Quality over Quantity: The Key to Professional Development
If your plan for 2024 is to read at least 52 non-fiction books, complete technical bootcamps, run 10 marathons and do a daily ice bath - then hold on a minute.
Let's make this the year you focus on quality over quantity.
Reading is great, so is building technical skills, getting fit(ter) and strengthening your immune system. BUT: it's so tempting to do all the things and when you do, you'll most likely miss the mark and get to New Years Eve reflecting on a stressful year with little genuine progress.
Let's unpack how you can use the next 49 weeks to develop as a professional without burning out and without neglecting other parts of your life.
The Challenge:
You want to build your technical or soft/human skills and have already overcommitted. You have too many different goals to focus on and you're anxious that you won't be able to achieve them and feel deflated.
You're trying to absorb as much information as possible by listening to podcasts and audio books during every available minute, you spend your 'free' time attending training courses and you're exhausted. It's not even February yet.
The Solution:
Focus. As scary as it might sound, you'll have to lower your expectations so you can excel at a few things instead of making minimal process on 12 things.
Let's say you want to put yourself in the position to apply for entry-level data science roles at the start of 2025. Then for 2024 select one (1) high quality training course or bootcamp focused on technical skills and find regular opportunities to practice, e.g. through community challenges.
Set a realistic goal for how much time you will commit each week to this goal.
In addition to the technical focus, focus on the soft skills this data science role will require. That’s where books are great. But not 52 of them. Reading 1 book a week leaves no time to apply what you've learned - you're just binging information.
Instead, pick 1 book a month with a focus on skills, ideas, frameworks, etc. that are also relevant for your goal. As a data scientist you will do more than build models. You need to:
communicate with a range of stakeholders
break down complex concepts into simple information
present your work internally to audiences at different levels
stay up to date on technologies and the wider ecosystem you're operating in
... (lots more!)
This is where reading books and newsletters and listening to podcasts can support your growth very effectively. Again, focus on quality over quantity.
The Next Step:
I hope the above ideas resonate with you, so let's take action: Firstly, don't rush. Professional development is not a sprint, it's not even a marathon. More like a multi-stage adventure race with snacks along the way.
Grab a piece of paper and, based on the above, write down your plan for 2024:
What's the most important professional goal you want to focus on this year?
What do you need to work on to accomplish this goal? (skills, knowledge)
How will you gain these skills? (courses, online resource, etc.)
Who can help you?
A note on speed reading
I'm a sceptic and I was very sceptical about speed reading. I always thought it was something for people who had 5 egg white omelettes and a triple espresso before 6am. People who wanted to rush through life and tell everyone about it.
Then I saw a recommendation for speed reading in a book and it came with an actual explanation of why it works. I tried it out and wow, I am converted to the benefits of it.
I worried I wouldn't be able retain any information and that I would feel rushed through a book, but the opposite is true. I'm not skipping text, I just use my finger to underline the text as I read and it makes it noticeably faster and me significantly more focused.
Give it a go if you're interested.
Have a great week!
Eva
