I have been dealing with this feeling for years, and I still do. In the beginning, it was really frustrating for me, day by day, step by step, I learned to “TRY DEALING WITH IT”, not fully “DEALING WITH IT” yet, because I’m not at that level.
Let me share a story that might be similar to you or to your experience.
A web developer/software developer who loves this field and has always tried to learn as much as possible. In the past, he made many mistakes by not being serious about focusing and learning the right way. Actually he didn’t know how to learn effectively, even though he was eager to grow and improve in this domain.
Now, while trying to correct those mistakes, he finds it challenging, a lot of tech stacks, and many technical knowledge gaps to fill, all while needing to maintain his work as a source of income.
Well, the story above is mine, I was exactly describing my own journey.
well,
How I’m dealing with this right now.
Work on the psychological blockers:
1- I identified the root cause of my fear: I’m afraid of looking wrong or stupid. I realized I was wrong, everyone has their own intelligence in one way or another. It’s just a matter of experience and how you approach solving problems.
2- Respect yourself and appreciate your failures, they are something you MUST go through. Otherwise, you’re not truly living in this world, you’re in heaven.
3- Don’t always expect to deliver that great work always, be prepared to receive constructive or not soo positive feedback.
4- You might find yourself in an environment where others seem better than you. It’s normal, it’s ok, even if you’re a senior developer. Don’t discuss that feeling too much, focus on your own path.
5- Value any tasks that you will take, give them your emotion.. concentrate on it even if it boring task or a very simple
6- Remember that you were hired for a reason. Keep doing your best to make a living and push away the worst-case scenarios. I know it’s hard, but focusing on those scenarios will only block you from doing your best. It will not help you in the future, even if they do happen.
Work on technical/professional blockers:
1- List your technical gaps one by one. But remember, don’t try to address them all at once on the learning side, or you’ll end up dropping them all at once.
2- Set a time to learn what you’ve listed as gaps, even if it’s just 30 minutes per day. You will see significant improvement over time.
3- Don’t be shy to ask technical questions
4- Show up, share your knowledge even if it looks basic for you, share it with the community that you admire, also share it with your team, don’t say it is too basic for them.. it will help.
4- Learn to communicate effectively, talking and writing.
5- Start small. I know it’s hard to fill your gaps by focusing on the basics of JavaScript (for example) or creating simple functions, especially after having more than 3 years of experience. It’s mentally challenging, but trust me, this will pay off in the near future.
6- Remember, anything you add to your knowledge or skills will make you more valuable and help the team around you. You may not notice it right away, but it will come.
I have not completed all of these steps above yet, I’m still working on myself. But I’m following what I’ve mentioned. I used to share the process only when finish something, but now I’m sharing as I go, because I might not have the chance later.
I’m sharing this in my way to become a less afraid, more confident software developer.
See you..
Originally posted on my blog: https://mohcinbounouara.com/its-ok-to-feel-afraid-when-working-to-fill-your-knowledge-gaps-as-a-developer/
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