Comment by skydhash
Were you vanilla or some prebuilt configuration like Doom? I started by copying someone's (vanilla) config and get everything that felt right for me. Then I went on to other people's config (also vanilla) to get what they have that was different and the rationale behind it.
I'm still editing my config every now and then, but mostly smoothing out interactions with the software. Latest was configuring magit to have a speedier interaction by removing some stuff I don't care about.
Started vanilla and importing things like projectile, magit, all of that. I didn't like the awkward edges of how they joined tho, and eventually tried switching to Spacemacs with "less" of my own config. None of it was awful, but none of it felt great.
When VSCode came about and had great integration for a language I was primarily using at the time ( Typescript ) I switched to that and was happy for the comparatively low config required. My Helix switch came about just because of how VSCode absolutely chewed through battery usage when I was out and about.