It's in the systems that move people through cities, the software that quietly powers daily life and the infrastructure we only notice when it fails. At its core, engineering is not just about building things, it's about solving problems under constraints, making trade offs and accepting that no solution is ever perfect.
Yet for many of us, engineering slowly becomes narrow. We focus on tools, deadlines and deliverables. We optimize for output, not understanding. Over time, it's easy to forget that engineering is as much about thinking as it is about doing.
That realization led me to a simple experiment.
For three months, I committed to a simple habit; read one engineering blog post every single day.
No courses.
No certifications.
No pressure to take notes or build projects immediately.
Just reading.
At first, it felt almost too easy to matter. But by the end of those three months, the way I thought about engineering, problem solving and my own growth had quietly but permanently changed.
Here's what actually happened.
My Thinking Became More Structured
Before this experiment, I approached problems instinctively. I'd jump straight into solutions, often without fully understanding the problem space.
Engineering blogs changed that.
Almost every good post followed a pattern:
Define the problem clearly.
Explain constraints and trade-offs.
Walk through failed attempts.
Arrive at a solution with justification.
After weeks of exposure, I found myself thinking the same way whether with debugging code, designing a system or even planning personal projects.
I stopped asking, "What's the fastest fix?"
I started asking, "What's the real problem here?"
That shift alone was worth the effort.
My Thinking Became More Deliberate
Before this habit, I treated problems like puzzles that needed quick solutions. If something wasn't working, my instinct was to fix it immediately, often without fully understanding the root cause.
Engineering blogs taught me patience.
Most well-written posts don't jump straight to answers. They spend time explaining:
The context of the problem.
The constraints that shaped decisions.
The trade-offs between different approaches.
Why certain solutions failed.
After weeks of reading, I noticed myself slowing down. I started defining problems more clearly before attempting to solve them. I paid more attention to edge cases, assumptions and long-term consequences.
I wasn't just fixing things anymore, I was understanding them.
I Learned More From Failures Than Success Stories
The most valuable posts weren't the polished "we scaled to millions of users" stories.
They were the honest ones:
Systems that went down.
Design decisions that backfired.
Performance optimisations that made things worse before they got better.
Reading about other engineers' mistakes normalised failure. It removed the shame from getting things wrong and replaced it with curiosity.
Instead of feeling frustrated when something broke, I started thinking:
Someone has already broken this in a more spectacular way and probably wrote about it.
And usually, they had.
My Vocabulary (and Confidence) Improved
Terms like; idempotency, eventual consistency, race conditions, load shedding, technical debt, used to sound intimidating.
After seeing them repeatedly in context, they became familiar tools instead of abstract jargon.
That familiarity changed how I communicated:
I asked better questions.
I explained ideas more clearly.
I felt more confident in technical discussions.
Not because I knew everything but because I finally knew what I didn't know.
I Stopped Chasing Every New Trend
Before this habit, I was easily distracted by hype; new frameworks, shiny tools and viral tech threads.
Engineering blogs, especially long-form ones offered a longer perspective.
Many posts emphasised fundamentals:
simplicity over cleverness.
maintainability over speed.
boring technology that works.
After three months, I became more selective.
I stopped asking, "Is this new?"
I started asking, "Will this still make sense in two years?"
That mindset saved me time and mental energy.
I Started Seeing Engineering Everywhere
Unexpectedly, this habit spilled into daily life, I noticed engineering principles in; traffic systems, business processes, legal structures, personal productivity etc.
Everything started to look like a system with inputs, outputs, constraints, and failure modes.
Engineering stopped being just a job or a skill, it became a way of seeing the world.
The Habit Was Small, But the Compound Effect Was Huge
One blog post a day doesn't feel impressive., but over three months, that's:
~90 different problems.
~90 perspectives.
~90 real-world lessons.
No single post changed my life.
But together, they quietly raised my baseline.
I didn't become an expert overnight, I became better prepared, more thoughtful and more patient.
Final Thoughts
You don't need to read everything.
You don't need to understand everything.
You just need consistency.
One engineering blog a day won't make you brilliant tomorrow.
But three months from now, you'll think differently and that's where real growth begins.
There are many engineering blogs that I read but these are some of the ones that I love:
Meta => https://engineering.fb.com/
Netflix => https://netflixtechblog.com/
Spotify => https://engineering.atspotify.com/
Uber => https://www.uber.com/en-DE/blog/engineering/
Linkedin => https://www.linkedin.com/blog/engineering
Guess the one I love the most 😊
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