Procrastination in disguise

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Recently I started exploring TypeScript. The initial excitement of gaining new skills soon gave way to feelings of overwhelm and confusion—especially when trying to decide which concept to use in a given situation. This uncertainty is a normal sign of learning and stepping out of your comfort zone. However, if you linger in that uncertainty without practicing, it can turn into procrastination.

Procrastination in disguise

Programmers often try to avoid procrastination by doing more reading and research. I realized that excessive reading can become a form of procrastination, similar to the classic “I’ll do this tomorrow.”

A concrete example was my struggle with interfaces and type aliases. I had two main questions:

1. What is the difference between type aliases and interfaces when creating types?
2. Why do we have both if they seem to do the same thing?

I kept reading articles and watching videos, but the concepts never clicked. To break the cycle, I built a simple dictionary app that fetches word definitions from the Oxford Dictionary public API. While implementing the API client, I finally understood why and how to use interfaces and type aliases effectively:

• Interfaces are handy for describing the shape of objects that match incoming API responses.
• Type aliases let you give a reusable name to a repeated type, making future changes easier.

Creating the interfaces revealed repetitive field types, which I replaced with a type alias—demonstrating the practical benefit of both constructs.

Stepping out of your comfort zone

Through this hands‑on experience I discovered a common pattern: many developers first read about a concept, convince themselves they understand it, and postpone actual practice. The more we read without applying the knowledge, the greater the fear of coding, and without practice there is no progress.

Final Thoughts

Whatever level you’re at, adopt the following loop:

1. Introduce yourself to a new concept.
2. Jump straight into practice—build a small project or experiment.
3. When you hit a wall, return to the material for clarification.

By alternating between brief reading and immediate coding, you avoid the trap of procrastination and build deeper, more durable understanding.