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Petry DeChamp Richardson
Petry DeChamp Richardson

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Seo is my worst skill, what’s yours?

So I’ve been coding for 25 years. By far my worst skill is seo.

I’ve never been able to get traffic to any of my personal websites. Like the most I ever got was 1000 in a day. But typical it’s 10 to 0.

I don’t know why I struggle so much, I’ve read up on it. Did the basics. But it so much work and I get bored because it’s not my passion.

What is/are your worst skill/s

Oldest comments (47)

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kj2whe profile image
Jason • Edited

Me no write well, me talk pretty one day. 😁

Seriously, I struggle with getting ‘lost in the weeds’. Like laser focusing on a task/user-story that ends up not bringing value to the business.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

lol I'm write (just kidding... "right") there with you. It's hard to talk in your native language when you spend all day writing and thinking in another one....

I challenge you to set a timer. Set it for what you feel is appropriate (10, 20 minutes) and when it goes off, ask yourself if you think you're still on track or if you've gone dune-buggin.

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Tim JK Strickland

I love the term dune-buggin. That's exactly what it feels like too; it still feels fun, but once you look up to the horizon, you're not exactly sure where you are or where you're going.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

Glad you liked that, I made it up on the fly. But it's true. Just make sure to check in once in a while. You got this!

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r7e98kva profile image
Markus

CSS - and I'm not going to change it 😂

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

ha ha, well at least you are ok with it.

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steelwolf180 profile image
Max Ong Zong Bao

I think selling is my worst skill but kind of get better as I learn about it more.

I have been forced in the past to sell during my internship and it's the unethical kind that I hate the most.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

Maybe if you do it with good intensions then you'll learn to like it?

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namstel profile image
Namstel

I'm afraid to admit: accessibility. Don't shoot me!

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

whats that? :P ya I guess I should start on that train, does it count as a bad skill, if you don't practice it at all?

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jhuebel profile image
Jason Huebel

I know my flaws and work to improve. But the last thing I'm going to do in a public forum is admit to them. 😉😂

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

Lol. Ya that is fair. Who wants to admit they have flaws!

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jhuebel profile image
Jason Huebel

Oh, I definitely have flaws. I'm just not going to admit what they are! 😉

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bvmcode profile image
bvmcode

CSS, especially really modern CSS. I've relied on bootstrap and materialize for far too long.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

ya I'm guilty of this. I just force myself to relearn flexbox the other day.

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bvmcode profile image
bvmcode

Yeah, I am going through css grid and it is awesome!

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felipperegazio profile image
Felippe Regazio

Databases (shame on me)

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andreasvirkus profile image
AJ

I think that's a thing rarely any developer admits to themselves and yet an area where (most likely) 90% or more of us could and should improve in. I just had to touch partitioning and was way out of my league.

Disclaimer: I mean developers who deal with databases and data storage on a regular basis.

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felipperegazio profile image
Felippe Regazio • Edited

Think youre right, i think thats a gap that most developers dont admit because you can do a lot even with basic skills. I mean, i can build an app from scratch, up a database, configure it, define the relations, and all those everyday things

But man, dont ask me to optimize the databases, to debug big data, to migrate huge dbs with no pain (is that possible?), to apply rules to increase the response time, to reduce relational complexibility, i must recognize that im not the best person to do it :/

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

How did you over some this?

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felipperegazio profile image
Felippe Regazio • Edited

With pain, a lot of pain. Haha kidding.

I always write an experiment version of the task, then i get deep into documentations and foruns, ORMs, tools. But is like study, im doing my best to get the task done and learning something new becomes a plus. Is not something that i get along easily. But is not something that im always doing too, to be honest im always forgetting what i did in this field.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

love the POC method. I like to mock something out quickly first as well before I get to heavy in to it.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

this one is tricky. With ORM's abstracting out the hard work, it's very easy to do what you need to without much thought. I used to be very strong as sql, but now I rely on my tools to do the hard work for me. However it's important to know the solid basics at a minimum.

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johnpaulada profile image
John Paul Ada

Marketing T_T

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johnpaulada profile image
John Paul Ada

Also, focus. T_T

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Balance fasho

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

As in all skills, time, life?

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Pretty much my entire life. I get obsessive about projects and hobbies and my time management is pretty awful. I need to play around with a more structured life system.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

you need to be not so hard on yourself. Just accept that is how you are. it's not a bad thing. If you want to change it, then try little steps.

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Yes, this has been a huge challenge for me my entire life. I was not taught to love myself as a child. I hit puberty late and was obese for a few years and my parents wouldn't let a day go by without reminding me that I needed to lose weight and eat better. I was just eating what my parents bought for the family, so I didn't understand what I was doing wrong. I don't want to turn this into a therapy session but that is really indicative of the household I grew up in, where nothing was ever good enough and that B should have been an A and it was my responsibility if my brother wasn't doing well in school...

15 years later and I can still remember that stuff like it was yesterday. At least when I become a parent I will know everything that I shouldn't do to teach my kids that they're good enough as is. That's how I had to learn management as well, I observed all the ways supervisors destroyed team moralw and to treat team members llike human beings instead of machines. It's sad that there are managers in this day and age who need to be reminded of that...I really hope I have just ended up at a lot of toxic workplaces and these aren't industry norms.

A little respect can go a long way. You never know what someone else is going through and it's amazing what a difference you can make in someone's life changing someone's tire or buying a homeless person a meal. I don't have grand ambitions in life; it's moments like those which give my life meaning.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

Well if you ever need an boost of appreciation or motivation, feel free to add me as a friend. I'm sorry you had to deal with that in your life. You're a great person, you're past does not define you nor does family/blood. You can be who you want, you just have to believe it and be that person every day.

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Thank you! This site truly is a community; it feels like a family of developers. So many developer sites are full of people who seem to have no interests whatsoever besides nitpicking insignificant points and shouting at people to RTFM, or downvoting anyone who disagrees with them into oblivion, that I stop visiting and become very discouraged about the products represented by the community. I love how uplifting and caring this community is. It's been a tough few weeks/months and this community has always been there for me.

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

I agree, a lot of sites are super negative. I had one of my post blow up and go across the net. I was shocked to see how different it was from site to site. Here is was nothing but positive. On hacker news, it was me being a cry baby.

Hit me up next time you're feeling down or just want to talk.

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Appreciate it! And I extend the same invitation to you, or anyone else who may be reading!

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dechamp profile image
Petry DeChamp Richardson

Thank you Scott! I hope you have a great week!