Focus as a strategy.
WHY IT MATTERS
The field is too large to learn, and attempting it produces shallowness everywhere.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
What you are deliberately not pursuing.
WHY EXPLICITLY
It removes the anxiety of ignoring things.
WHAT TO BASE THE DECISION ON
What your current work requires What your intended direction requires What genuinely interests you
WHAT TO IGNORE
Technologies without adoption Debates about tool superiority Announcements generally
WHY ANNOUNCEMENTS SPECIFICALLY
Most do not survive, and those that do can be learned later.
WHAT TO WATCH WITHOUT LEARNING
Whether something is being adopted where you work or want to.
WHAT SIGNALS ADOPTION
Job advertisements Usage by organisations like yours Sustained community activity
WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING CROSSES THAT THRESHOLD
Learn it properly.
WHAT TO RESIST
Learning something because colleagues are discussing it.
WHAT DEPTH PROVIDES
Judgement, and problems only you can solve.
WHAT BREADTH PROVIDES
The ability to work with others, and to choose well.
WHAT BALANCE TO AIM FOR
Deep in one or two areas, aware across several.
WHAT TO REVIEW ANNUALLY
Whether your deliberate exclusions still hold.
WHAT TO ACCEPT
Permanent ignorance of most of the field.
