Sure, but if the core of your job, the key skill you bring to the table, is writing software, you are (hopefully) going to find the time to learn best practices for writing software.
If that's not the core of your job, if your key skill is something else and writing software is just an occasional means to an end... maybe the incentives aren't there.
> How long do you think it takes for time spent learning good software development practices to pay for itself?
If you almost never write a program longer than 1000 lines and rarely use a program six months after you've written it, it may never pay for itself.
Don't get me wrong, I personally have an interest in good software development practices. I just understand why not everyone can or will take the time to learn them.
When is your first and last meeting of the work week? 6am Monday to 7pm Friday? Have you taken more than 3 weekends off in the last 12 months? Do you measure your daily coffee consumption in gallons? And yes, I'm serious.
PhD-land is crazy, perhaps this is why sooooo many drop out.
We're all busy. How long do you think it takes for time spent learning good software development practices to pay for itself? Surely not longer than the length of a PhD.