How I Decide What to Learn
There’s so much to learn. New languages, tools, techniques, theoretical concepts. How do I pick what to learn next?
Anything I learn (at some level) needs to be 3 things. These are:
Fun to learn
If I’m spending my free time or extra work time learning something, it should be fun. It’s like a hobby, I’m doing it completely out of choice - I can’t do that with topics that are not fun.
Relevant
Anything I learn should be relevant to what I do for work.
DevTea has this podcast episode where the host talks about what skills are important. He compares the main skills of a job to the trunk of a tree.
For example: algorithms, fluency with libraries and packages are parts of the trunk of a data scientist.
Then there’s the branches and leaves. These are the auxiliary skills that might not be at the core of the job, but improving these skills will make you better at your job. For example, fluency in scripting, your text editor, etc.
Anything I pick must be relevant. It must be either in the ‘trunk’ of the things I learn or the ‘branches’.
Immediately applicable
If something I learn is immediately applicable to the projects I’m working on right now, I’m able to get immediate hands-on experience with it. Otherwise I don’t think I am extracting any value of a newly gained skill.
TLDR: the sweet spot is here
And that’s how I pick what to learn next.
