Dev Retro 2022: The Power of FOMO and Dealing with the Ever-Fast-Paced World of Software
Table of contents
Introduction
2022 was a very chaotic year, to say the least. They were some ups and many downs. My goals were ever-dynamic, and I found it hard to stick to one thing because everything kept changing quickly.
It felt like I had to be on top of the latest trend, and every new tech and programming video was structured the exact same way: you know this tech stack you have been learning for over a month? Well, that tech stack is dead and useless, and no one is hiring for that anymore. Here is this new shiny thing you need to start learning right now (I am exaggerating a little, but that was basically how 2022 was for me xD )
Shiny object syndrome (SOS) is a continual state of distraction brought on by an ongoing belief that there is something new worth pursuing. It often comes at the expense of what’s already planned or underway. -- Wikipedia
It made me feel depressed and anxious because I could not keep up with every new trend, and I felt terrible about not achieving those goals even though, realistically, I could not do it all. I kept living behind my fundamentals to watch the next 5 hours of a new tech tutorial that promised to revolutionize how we see web development or software engineering and would be the next surefire way to get me a new fulfilling job in the next three months(spoiler, they didn't). In hindsight, it was very naive, and I felt that way after getting burnt out multiple times. I tried killing multiple birds with one stone, and they all ran away.
So, when the opportunity came to review my year with the #DevRetro2022, I became very skeptical of writing about it because my year wasn't as glamorous or eventful progress-wise as those of my peers in the same space even though I have grown a lot because of the experience.
Only a few weeks later, when I started talking to other developers, I realized how much of a problem this was for our community. I felt writing about my experience and how I have been able to overcome feeling anxious about missing out on the latest gold rush might be helpful to beginners who are falling into this trap or to people who are currently stuck in it.
Trusting your pace and controlling your impulses
The tech space is designed to be a very fast-paced industry, which is inherently good. It, however, can and does become very daunting to people just starting out because of the fear of missing out on the next big thing. That fear is real( and also somehow not 🧐) because there is always a new startup doing something amazing in a new space, and resisting those temptations is tough, especially when there is a lot of community pressure surrounding that space.
My goals for 2022 were to become a really good backend engineer, build projects that would help me level up and write a ton. While I was able to do those things to an extent, I could and should have spent more time leveling up those skills instead of jumping and deluding myself into spending so much time learning blockchain technology because of the FOMO that surrounded it at the time.
It's really hard seeing headlines about someone who started learning blockchain and in 3 months was able to land a 6 figure job, build an amazing startup, or win a crypto hackathon and still not have lingering thoughts about entering the space, even when your priorities did not align with it.
Controlling your impulses can be really hard, especially when you are in the tech space, but you need to focus on your priorities(why you started). In 2022, I blindly followed my impulses which were good sometimes but ended up not so good other times. The problem with impulses is that it makes you do things for hours on end, which makes you burn out faster and can make you end up hating the thing you once had a passion for. It happened to me, and it was definitely not a fun experience.
Your journey is like a marathon, starting out with full bursts of energy gives you the illusion of going further but in reality, you are gassing out before the real hurdles start.
What I have learned is that you need to pace yourself. Do it till it becomes a habit before increasing your pace. Running a marathon and running a sprint require two different approaches. Your coding journey should not be treated as an overdue assignment or test week. It takes a lifetime of practice and commitment, and you have to learn to show up every day, even if you can only commit to doing it for 30 minutes. You also need to understand that your 3 months and someone else’s 3 months cant be comparable because your journey is different. It is better to commit 30 minutes of your day to learn something consistently than to spend 8 hours a day for a week and then not practicing for the rest of the month.
It has been really hard for me to try controlling my impulses and working on my pace. It took some time, and I have been better because of it. Showing up for yourself might look different from time to time, and that is okay.
“In 3 months, 3 months would go by, and you would be better off being marginally better when those 3 months pass than giving up after a week from not seeing rapid improvements" Slight daily improvements > Massive irregular actions.
“Success is the product of daily habits – not once in alifetime transformations” -> James Clear
I have tried a couple of habits to help me with anxiety and consistency, and I have seen the most improvements from journaling and meditating.
