Priorities Of A Passionate Developer

Me: How the hell am I going to figure this out? I've tried X and Y, talked to Jim and Bob, e-mailed Jon Skeet, and nothing seems to work.

falls asleep

Brain: Hey! Let's look at some code!

Me: Seriously brain? Right now? I've been thinking about this problem all day and we are going to dream about it too?

Brain: I'm just bustin' your chops, but seriously try using a KNN algorithm, I'm pretty sure it'll work.

These types of epiphanies rarely arise from a power nap or an hour of sleep or two, so it's worth getting a good night's rest. As I mentioned earlier, writing software is hard and pushing your brain every day without giving it a chance to wind down isn't good for you mentally or physically.

You wouldn't run a marathon every single day, so don't try to do that to your brain. Invest in a good mattress, pillows, and all that jazz and your body, mind, coworkers, and codebase will thank you for it.

Craft

So we've established that taking care of your own well-being and body is important. It's vital to have friends, hobbies, and even just a break from writing code now and then. But if you are here, reading this post, then you probably at least somewhat care about writing software and being better than average at it.

Finding the time can be difficult, but there are plenty of ways to both actively and passively become a better software developer. A quick list off the top of my head for a few of these might look like this:

• Open-Source
  I know you might see this and say "Rion, I don't have time for an open source project." and that's fine. The open-source ecosystem is so broad that you don't need to contribute to finding value in it. There are countless amazing projects on sites like GitHub that you can go openly browse and look through the code. I know it might not seem valuable but reading the code will help you become better at writing it.
  
  
• Podcasts
  If you are in an environment where you commute, this is a must. There are some incredible developer-oriented podcasts like Coding Blocks out there for just about every niche in the development world, as well as some amazing general purpose ones that focus on development as a whole.
  
  
• Online Video Content
  There is a plethora of awesome video content online in both paid and unpaid varieties. Sites like Pluralsight can give you the opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of just about any major technology from world-class experts. YouTube is also a great place to find content on whatever you are trying to learn.

These are just a few ways to improve your craft, both actively and passively, and every little bit can make a difference. If you find little sections your day to fit things in (i.e. mowing the grass, sitting in a car on your commute, etc.), these can be perfect moments to work on becoming a better developer.

Et Cetera

Priorities are unique to everyone and are extremely subject to change. What's important to me, right now, might not be important to you now (or possibly ever). If you asked me a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago, all three would yield dramatically different results - and that's perfectly okay!

Try to define priorities surrounding work and your craft, but don't let them get in the way of your most important job - living your life and being happy. They'll always be more code to write, more bugs to fix, and another feature to implement.