Debugging Your Week (and Life): Lessons from Code and Late Hackathons
Last month, I did something I wouldn’t recommend unless you love chaos.......
Mondays feel like the N+1 problem of life, don’t they? You’ve barely caught your breath from last week, and now the cycle begins again. But here’s the thing: just like debugging code, you can debug your week. You can spot the bottlenecks, refactor your priorities, and optimize your workflow to make progress—even when it feels like you’ve joined the race 13 days late
Last month, I did something I wouldn’t recommend unless you love chaos—I joined the Google Chrome Built-in AI Challenge… 13 days late. Yep, while others were already perfecting their projects, I was just getting started. Imagine showing up to a marathon when everyone else is already on mile 18.
But against all odds, I built Webpage Genie, a Chrome extension that uses AI to summarize websites. And let me tell you, the process wasn’t just about code—it was about resilience, problem-solving, and debugging life itself.
Here’s what I learned, and how it applies to tackling your week, whether you’re facing deadlines, challenges, or just the usual Monday dread.
1. Spot the Real Bottleneck (Because Not All Bugs Are Worth Your Time)
The first roadblock was Chrome’s Translation API. It’s part of an Origin Trial, which meant limited documentation and a steep learning curve. I spent hours just figuring out how to fetch the right language packs without crashing the extension.
In life, Mondays feel the same way: everything demands your attention, but not all of it actually matters.
This Week’s Debugging Tip:
Take a breath. Identify the one task that’s truly blocking your progress and tackle it first. Forget the rest—it’ll wait.
2. Eager Load Your Priorities
Once I wrangled the API, I had to balance feature overload with user simplicity. Sure, I could’ve added 10 flashy functions, but instead, I focused on the MVP: make translations fast, clean, and easy to use.
When starting your week, think like a Laravel dev: eager load your top priorities early. Stop spreading yourself thin—commit to what matters most.
This Week’s Hack:
Write down three priorities. Get them done. Ignore the fluff.
Me: “I’ll just do everything today.” Also me: burnt out by 11 AM.
3. Refactor and Iterate Like Your Sanity Depends on It
UI/UX design was another mountain. Balancing aesthetics with functionality? Not easy. My first draft was a hot mess of cluttered buttons and confusing menus. It took multiple iterations to achieve the clean, intuitive interface I wanted.
Life, like code, thrives on iteration. Don’t stress over getting it perfect the first time—just ship it and improve along the way.
What You Can Do:
Start messy but start. Progress beats perfection every time.
Ask for feedback and use it to iterate.
4. Test, Break, and Learn
One thing hackathons teach you: error handling isn’t optional. AI-powered applications are notorious for unexpected edge cases. I learned to handle scenarios like missing language packs, slow API calls, and user impatience.
Mondays are like that too—something will go wrong. The key is to embrace the chaos, adapt, and learn from every setback.
How to Apply This:
Anticipate what could go wrong (and have a backup plan).
Treat every failure as a learning opportunity—it’s debugging, not defeat.
5. Celebrate the Wins, No Matter How Small
At the end of 13 chaotic days, I submitted Webpage Genie. Was it perfect? No. But it worked. It translated web pages seamlessly, with a clean UI, and even helped people in their daily lives.
Your week doesn’t have to be flawless, either. Celebrate the fact that you showed up, handled what you could, and moved forward.
Final Thought:
Life, like hackathons, is messy and unpredictable. But you’re always one good commit away from turning things around. Debug the blockers, eager load your priorities, and iterate until you’re proud of the result.And hey, if you’re curious about how I built Webpage Genie(OT), stay tuned—I’ll share the full process (and all the drama) later this week. Until then, go build something incredible.