> All the stuff that feels difficult and like it's just eating up time is actually me being forced to work out the problem specification in a more condensed manner.

Very well put!

Your experience aligns with mine as well. In APL, the sheer austerity of architecture means we can't spend time on boilerplate and are forced to immediately confront core domain concerns.

Working that way has gotten me to see code as a direct extension of business, organizational, and market issues. I feel like this has made me much more valuable at work.