Forem: Zachary Lamb (He, Him, His)

Fight hipster culture in tech

Zachary Lamb (He, Him, His) — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 21:30:52 +0000

"You haven't heard of this?" is a phrase that we hear constantly from the hipsters in our lives. I am guilty of saying this. We all like to be in the know and stay ahead of the game. Tech is constantly changing at a rapid pace. The jokes about the abundance of JavaScript libraries, new frameworks, and new programming languages are everywhere.

There is an endless stream of awesome things to learn. The search engine has brought us so much information. It's awesome....until it's not. Many of us have heard a similar variation of this phrase ,and some of us ,including myself, have also said this. Has anyone ever questioned if using this language harms us more than helps us? This industry is amazing because there is so much we can learn about and there are many problems to be solved with new tools. We have to stay focused though.

What can you do to fight this? What works for me is keeping a list of what I want to learn. I stick with that list. If I come across something that I want to learn, I put it in another list that I call a "parking lot." I am sure this might seem boring and mundane to some of you. This has been key to helping me advance my skills ,and sometimes the easiest lessons in life are the hardest to learn.

What are you learning about? Do you have any tips or tricks for how you stay focused?

What is something in your routines that is helping you work remotely?

Zachary Lamb (He, Him, His) — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 01:27:08 +0000

Oh, yes, here is yet another blog post on working remote. My goal of this is to foster a conversation about what is working or not working for everyone though , so feel free to post in the comments and skip reading this if you would like! (I seriously will not be offended.)

without further ado, I do not have it down to an exact science yet, but here is how I have handled working remotely:

1) I am a morning person, so I try to stack my meetings in one big block instead of throughout the day. This gives me bigger time blocks to code, test, or fix a bug. Understanding that I was an early bird rather than a night owl, has been key to my productivity.

2) I view my day as a list of things I need to get done rather than a strict 9-5. This has been key to help me maintain a work/life balance and honestly be more productive.

3) I disconnect and take breaks throughout the day. I try to walk 2-3 times a day and/or workout. I also try to take a quick break in-between meetings. Microsoft talks about this in a recent blog post as well.

I am always on the hunt for tips and tricks for remote working, so feel free to leave any in the comments!

"work smarter not harder" requires us to say no

Zachary Lamb (He, Him, His) — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 05:57:49 +0000

"Our web app has to support a browser. We know it usually takes a month, but can you do it in two weeks." This was the paraphrased message I received after I returned from a much-needed vacation. I had dealt with my fair share of stressful situations before as an ex-fast food worker(shoutout to all service industry workers!) This request had my team and I working long nights and weekends however causing burnout and unnecessary stress while also creating a lot of tech debt. Even worse, this caused my organization to miss our financial goals for the year.

I blamed myself for this unfortunate outcome. After sitting with my thoughts and confiding with my mentor, my boss , and a few close colleagues, I realized I was asking the wrong questions and looking at this situation from the wrong angle.

Newer devs such as myself are not taught the business side of tech in college. Nor are we taught to hone our emotional or communication skills. These are skills that I have had to learn on the job (quite painfully I might add). From this situation, I learned how to manage unattainable requirements and avoid disaster. These are the steps I use now when I get new requirements in project,and maybe they will be helpful to other young devs

1) I ask any and every question about what is required. I do not take anything for granted , and I ask any question no matter how silly or simple it might be. There are sometimes silly questions, but I would rather ask a silly question then work nights and weekends.

2) I ask about the feature's value. "What is the value of this feature to the client and how does it further our team's/org's goals as well?" "Why is this valuable?"

3) Saying "no" outright has not worked out in my favor in the past which is why this is the last point. Asking questions and learning as much information I can, helps lead my team and me to logical and concrete steps as to how feasible a feature is and what the ramifications to adding it to our sprint are.

Thanks for reading my first blog post ever! My goal for blogging is to mainly keep track of what I am learning in my, measure my growth, and connect with other devs/product owners/designers/teach people in the community. Feel free to send feedback, comment, or add anything that contributes to this topic.