easily reviewable. It's the little things, like making your bed and having clear variable names, that matter more than you think.

Here is the entire commencement speech. I think its worth a watch.