Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#291

Post by calvinmorrison » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:22 PM UTC

Zambyte wrote: post #43

I want be able to play music on the piano. I got a nice keyboard earlier this year, and have only really been inspired to dig into it since I got myself a circle of fifths decoder in the last couple of months. I'm confident now that I have the tools to learn and make concrete progress. I want to get better at speaking to people. I love conversing with people who have a lot to say, but I feel like lately I struggle wi…

I have done this in 2025. I picked up a few hymnals at the ol library book sale. They're easy enough, there will be familiar tunes and licks that you can just get, and it's great for sight reading. There's usually 4 lines to follow but you can start with 1, 2, and then do them all. It's a fun skill

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#292

Post by idontwantthis » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:28 PM UTC

I want to be able to play piano at a level where I can turn inspiration into art. I know I'll never be pro level, but I want to be able to create something that gives me joy.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#293

Post by nihiven » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:42 PM UTC

I'm going to continue learning Rust by working on my TUI IRC client. I'd like to make some, any, contribution to keeping IRC alive. It was such a big part of my formative years!

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#294

Post by swgeek » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:47 PM UTC

AdieuToLogic wrote: post #37

swgeek wrote: post #5

I want to, no, need to improve my ability to focus on the task at hand. Other than that near-universal constant, I want to try being a bit of a jack of many trades this year: learn full-stack, practice vibe coding, basics of graphics programming (update to the latest ways) I understand that means master of none, but this is a play around year for me. In theory AI should make it easier to try new things, we shall see…

> I want to, no, need to improve my ability to focus on the task at hand. > Other than that near-universal constant, I want to try being a bit of a jack of many trades this year: learn full-stack, practice vibe coding, basics of graphics programming (update to the latest ways) Therein lies the problem. To want to "focus on the task at hand" and then express the desire to "try being a bit of a jack of many trades" is…

Good point, but I don't think they are mutually exclusive spread out over a year, only if I try to do them all at once.

This month my focus is on full-stack, and I don't move on to the next project until I get the basics right on that.

> it is best to pick one thing from the "many trades" and master only it before beginning another

Exactly this thanks, but my aim is only "get comfortable", not "master"

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#295

Post by downboots » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:00 PM UTC

euparkeria wrote: post #221

Back to the basics, relearn linear algebra.

Get the Lay book

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#296

Post by ekropotin » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:03 PM UTC

kuerbel wrote: post #77

ekropotin wrote: post #63

My #1 goal for the next year is to find a job that would re-ignite my passion for engineering. I just can’t longer spend my life doing stupid corporate nonsense work contributing to widespread enshittification of the world.

Same here. I really want to stop peddling Microsoft stuff and support m365. Don't know where to go from here though. But if there's a will there's a way right?

100%. You got this, bro or sis!

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#297

Post by m_fayer » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:06 PM UTC

latexr wrote: post #240

m_fayer wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like reframing New Year’s resolutions in a more humane way. It’s an arbitrary day on the calendar, yes. I want to grow as a person, in terms of character and ability. My desire to evolve is a product of curiosity and vitality and ethics, not some capitalist mania for MORE. Putting a random day on the calendar where I tell myself that I’m at an inflection point, that I’ve decided to bend my path, it’s useful. There…

Which is all well and good, and if it works for you, I’m genuinely glad. But we know that’s not the case for most people. We know most set an unrealistic goal in the New Year which is never achieved (if it even lasts a month) then feel worse. I’m suggesting that those who identify should cut themselves some slack and not feel pressured to have something planned to do in the New Year. Do it calmly. Don’t get hyper spe…

Thanks for the thoughtful clarification. I agree that what you’re saying is wisdom many people could use.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#298

Post by arw0n » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:14 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #182

- MANDATORY: Re-learn focus. I will not self-diagnose but I exhibit ADHD symptoms and I started actively fighting them back (they mostly come from the phone). I am not going to just deny myself access to apps on schedule -- my brain never clicked schedule, not even once in my life -- but through a persistent and sustainable self-change from deep within. It's slow but it's beginning to work. - MANDATORY: Get more inti…

> MANDATORY: Get more intimate with my Neovim. I've always kind of half-arsed my editors / IDEs, I always found it annoying to become a deep expert. This must change; surface-level skills rob you of productivity.

I'm actually not that convinced of these productivity gains in the context of IDE tricks. The cost of learning + tool-lock seems steep compared to the actual productivity gains. I'm switching fairly regularly between IDE's, and even if VS Code is the default, the only reason I'm considering learning it in depths is because some people incessantly comment on these things during pair programming.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#299

Post by tmaly » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:15 PM UTC

I would like to improve:

1. storytelling, I think this is still a valuable skill.

2. improve my teaching skills and create better courses.

3. improve my writing skills.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#300

Post by pdimitar » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 6:35 PM UTC

arw0n wrote: post #298

pdimitar wrote: post #182

- MANDATORY: Re-learn focus. I will not self-diagnose but I exhibit ADHD symptoms and I started actively fighting them back (they mostly come from the phone). I am not going to just deny myself access to apps on schedule -- my brain never clicked schedule, not even once in my life -- but through a persistent and sustainable self-change from deep within. It's slow but it's beginning to work. - MANDATORY: Get more inti…

> MANDATORY: Get more intimate with my Neovim. I've always kind of half-arsed my editors / IDEs, I always found it annoying to become a deep expert. This must change; surface-level skills rob you of productivity. I'm actually not that convinced of these productivity gains in the context of IDE tricks. The cost of learning + tool-lock seems steep compared to the actual productivity gains. I'm switching fairly regularl…

I get your point but I am fairly sure I'll never move away from Neovim or nano (when I really have no choice).

There are Zed and Helix of course and they are on my radar but... not enough focus and energy for such big quests.

As for speed, I know Neovim can do much more than I use it for and I want the speed. When I can code even quicker my thought just flows through my fingers and the result is always good. But I have not been like that for years (ever since I gave up Emacs) and I want it back (and no I wasn't that much faster with Emacs either).