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Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#341

Post by vb6sp6 »

x87678r wrote: post #279
melenaboija wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X with 64gb. I just realized I don't need that when I am seating in front of tv or while traveling, and as long as I can connect two external monitors to my laptop is enough. Something "similar" to this in MacBook world is 4k, and you end up with a portable device with worst battery performance and always suffering that you are about to loose your life. VS Code was definitely something that…

I've always wanted to do this but do you run IDE on laptop or XWindows/VNC/RDP? Also big screen laptops now are more expensive than smaller ones which is the opposite of 10 years ago.

For me, everything is on the remote desktop so I can work on any device via RDP (phone, tablet, chromebook, raspberrypi, etc).

The laptop needs no configuration. It doesn't need to be backed up, I don't need any software licenses. The laptop can be lost, stolen, damaged, etc and nothing will be lost.

If I was more mobile, the laptop specs would be more important but I work in the same physical space. It needs to be able to power some monitors and the keyboard needs to be decent for the few times a year I go out of town.

Currently using a Surface Go (8gb version).

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#342

Post by Kaze404 »

pc86 wrote: post #339
Kaze404 wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about their response makes you think it was a non answer? I specifically opened this thread to share the exact same experience, as therapy has helped my professional life much more than any book or tool I ever bought.

OP is asking what they can spend this budget on. Assuming it's from an employer, therapy isn't a valid answer to the question they're asking.

The problem is you're dismissing a valid suggestion based on an assumption you came up with yourself. I understand your point but I feel like it was misplaced here.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#343

Post by nikisweeting »

stopachka wrote: post #307

The habit I’ve stuck with the longest, which continues to bear fruit: 1. If a book comes to mind, just buy it. No wishlists, no libraries. Feel free to get _both_ kindle and paperback, even the audible. The returns on this habit are incalculable. I do this at an extreme level, which amounts to about 5k / year. That’s similar to a great gym membership or owning a small car. Expensive but doable.

This only works if you actually read them.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#344

Post by schoolornot »

locochef wrote: post #204

The single best thing I did for professional development was see a therapist. In tech, our jobs are knowledge-based. You can't hammer a nail into a board while you're sitting on the couch with your child, but you can certainly think about software architecture. I've found that my job bleeds into my personal life, and vice versa, and I believe it is far more common than most people realize. Stress piles up and it affe…

Disagree. I know not everyone is lucky to have close friends but as someone who has always dealt with things alone, I feel guilty and vulnerable the few times I've spoken to therapists. Even years later I regret going.

I don't want someone who is impartial or non-judgmental. If I'm going to pay someone I want actionable advice from someone who has been in my shoes. Having friends who know me, who come from different backgrounds, cultures, countries does way more for me. Them saying "schoolornot, knock it off, you're acting immature" does way more for me than laying on a nobody's couch.

I'm not knocking it but it's not for me.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#345

Post by dredmorbius »

kristopolous wrote: post #291
dredmorbius wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clothes always had a social signalling component. The signalling dynamic shifted, becoming both increasingly accessible, capable of defining increasingly finer social groups, esspecially those not associated with high-powwer or high-status groups (nobility, royalty, clergy, miltitary, artisans, merchants). Fads-as-signalling shows up in many places if you look for it: https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/62u…

> What does it mean to publish if what's recorded is never read? The old WORN drive joke (write once, read never) has fangs. The mere act of publishing itself is a form of capital and political and social exercise regardless of who reads it. This is a deep rabbit hole and I don't have time to go into here (there's 2 chapters in this mythical book I speak of on it) but I'll point you in two directions, both centered o…

Xerox machines also played a crucial role in the Pentagon Papers story.

You're familiar with Elizabeth Eisenstein? *The Printing Press as an Agent of Change.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#346

Post by bb123 »

jw1224 wrote: post #326
dbancajas wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how does one find a therapist? Like what search terms and what kinds do we need advise as someone who works on the tech field.

Starting therapy earlier this year was possibly the best thing I’ve done for myself in years. It took about 3 months of weekly sessions to properly “notice” what a difference it was making, but now it’s blindingly obvious, and I’m so glad I did it. I found my therapist through https://www.bacp.co.uk/ — I’m not sure which country you’re in, but there’s bound to be similar directories out there. I set their filters to…

Is therapy the same as counselling?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#347

Post by penguinium »

ajmurmann wrote: post #106

I attended a weekend-long T-Group. It's a workshop in sick you get to practice interpersonal interactions dialed to 11 with super fast feedback. It's really hard to describe without it sounding ridiculous. In essence one person says something and then someone else will give them immediate feedback on it. It's hands down the best learning experience I've ever had. It's also very, very hard emotional work. There is a c…

Are there online T-groups?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#348

Post by tsjq »

neillyons wrote: post #79

As a Python developer it has to be PyCharm Professional Edition. I am a more effective developer because of it.

For a newbie Python developer & pycharm user (~15 months, at work) , pls share points on the benefits of pycharm professional edition over the free one

Re: Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?

#350

Post by tsjq »

webmaven wrote: post #255
sanguy wrote: post #234

The therapist is a good one already suggested. Also instead of other PD I would suggest to save (invest) as much as possible as early as possible. A career in tech is very seldom healthy as a forever job so having an escape path is important. I used this technique to get enough invested by 45 that I could comfortably live on the dividends/capital gains/passive income it generates without ever touching the investment…

> Telling Eric Schmidt (while at Google) to "go fuck yourself" and walk out the door to never return was the most empowering thing I have ever done. > My career has been much more rewarding since. That sounds like an interesting story. Any more details?

I'm guessing he/she had a good amount of "fuck you money" ! ;)
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