Working Effectively

Just because you are working hard does not mean you are worth your paycheck. Working effectively means maximizing the amount of work not done. For example, it is less expensive to maintain one copy of your codebase than to maintain two copies. Therefore, if you opt to branch your code irresponsibly, you will work harder but not as effectively. Most developers can't tell the difference and go home feeling proud of themselves for having worked hard. Somebody should let them know that most of their effort is spent paying down interest on the debt they accrue every day.