Forced to code without AI yesterday - My experience

Yesterday, I hit the rate limits on all my AI subscriptions.
Kimi K2. Claude Pro. Copilot.

I was blocked. For two hours.

I was just sitting there, staring at the message in Copilot CLI… wondering what to do next.

Do I:

• Buy extra credits? Upgrade my plans to some “pro max” tier
• Or just code by myself like I used to?

First option = more money. And honestly, I wasn’t ready to invest more.

Second option = free, but let’s be real… slower. More friction. All the “boring” parts: syntax, class declarations, wiring things together.

Still, I chose to code on my own.
And weirdly… I was excited.

I hadn’t done that in weeks. It felt like a long time.

But wow — I didn’t expect it to be that challenging.

I was working on a small feature: refactoring a top bar and customizing a greeting based on time (Good morning / Good evening, etc.).

Simple, right?
Yet Kotlin syntax didn’t come instantly. I had to pause on basic things — const, class declarations… stuff that used to be automatic.

That was the first wall.

Then came the second one: thinking in terms of logic.
I got so used to AI proposing the logic and me just reviewing it… that building it myself didn’t click right away.

I had to slow down. Think step by step. Rebuild that flow.

And that’s when something interesting happened.

I started enjoying it. A lot.

It took me back to the good old days, when I would build features end-to-end on my own.

There’s a different kind of satisfaction when you build something yourself vs delegating it to AI.

When I use AI, usually:
→ I ask for a plan based on brainstorming
→ I validate it
→ It implements

When I code myself:
→ I am the plan
→ I structure the thinking
→ I solve the problems in real time

It’s slower, yes. But it’s deeper.

You feel the decisions. You understand deeply the “why” not just the “what”.

Reviewing AI-generated code is not the same as writing it.
When you write it, the learning sticks differently.

Small takeaway from this experience: I’m going to keep at least 1 hour per week where I turn off AI completely and just code.

Not because AI is bad. It’s incredibly powerful and life changing.
But because I don’t want to lose that muscle. Also, I miss that sense of full ownership.

Curious — has anyone else felt this?
Who’s in? Anyone want to join me on this challenge?

👉 You can also read this article on my website.