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Writer's picturePanshul Khurana

Using 2020 (the year of self-isolation) to become an efficient Software Developer.

Updated: Jul 20, 2022

The only way to become a better version of yourself, is to work on yourself and your skills every day, every hour and every moment.


It is 2020 and you may have planned so many things to accomplish this year, took so many new year resolutions but we are all stuck in this situation where no one can move outside their house or meet people around.


This might sound BORING and it is actually BORING! But we all are in this together and there is only one thing that we can do and that is to #stayhome and #keepcalm.

Actually, let's add few more hashtags to it and make this self-isolation period #fruitful by staying #focused on things we do or we love to do.


This is the perfect time to sharpen your weapons and when time and things come back to normal, show the world that you are super ready for the wars to come.


I am a software developer with an experience of 4+ years and have been working on technologies like PHP, javascript, Sql and some other frontend related things that a normal developer is aware about . I would still call myself a newbie or a beginner in terms of software development because 4 is not a great number in terms of technology.

With every year passing by, I remind myself that there is so much to learn and get better at it. The list of ToDos would never end for me. It feels like, my actual education started with my entrance to enterprise world.


But year 2020 is special for me because of the following reasons :


I would complete 5 years of software development experience this year.

The next level that I would get or I am expected to move to, holds so much more than just being a programmer who writes code or develop features.

I am getting closer to achieve the bigger aim I have been planning for.

I want to learn and be so much more than just another developer in the world and want to make sure that 2020 should be the year to remember for my whole life.

All of this, just to become better at what I love to do.


I want to share things that I keep in mind that helps me to stay curious and keep learning even in these hard times. I call them - My Seven Rules to greatness . You can use them or create one for yourself :)


I would like to start by the most important of all :


1. Meditate and Stay Focused

We all know the importance of meditation, we are not going to talk in deep about meditation here but would love to talk about how mediation is helping me to achieve the second part of the title, the "Stay Focused" part.


- It has made me realise that there is so much more that a human can do with his brain, the power is unlimited.


- Reading and learning positive things only brings in extra positivity.


- The aura around you helps others to stay calm and brings them to the right path as well, which means that you are keeping your whole environment and surrounding positive.


- The energy within yourself has to be channelised to achieve greater things in life.


- I started accepting that if something is hard to understand then the only way to get through it is to face it.


2. Keep learning new things or revisit the one you already know about.

Another important aspect of self development is to learn new things or revisit the one you are aware about already.


The "New Things" part is self-explanatory. With new things you are just increasing your knowledge domain. You might be able to compare them with your current skills. No need to learn what others are learning, do your own research.


Pick something for yourself that will help you and others around you but remember to prioritise yourself first. Being selfish is not wrong until and unless it doesn't harm anybody.


When you Revisit your current skills, you will see that the world has discovered so much more about it, they have moved to the next level of expertise. The last time you went through the concept, you tried to gain 90% of it but, with the fast moving world that we live in, things get updated quickly.

The current knowledge status may be 60%. Definitely you need to run

sudo apt get update && sudo apt get upgrade on yourself.


3. Adopt and become T shaped personality

Something that I have learned from my seniors at work!


Being T shaped is about being expert in a single domain of your interest and keeping the basic knowledge of other domains around.

This can be applied to a concept involved within a specific domain as well.


4. Share as much as you learn

The most important part of software development is to share as much as you learn.


Every developer around you is not working on each and everything around. But if you are working on something that others should know then you should definitely share.

Sharing can be done in any way, write a blog, create a tutorial video, give a session or just simply say one liner about it on social media platform.


Because, The More you share, the More you Learn.


5. Plan/Aim something bigger and take small steps to reach there

According to me, personal growth involves planning and achieving things in 2 ways.

1. Have short terms goals (Goals that are achievable in not more than a week or in a span of 2 weeks).

2. Have Long term goals (Goals that make you work day and night and can be divided into smaller steps)


Having the combination of both, is a complete self development plan.

BTW, you are currently reading a "short term goal" :)


6. Don't cheat but don't pressurise yourself too

The only way to get better at it, is to stay regular at it


A dreamland cannot be created in a day or two, or not even in a month or two. But don't pressurise yourself too. Example, I don't always like to sit and code. Sometimes, I like to take a day off and read a book instead. Or visit a new cafe around.


7. Accept that someone will always be better than you, no need to run too fast to stay ahead , just walk normally with your own pace.

You are living in a world where no profession is new. Something that you are working upon must have been worked upon by someone else already.


No need to demotivate yourself with this thought.


Remember Baba Ranchordas from 3 Idiots ?


We all should be aiming to become "Funshuk Wanghdu".

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