My personal tips on growing as a Software Engineer while keeping your sanity intact.
“One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” ― Nikola Tesla
I have put together a list of tips that I have found to be very helpful in my career. While nothing on this list is new, it doesn't hurt to remind people that they have already heard the advice they need countless times.
Curb jealousy
The feeling is almost inevitable with many things around you to trigger it... From I got the job tweets to different people joining top companies, it's quite difficult not to feel jealous, but this is one of the easiest ways to lose control and start feeling bitter towards others. Always remember that whether they got some help or not, whether they were connected or not they followed a journey that led them to where they are now... Stick with yours and you'll end up right where you hope to be.
Motivation is garbage
Motivation is garbage. You’re making a mistake if you think at some point you’ll feel ready to do the things you’ve been thinking about. You can’t control whether or not you’ll wake up and feel motivated, but you can always choose what you think or do next. ― Mel Robbins
Learn wide
“A jack of all trades is a master of none...”
A popular quote that we all know, but only very few people know the rest...
“..but oftentimes better than a master of one”
While it's always a good idea to carve a niche for yourself in the chaotic space we call tech it's also more important to be very versatile as this will help keep you open to more positions and opportunities.
Seek ye first the knowledge and other things will follow
I personally refuse to believe that you can be good at this and not get opportunities even with how saturated the tech space might seem I think there is still a lot of opportunities out there. You get the gist I am too lazy to explain more.
Focus on the things within your control
Software engineers are the biggest complainers I know. Oh, why hooks why didn't we just stick with class components, wtf is Recoil. We love NodeJS we don't need Deno, ES 6,7,8,9,10,11... Typescript is stressful...
So what if Deno replaces NodeJS... Deno is what we are using now? Then learn it and move on!... You can't control the chaos so ride the wave and have fun while at it.
Invest in a comfortable workspace & take breaks
You don't wanna spend hundreds of dollars on a good chair and desk? alright then wait till you have to pay a chiropractor. Learn to take breaks as well, at a certain point you simply cannot focus anymore and at that point, the logical thing is to take a break because it might be the only way to get clarity.
Pay for premium resources
Sure youtube videos are great and a lot of priceless content is on there, but as you go and as you earn don't hesitate to pay for premium resources.
Focus on the companies that need you
Shooting shots at companies that do not need your skills will do you no good. You are a full-stack JS developer and your dream company's core stack is PHP based or maybe you don't even know.
Focus on the companies that are looking for you and apply AGGRESSIVELY to them till they hear you out.
It all needs to be intentional, every little bit of it from your learning goals to your job search. Not just the same cover letter template and Inshallah.
Consistency over Intensity
Being consistent yields better results than intensity. Are you trying to pick up a new language... Do 1hr daily for a month instead of 7hrs at a go for a few days in the month.
Use social media to your advantage
Follow and engage with the right people and fill your feed with the kind of content your career needs.
Ignore the banter
There'll always be bants about languages and frameworks, a JS engineer will come online to rant about how it is trash. IMO who cares, if it pays the bills then we move.