[simonw]

Becoming a really good engineer is about hoarding experience and tools. Every project you work on, no matter how simple, is an opportunity to add new tricks and tools to your belt.

The real magic happens when you get to say "OK, I can solve this problem by combining technique X (which I learned on that project 5 years ago) with tool Y (which I picked up last week).

This doesn't mean you should try and introduce the latest hot framework on everything you do, but it does mean you should always take an opportunity to learn a new trick - even something as simple as writing a Bash script to automate a process that usually takes three steps on the command-line.

So take a lot of notes. A few years ago I started trying to learn in public as much as possible - making notes for myself on GitHub Issues and publishing TILs ( https://til.simonwillison.net/ ) - and it's really paid off for me - I feel like I learn faster and waste less time revisiting old things. But you may be more comfortable keeping private notes, and that's fine too. Just make sure they're well backed up!