Do you ever feel like your skills are getting outdated and are missing out on the latest trend? Don't worry, you're not the only one. There are so many flashy things that comes out everyday which makes you feel like you're only working on boring stuff. We find our self in a situation where we juggle our time between work and personal stuff which only leaves us with a few hours a week to play around with a new tech. This leaves us with a question of how do I keep myself updated on the latest tech and which one should I focus on?

Here are a few sources that I follow to keep myself updated on the latest tech:

1. Twitter - following your fellow experts in tech gives you an insight on what are they working on and the things they do to accomplish those projects. Most experts will create a blog of their work as a note to go back to when needed. Follow the people which are inline with your interests to avoid getting overloaded with other unnecessary information.

2. Meetup - meetup is a great way to socialize with your peers and also know what others are doing in your field. I usually look at meetup.com for such events and choose meetups that are in line with the things I currently work on or tech that I'm planning to use in the future.

3. Team Retrospective - sometimes you don't have to look far to find cool stuff. Your team might be already working on it. Our company hosts a weekly "Techy Thursday" event where we discuss and showcase the things that we worked on for the past few weeks or any cool tech we are currently playing around with. It's a great way to bond with your team and at the same time outline everyone on the tech which are getting adopted by the team.

Finally, you found some really cool tech but how do you know which one to focus on? Here are few points I consider before I play around with it.

1. Is it in line with the things I currently work on? 

   • I started off as web developer so I primarily focus on things related to web development. I did try some courses in mobile app development but if it's something you're not gonna do full time later, it might be better to just focus on things at hand. When I got promoted as a team lead I shifted my focus on DevOps to further help my team.

2. Are you using something similar?

   • It is really tempting to jump into a new tech specially if a lot of people are talking about it. If you are already using a certain DevOps system and are happy with their service it might be a good idea to just stick with them rather than jumping into another provider that does the same thing. Of course there is always a situation where you need to move to a different provider but I think the most convincing reason to do this is due to cost.

3. Can you use it on your projects?

   • Use that new tech onto your projects. Juggling your time between job and personal stuff means you only have a  few hours a week to explore a new tech. Using it in your project ensure you gain experience and have a practical use for it.

4. Will it be useful in the future?

   • Companies conduct some analysis before they invest their resources into certain things. If you see a trend growing on a certain field, let's say for example machine learning. Look for ways on how it can complement your current skills and help you with your projects. If you think its beneficial to you and your future projects go ahead invest your time learning this new tech.

I hope these help you in keeping yourself updated on the latest trend and technology. Investing on your future is important and can hugely impact the direction of your career.