Comments on: Three Simple Steps to Maintaining a Razor-Sharp Skill Set

By: Daquan Wright

Daquan Wright — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:13:54 +0000

This list is great and as a young developer who has attained a ton of knowledge through practice and research, I think a couple of good blogs with a small library of books is perfect (for me).

My all time favorite medium to learn from is books with paper and ink, forever and always. But blogs kick ass and I use both hand ‘n hand. ;)

Of course getting together with others in your niche is an awesome idea as well, but I’d say books/blog are more necessary than conferences (not that it’s bad or anything).

By: John Paul Aguiar

John Paul Aguiar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:18:33 +0000

Great tips. Making a plan and making time each day to work your plan.

By: Jacques van Heerden

Jacques van Heerden — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:49:23 +0000

I do Agree with Nick on this one.

@surflounge – Nick wasn’t lashing out at you. He was clearly stating his opinion in which you also stated yours.

He is right that we have to keep our lives in order and to do that we have to schedule different things for different times. Believe it or not, some people have very busy lives.
“I’m not saying you don’t,” I’m just making a statement.

Great article Nick.
Keep them coming.
Jacques

By: hotmac

hotmac — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:20:13 +0000

@surflounge: Thanks for your comments. I wholeheartedly agree!

By: john hall

john hall — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:58:28 +0000

Good article. Surf… get over it.

By: Nick Parsons

Nick Parsons — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:28:37 +0000

@Michael – I like that idea, thanks for sharing!

@Jordan Walker and Nicole Foster – thanks glad to see you enjoying it.

@surflounge – Hey, didn’t mean to cause any hard feelings. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I used “us” to refer to human beings in general – my experience is that having a plan helps people stay focused. I don’t even pretend to know everything, though, and I certainly respect the fact that you have a different style.

By: surflounge

surflounge — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:24:56 +0000

hey Nick “most of us”?
let me guess… clueless 18 to 24 age group that thinks you know it all already?

By: Nicole Foster

Nicole Foster — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:36:08 +0000

Very nice article! Right now I have been trying to learn more about SEO and jQuery this year. I will have to follow these tips because both topics are very extensive.

By: Jordan Walker

Jordan Walker — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:28:14 +0000

Those are all very excellent recommendations!

By: Nick Parsons

Nick Parsons — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:28:07 +0000

@surflounge

While it’s true that design/creativity should never be smothered), I wasn’t talking about doing design work – the topic here is learning new skills.

I think a lot of people would agree that a loose vision, no preplanned order, and no learning/connection with others is a recipe for failure.

If you work best that way, kudos to you, but that’s not the case for most of us.