Five Lessons from my first month working as a Software Developer

#codenewbie #beginners #dev

Disclaimer: These are my own opinions based on my own experiences and of course I might be wrong.

1. Languages and Frameworks are just tools:

I think we all know this but get carried away due to the complexity of the frameworks and the rate at which languages evolve. What I've learned of late is I should have focused more on problem-solving because I believe at the end of the day that's what matters, languages will always evolve and there will always be a new framework but what will keep you on the job is your ability to use those tools to bring solutions to the problems thrown at you.

2. Soft skills are underrated:

While I admit that this is still a work in progress I'm glad I paid attention to all the soft skills lessons thrown my way during my internship(well not all of them). The ability to empathize, communicate effectively, and work with your team members cannot be overstated and most times might be the key to holding your job and relationships for a long time.

3. Sleep is very important:

In 2019 I slept an average of 4 hours daily because I felt I had so much to learn and sleeping meant I was learning less, I've never been so wrong. I resolved this year to improve the average to 7 hours and it is paying off I no longer dread waking up in the morning. I also believe having enough sleep at night keeps the body and mind sharp and increases productivity.

4. Time management is essential:

As soon as I committed to sleeping more it meant I had less time to achieve my daily tasks or so I thought. I initially did the first thing that came to my head or whatever I felt was of priority at the moment but at the end of each day, I achieved less so I started scribbling down things I planned to do each day on a notepad and it helped to an extent. The issue with this method was I realized I spent more time on some tasks that shouldn't necessarily take time due to distractions. At this point, I decided to go with a Task planning application and eventually picked Google Tasks because of its integration with Google Calendar and I started assigning deadlines to each task. The jury is still out on this but I've noticed an improvement in the number of tasks I get to accomplish daily.

5. Creating a good work-life balance is the key to avoiding burnout:

I've been researching about burnout, the causes and how to avoid it and from what I've realized the major cause of burnout is not having the right work-life balance.
So how does one create a good work-life balance?

Enjoy your work.
Create personal time.
Make your health a priority.
Take a break.

My mantra has always been to live, learn and love and with each day that comes I try as much as possible to accomplish that and I hope what I've learned helps you too.