From reading your post, my intuition tells me you’re learning & adapting at an above-average rate within a pretty average dev team.
Focus on the meta things:
- Eat well. Snack on celery & carrots.
- Sleep well. Minimum 7 hours a night and a consistent schedule.
- Divide your time clearly (have fixed work time, fixed chore time, fixed recreation time, and a flexible buffer that can be applied to whichever of those three calls for it).
- Practice async communications. Ignore all emails & messages (do not disturb mode) while focused. Set an hourly reminder for checking emails (see Alarmed on iOS). When enough accumulate, deal with them in batch. Advertise to others a means which you can be reached immediately for urgent matters (I let phone calls through DND mode).
- Hold your tongue when your assumptions are unfounded. Respond later.
- Collect articles (both work docs & internet articles) into a reading list. Sort it briefly each time you sit down to do some reading (which should be regular, but not too long).
- If you cringe when thinking about a mistake you made, don’t block out the memory. Let it flow over & through you. It takes practice, but eventually you’ll be able to exploit your mistakes for learning rather than experience suffering whenever you’re reminded of them. Some people never make this development, and continue to suffer into their twilight years. It’s part of emotional maturity — to be able to reflect and grow, rather than simply shy away from difficult areas (“I’m not good at math, my brain just gets all muddled and I always mess up. It’s too stressful.”).
- Don’t forget to breathe. It regulates so much.
Beware of more specific and/or opinionated advice from any source. It may be easy to misinterpret due to over-summarisation, or may be subject to survivorship bias (people who are succeeding will more readily share advice, but it’s often the words of those who are failing or have previously failed that would benefit you the most to hear). This applies to my advice too :)
> Collect articles (both work docs & internet articles) into a reading list
I would read some books too. Actual, "costs money to buy" books. Digital or on paper, as you like.
Look for those that cover your chosen tech stack at "more than beginner" level, and more importantly look for books on Software Engineering. Ask around for classics that are recommended in your field.
From reading your post, my intuition tells me you’re learning & adapting at an above-average rate within a pretty average dev team.
Focus on the meta things:
- Eat well. Snack on celery & carrots.
- Sleep well. Minimum 7 hours a night and a consistent schedule.
- Divide your time clearly (have fixed work time, fixed chore time, fixed recreation time, and a flexible buffer that can be applied to whichever of those three calls for it).
- Practice async communications. Ignore all emails & messages (do not disturb mode) while focused. Set an hourly reminder for checking emails (see Alarmed on iOS). When enough accumulate, deal with them in batch. Advertise to others a means which you can be reached immediately for urgent matters (I let phone calls through DND mode).
- Hold your tongue when your assumptions are unfounded. Respond later.
- Collect articles (both work docs & internet articles) into a reading list. Sort it briefly each time you sit down to do some reading (which should be regular, but not too long).
- If you cringe when thinking about a mistake you made, don’t block out the memory. Let it flow over & through you. It takes practice, but eventually you’ll be able to exploit your mistakes for learning rather than experience suffering whenever you’re reminded of them. Some people never make this development, and continue to suffer into their twilight years. It’s part of emotional maturity — to be able to reflect and grow, rather than simply shy away from difficult areas (“I’m not good at math, my brain just gets all muddled and I always mess up. It’s too stressful.”).
- Don’t forget to breathe. It regulates so much.
Beware of more specific and/or opinionated advice from any source. It may be easy to misinterpret due to over-summarisation, or may be subject to survivorship bias (people who are succeeding will more readily share advice, but it’s often the words of those who are failing or have previously failed that would benefit you the most to hear). This applies to my advice too :)