I despaired of concretely estimating my project in any meaningful way. How could I put numbers on something so big, so unknown? The answer — a big Gantt chart.
I can't afford to update my system at night, then come into work and find that xrandr has suddenly changed its parameter format and my external monitor won't work.
Guice's built-in support for Aspect-oriented programming can eliminate the need to repeatedly address the concerns of the database and Java Persistence API.
When you design for a living, you can't wait for inspiration. Keep your eyes open, surround yourself with inspiring things, and let your creativity flow.