Measure the actual starting point
Open the real repository, confirm the active branch and reproduce the behavior before changing code. Historical status, a green screenshot or a supplied working directory can be stale. The habit of checking current state prevents elegant work on the wrong base.
Reduce work to a reviewable claim
A task should name the behavior that changes and the evidence that will prove it. Smaller increments expose assumptions early, preserve rollback and make another engineer's review useful. Large rewrites often hide several independent decisions behind one diff.
Test the risky boundary
Unit tests are valuable, but the highest risk may live in authorization, persistence, integration or the route a real request uses. Choose the lightest test that proves the claim and add production-shaped evidence when the consequence justifies it.
Report state precisely
Written, locally tested, reviewed, merged, CI-green, deployed and validated by the client are distinct states. Precise language is an engineering control: it lets the next person decide safely and keeps confidence tied to evidence rather than momentum.