For JJDev, staying sane with AI did not mean rejecting it. It meant using AI coding tools to make progress on practical work while reserving some learning for unaided practice—and making room away from the stream of AI features and news. The approach grew out of a difficult job search, a first developer role, and the unsettling feeling that coding was becoming both easier and less enjoyable.
JJDev recounts a personal transition into software work as generative AI tools became part of the conversation. The story is not evidence that AI makes developers less capable, nor a universal guide to using coding assistants. It is one junior developer’s account of anxiety, adjustment, and an attempt to balance efficiency with independent practice.
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JJDev’s original article on DEV Community is the source for the experiences and quotations below.
Learning to code, then struggling to get hired
JJDev says they began coding in 2020, studied Java and data structures and algorithms, and practiced on LeetCode before starting an industry job. When generative AI arrived during their final year of university, it coincided with a difficult period: they describe being unemployed for a year, going through about three interviews without receiving an offer, and feeling their mental state decline.
#1 Best Overall
The questions behind that stretch were pointed: “How could I possibly differentiate myself?” and “Are my skills even useful?” These are the author’s worries at a particular moment, not conclusions about the value of developers’ skills across the industry.
Building an app helped restore momentum—and raised new doubts
After the unsuccessful job search, JJDev worked with a friend on an app, using an early version of Cursor. They say it launched on the App Store seven months later. The project gave them something concrete to build, but using AI also complicated how they judged their own contribution. Coding challenges that once demanded sustained effort could feel trivial with assistance, prompting concern about what it meant to be a capable developer.
That tension is more complicated than a simple choice between “real coding” and AI. In the author’s account, the tool helped move a project forward while also making parts of the work feel less rewarding. JJDev puts the trade-off this way: “The speed and efficiency it provides cannot be neglected, even though it takes away some enjoyment.”
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JJDev says a local company invited them to a same-day interview process and made an offer the following morning. The interview included a practical exercise involving backend and frontend work. Getting hired changed the immediate problem from finding a job to learning how to do one, but it did not instantly remove self-doubt or settle the question of when to use AI.
“I didn’t know If I was supposed to use AI tools or write code by hand,” the author recalls. They estimate it took about eight months in the role to feel confident and think clearly. That is a personal account of settling into a new job, not a clinical measure or a typical timeline for junior developers.
How JJDev now divides work between AI and manual practice
The author’s current approach is a personal division of labor rather than a rule for everyone. They use agentic coding when efficiency matters on practical work, and try to work through fundamentals manually when the goal is learning.
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| Situation | JJDev’s reported approach | Reason in the author’s account |
|---|---|---|
| Practical work where speed matters | Use agentic coding assistance | AI’s speed and efficiency are useful to the author. |
| Learning fundamentals | Practice manually | The author wants to maintain independent understanding and thinking. |
| Personal writing and coding practice | Write essays without AI and solve LeetCode problems by hand | These are deliberate ways the author tries to keep their brain engaged. |
| Reading online | Read articles and disable Google AI Overviews on their personal computer | The author wants some information-seeking to happen without an AI-generated summary. |
JJDev describes the motivation directly: “To keep my brain sharp I’m trying to do things like write essays without assistance, finish leetcode problems by hand, read articles, etc. and disable things like the AI overview on google on my personal computer.” These are the author’s habits and concerns; the article does not show that AI causes a loss of critical thinking or that these practices prevent one.
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What this personal journey does—and does not—show
The account supports a modest conclusion: a developer can find AI useful for getting work done while choosing to preserve some unaided practice and time away from AI features. It does not establish which workflow produces better results, whether AI reduces coding skill, or how common this kind of anxiety is. JJDev’s warning that AI can “steal your critical thinking skills” should be read as a personal concern, not a demonstrated causal finding.
Best Value
For readers facing a similar uncertainty, the useful part is the distinction the author makes: use assistance where it helps with practical progress, and work without it when independent practice is the point. The story leaves room for both benefits and discomfort rather than claiming the tension has been solved.
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