Learning the EMacs navigation key combos made getting around the terminal faster.
Learning version control made it easier to avoid many, many headaches.
Learning the key combos for whatever editor I’m using made it much faster to write, edit and manipulate code.
Learning basic bash and Unix programs like grep, awk, find and xargs made it a lot easier to write throwaway scripts to automate things that used to be tedious when done manually.
Learning how to identify the current bottleneck made it easier to focus on the most important thing.
Learning how to identify and talk about the tradeoffs I’m making made it easier to avoid rework.
Learning how to run containers, originally using docker and now podman made it easier to get whatever version of whatever program I needed quickly.
Learning how to debug and divide problem spaces made it easier to overcome problems.
Learning how to respond to incidents made it easier to get things working again.
Learning how to automate builds and deployments with CI/CD made it easier to focus on the code.
Learning how to use observability tooling made it easier to understand what normal looks like which in turn made it easier to understand when and why things weren’t normal.
Learning how to learn a new code base or tech made it easier to get up to speed when starting or joining something new.
Learning how to identify and focus on the next most important, smallest problem made it was more to produce value.
Learning how to work out what was important to stakeholders and co-workers made it easier to tailor my message and get buy in.
Learning how to mentor and coach made it easier to get things done as there were more experienced devs around me.
Learning how to trust in others made it easier to produce great things with great people and love what I’m doing.
Learning when to shut up is something I’m still figuring out.