[_tkzm]

"I usually take 3-4 tries with some significant amount of testing to get my code to a working state."

..this is a "code" smell to me. if you are jr, then ok, otherwise you got some serious problems nad put your focus in the wrong places.

anyhow, one advice i can give you, or anybody else, is - when you're doing it right, it just flows. when you're banging your head against a wall, you took a bad turn in your decisionamking process a while back and need to retract your steps. this one usually can save you from writing about 80% of useless code. when you are bored and are not looking forward to write something, you are on the right track. if you feel creative and full of energy, you are thinking on your feet and have no idea where it will lead you. sure, this is the best part of coding, the creativity, but not in the business world. that is for your personal projects. boring is good. be creative in preparation, not once you're already undertaking a task.