Constraints can be liberating

Just a anecdotal tale of my recent trip to Jacksonville:

In my way to the U.S, the coach contiguous to mine was empty. That's great: it means that the 9-10 hours flight can be more comfortable. But it wasn't. I barely slept sixty or ninety minutes total, after trying like ten different ways to lay myself on the couches.

Three weeks later in the plane back to Chile I wasn't as lucky and had a fellow passenger sitting at my side. I didn't spend time trying to find the perfect position to rest. Only one was possible. End result: I slept 6 hours, which is now my record of continuous sleep on a plane.

Constraints tend to have a negative connotation, but they can help, perhaps more often than we realize. I now see that it is the obvious flip side of the paradox of choice.

Some people argue that in software development constraints should be embraced as positive things too. I guess they may be right.