Meditating to Overcome Distractions and Gain Clarity
Meditation has helped with my focus when coding and has helped me with controlling my impulses and anxiety. There are many things that are important and a lot more that are distractions. Finding clarity on what's important to me has left me feeling less worried about other people's journeys and more about mine.
Onye kwe, chi ya ekwe --> when you agree to do something, your chi(your personal guardian) affirms it.
Where I am from, we believe that each person is born with an inner spirit, and those spirits help and guide us. When we work with teams to deliver a project, we have meetings to see what we are working on, what we have accomplished, and where we are slacking behind. This helps the team be more productive and know the project's trajectory, so why don't we have more meetings with ourselves to know how we are doing 😄? Journaling was one thing that really helped when I was depressed and burnt out from coding.
I hated programming because I felt like I was not improving, but the more ‘meetings’ I had with myself to understand what was going on and got to the root of the problem. The more my passion reignited for programming and technical writing.
Journaling is amazing in realigning your priorities and reaffirming your systems. The more meetings you have with yourself, the more you know and understand yourself and what works and does not work for you. Try journaling at the start of your day, what you want to achieve and things you want to work on, and at the end of the day, recounting the things you could have done better and celebrating those small wins. The more wins you celebrate, the more fuel you have for when things get tough.
Getting crypto fatigue and, most times, boring is better!
My crypto story shares a similar ringtone with many others that got into the space this year. I got into crypto this year and went straight into the trenches to learn it after hearing it being touted by most industry experts (and don’t even get me started on AI!). I got really excited because the tech was new, and I still had a chance to be an early adopter, plus people were making great exploits with it in very little time.
I felt there was a lot I could contribute to this space, so I started writing articles about it, working on mini projects, and investing in crypto. It was really daunting at first trying to balance web3 as a hobby and a potential full-time endeavor with web 2, which I needed to do. It was daunting, but I was willing to try until the whole LUNA, TERRA, and FTX thing started happening. I was crestfallen as the blockchain fog started wearing out and I was just sitting there being angry at myself for falling for the hype( I guess everyone is an expert in hindsight ).
I dug myself into a rabbit hole, and it took a very long till I escaped. I learned a lot, but one of the most important things I learned was- boring is better. You do not have to be on the bleeding edge of technology every time. There is comfort in the boring and, most especially, in the well-documented things of life !! There is a reason why PHP is still the most used programming language for writing web servers in the world. It's because it's reliable. You do not have to scour the dark web to look for a simple bug fix to your blazingly fast alpha framework.
People still hire PHP developers despite the noise, and your skills would be valid regardless as long as you can own your fundamentals. Languages, frameworks, and stacks are just tools, and as long as your tools work fine, you should not feel the need to chase the new shiny thing.
The power of community in shaping who you are
The power of community can not be overstated enough. The people you interact with and break bread with greatly impact your life. One of my year's highlights was going to many tech events to interact with so many amazing people. I formed many friendships with many people from different backgrounds, which kept me grounded and always inspired. One thing is for sure 2023 will have more of this 😄❤️
Reigniting my passion for writing with Hashnode
Ever since I was little, I have always enjoyed writing. There is something so reinvigorating about being able to communicate and express your ideas in a written format that has captivated me. Ever since I joined Hashnode, in march of last year, I have been able to reach a wider audience, and that has really made me enjoy writing more. Hearing real stories from real people about how my writing has helped them has been life-changing, and I love the writing challenges that keep me grounded and consistent. I have grown to really love and stan the Hashnode community, and I am actively rooting for you guys 😁❤️.
Looking forward to 2023 #DEVFUTURE
I learned a lot in 2022, especially what not to do in 2023. I want to focus on showing up for myself every day in 2023, understanding that my best will look different every day, and being fine with that. 2023 will come with its new set of challenges(for starters, I broke my leg yesterday 🥲), and I want to be prepared for the tough hurdles. There are many technologies I also want to get better at, like react native, fast API, docker, and load balancing with NGINX. I also want to work on and release some personal projects that I have been working on and share more about what I know in the form of articles and hopefully through youtube videos too.
Thank you for reading. I hope you were able to get something out of this, and I would like to know your plans for 2023 in the comment section. ;)