[j_baker]

Learning. I'll probably be in the middle of learning something new and interesting the day I die. Some on here will disagree with me, but I'm a huge advocate of learning at the expense of doing. Spend time to learn how to not only do something, but do it well. After all, most programming tasks are only useful for a limited time. Knowledge is usually useful for much, much longer. Sometimes I'm surprised at how useful useless facts really are.

Plus if nothing else, you'll be able to do that task much faster the next time.

[minalecs]

to add to that.. reading. I spend a lot of time reading, books, documentation, forums, and blogs

[j_baker]

Good advice, but remember what Einstein said:

"Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

To me, the best readings aren't ones that I learn directly from. They're the ones that spark thought processes inside my head. I haven't read past Chapter 2 of pg's "On Lisp", but I still consider it one of the best books on programming languages because it changed how I think about them in a lot of ways.

[aaronblohowiak]

i find i can spend a whole day reading stuff and feel like i am much better off. if i spend half the time reading and half the time trying to apply what i've learned, then i will retain it soooooo much better.