Work solidly at work for 8 hours and then go home, instead of sitting behind a computer for 12 hours and wasting a lot of time.
Ah you are not alone!
Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
171–180 of 433 posts
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am guessing: Maybe you are not used to or comfortable with delegating work? You will certainly understand a program better where you write every line of code yourself, but that limits your output. It's a trade-off. The part that makes it work quite well is that you can also use the LLM to better understand the code where required, simply by asking.
> I am guessing: Maybe you are not used to or comfortable with delegating work? The difference between delegating to a human vs an LLM is that a human is liable for understanding it, regardless of how it got there. Delegating to an LLM means you're just more rapidly creating liabilities for yourself, which indeed is a worthwhile tradeoff depending on the complexity of what you're losing intimate knowledge of.
As a technical manager, I'm liable for every line of code we produce - regardless of who in the team actually wrote the code. This is why I review every pull request :)
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#1731. Sight read (focusing on treble clef) at a decent level
2. Being more effective at using LLMs
3. Being able to improve in multiple areas of my level simultaneously
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#174- Woodworking. Bit of a cliché for an engineer, I know ;) I renovated my own house from the ground up over the past 2 years but I found the woodworking part always incredibly rewarding. At this point I have quite a good selection of tools and will setup a dedicated workshop in my basement. - Contributing to Homeassistant community by integrating non-standard zigbee devices. A lot of lighting devices in my house are z…
[dead]
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#175Kotlin and Golang. I know it6not advisable to learn 2 languages at the same time but I want Kotlin for android apps and Go for backend. Been working alot with python and I want to shift to a different stack and hopefully get a change of careers from Test Automation/ QA to a more coding focused role(backend, android)
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#176I want to learn it all...
But what will happen is that I use my working days writing code/producing software, evenings to make dinner and be with family, and nights gaming with friends.
Weekends are for recharging.
And that is completely OK.
It is a healthy balance between getting stuff done, recovery, and enjoying life.
To avoid burnout again, I take a day or two off whenever I feel like I need some time off.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#177I want to draw again. I used to, when I was in a classroom or at a bar. Actually managed to get quite good at it through sheer boredom in grande école . Then life happened and that faded away, alongside my mental health. Recently I've rediscovered doodling while attending ACM CCS 2025 as an independent (long story) and I want to improve my mental health in 2026, to the point where I can draw regularly again.
I would love to learn how to draw. I have an iPad Pro with a pencil and procreate. Can anyone give me a few good pointers? I draw like a 5 year old.
I am pretty good at drawing, and would highly recommend starting with traditional media rather than digital tools.
Drawing on paper allows for a wide range of physical setups, such as using a notebook on your lap or on a table, large sheets mounted on a wall, or a board on an easel. Each configuration engages different muscle groups. Large-format drawing relies primarily on shoulder movement, whereas smaller, more detailed work involves the wrist, forearm, and fingers. I'm convinced that deliberately training hand–eye coordination at multiple scales (finger–eye, wrist–eye, or shoulder–eye), is beneficial in learning to draw better.
It is also a good idea to experiment with a variety of media: pens, pencils, chalk, charcoal, and different surfaces such as paper, wood, or canvas. The differing tactile feedback and resistance will improve your motor control. You don't need to spend a fortune on this, but don't limit yourself to the cheapest color pencils and toilet paper.
That said, if your primary goal is accurate photo replication, it's probably easiest to start with Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain [1], along with some YouTube tutorials.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#178Reverse engineering. I cannot stand that every product I buy requires an app (that will break with the next upgrade/or lack thereof). I realise this is a problem possibly better suited to be solved on a policy level, but I rather learn some more reverse engineering skills (which can be both very rewarding as well as frustrating) than go into politics.
Maybe also think about a structure for such things.
As in, it’s all very well to reverse engineer something for your own edification or benefit, but sharing the fruits of your labour with others would be so much better.
And further, serendipitously discovering (possibly abandoned) reverse engineering efforts on GitHub is better than nothing, but having a community working on such things, sharing progress and techniques, and offering a central point of discovery would also be so much better.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#179I want to draw again. I used to, when I was in a classroom or at a bar. Actually managed to get quite good at it through sheer boredom in grande école . Then life happened and that faded away, alongside my mental health. Recently I've rediscovered doodling while attending ACM CCS 2025 as an independent (long story) and I want to improve my mental health in 2026, to the point where I can draw regularly again.
I was in the same boat and started drawing again at around 30. Remember that paper is cheap and that experimentation is valuable. Make all the bad art you can. The cost of all the paper I wasted in the last 5 years is probably less than the cost of a pizza. There is a valuable life lesson in there about being okay with making mistakes so that you can learn from them. Nowadays I always carry a notebook, and more often…
> The cost of all the paper I wasted in the last 5 years is probably less than the cost of a pizza.
Once you get into it, there is an amazing assortment of papers that can cost up to a pizza per sheet. Especially if you're going for the larger formats.
https://arches-papers.com/arches-range-of-papers/watercolor-...
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#180I want to draw again. I used to, when I was in a classroom or at a bar. Actually managed to get quite good at it through sheer boredom in grande école . Then life happened and that faded away, alongside my mental health. Recently I've rediscovered doodling while attending ACM CCS 2025 as an independent (long story) and I want to improve my mental health in 2026, to the point where I can draw regularly again.
I would love to learn how to draw. I have an iPad Pro with a pencil and procreate. Can anyone give me a few good pointers? I draw like a 5 year old.
Practice. Lots and lots of practice. There's no way around that.
Besides that, there are plenty of resources to learn particular topics/techniques out there. For drawing people with any degree of realism, you'll need at least drawing proportions at first and then anatomy later on.
While you can brute-force it from zero on your own like I did, I wouldn't recommend it. You'll learn faster if you study it like a proper discipline.