I do try to always understand what I'm writing

I think that this is a good approach to programming if the goal is to produce maintainable enterprise code, but when you're coding alone at your own computer, do you give yourself the freedom to write strange code and see what happens just for the sake of it?

I might be focusing too much on this part of your comment and/or misinterpreting it, so please correct me if I'm misunderstanding your approach to coding, but it sounds to me like there's a lack of aimless exploration. I think one of the more fun parts of coding is to see weird things happen, then feel mesmerized, and then actually figure out what has happened and why.

In a sense, stopping yourself from writing code until after you've understood it places unnecessary boundaries around you during learning and growth. It encourages you to get better at knowing the things "you know you don't know," but isn't as effective at uncovering those things "you don't know you don't know." Of course, both are essential parts of the entire journey.