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Being a developer is hard. Not only we have to know technical skills, but we also have lots of soft skills that we’ve to get good at.

In this article, we’ll look at the ways that we can get better as developers.

Ask Specific Questions

Asking specific questions is more likely to get the answers that we’re looking for.

Otherwise, we may get some generic answers that don’t help us much.

Speak Up in Meetings If We Have Useful Things to Say

We should say something in meetings if we have something to contribute. Otherwise, we don’t want to waste other people’s time by saying things that don’t contribute much to the conversation.

Useful things also help people learn more.

Cross-Team Collaboration

It couldn’t hurt to collaborate cross-team so that we can learn things from other teams that we won’t be exposed to otherwise.

Cross-team collaboration is a great opportunity that we won’t get often, so it couldn’t hurt to do it.

Have Passion Projects

Outside of our work, we should do something that we like so that we can take our mind off work.

It also allows us to learn things that aren’t used at work, so that’s also a good thing.

Define Career Goals

We should have a target for our careers. This doesn’t have to be inside our company that we’re working for.

It can also be outside the company like starting a small business. We shouldn’t confine ourselves to our day jobs since they change often and we can’t assume that the company that we’re working for now will want us tomorrow.

Therefore, whatever we do, it should be a general goal rather than thinking about what we can do within the company.

Get Involved in the Conversation

Getting involved online is a great way to help others and promote ourselves in the process. If others know that we can help with their problems, then opportunities will come.

Also, we’ll learn more things than just being a lurker or a bystander.

Prioritize Tasks

We can’t do everything at once, so we got to prioritize our tasks so that we can finish them when we have time.

Of course, we should finish urgent issues first, and then do the less urgent ones later.

Trust Our Teammates

We should trust them to do their jobs. If they’re still our teammates, then they’re probably useful for something.

This also means that we should learn to delegate things to other people in our team so that we won’t be overwhelmed with our own work.

Don’t Compare Ourselves to Others

Comparison is the destroyer of joy. Therefore, we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others.

We just look at how good everyone has it and be miserable ourselves, which doesn’t help us much other than that it makes us sad.

Surround Yourselves With Allies

We always got to have allies that can help us since we can’t do too much ourselves.

Therefore, we need allies so that they can have our back when we need help. They also encourage us to keep going on our jobs.

Don’t Discriminate Against New Ideas

New technologies and ideas are worth a try. They’re always worth considering. We only use them if they suit our needs.

Also, we shouldn’t discriminate against other people since everyone deserves our respect.

Don’t Copy and Paste Without Thinking

Copying and pasting without thinking is a bad idea. We have to think about why it might work before we copy something from a website.

This is an important step that we can’t miss. We got to think if something already exists to solve our problem.

And we have to think if the code we’re copying and pasting is actually good.

Create an Inspiring Environment

We should create an environment where everyone is motivated to do their best. This means lots of encouragement and people aren’t worried about retribution if they make mistakes.

Remain Optimistic

We got to be optimistic about what we’re doing. It just makes us feel a lot better. Reality is the same but our perception is different. That makes a big difference in our day.

We rather feel good than feel bad. See the good side and we’ll get good outcomes in reality in no time.

Conclusion

We should be optimistic and create an inspiring environment.

Also, we should build trust and respect for others. Side projects and careers should also come side by side.