Consider the source of advice
When receiving advice from someone, you need to consider the source to determine how aligned the advice is to you.
When receiving advice from someone, including this post itself, you need to consider the source. Who is providing the advice? What is their personality? What are their values? What experiences have they had that may have led them to these conclusions? These questions aren’t to discredit the advice giver but to help you determine how aligned the advice is to you.
For example, if you feel restricted by processes and regiments, getting advice on morning routines from an over-planner who operates on near-robotic efficiency may not work out so well. But! There’s likely something you can take from the advice still. Maybe there’s a step in their morning routine that you can occasionally work into your day.
It’s also possible that given advice doesn’t fully apply to your situation. Each situation has levels of nuance. It’s unlikely that the person giving advice is fully aware of all the context of your situation. The burden of understanding whether the advice applies falls on you. After all, you are the one who is going to live with the consequences, both good and bad.
My advice is trust your gut, be understanding, and understand that you’re making the best decision with the information available.
Written by Tim Schilling
Django 6.x Steering Council member, maintainer of django-debug-toolbar and django-simple-history, and a professional software engineer since 2009. These days, I mentor developers one-on-one.