Prashant is a Software Engineer (SD3) at Qorb, a customer experience and analytics platform based in India. He specializes in backend development and microservices architecture, with experience in infrastructure management including Kubernetes and Azure resources.
Prashant has developed a remarkably structured approach to productivity that he learned during the lockdown from August Bradley's content. His system operates on multiple levels: annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily planning cycles. "Every weekend on Sunday I have a review of the past week what are things that I've done and I also have monthly quarterly and annual planning," he explains. This hierarchical planning system allows him to break down big goals into manageable weekly tasks that he schedules directly on his calendar.
His daily routine reflects disciplined time management: he wakes up early for workouts, works from 9:30 to 6:30 with mindful breaks, then takes a daily walk followed by 10-15 minutes of meditation. The key to his productivity lies in his evening planning ritual - he spends 30-45 minutes each night planning the next day's activities, both for work and personal projects. "The most helpful things about the planning sessions that I do the monthly planning, the monthly goal setting that I do, then the weekly planning that I do on the weekends and then the day planning I do the night before," Prashant notes. He typically focuses on one major project per month, acknowledging that trying to achieve multiple big goals simultaneously leads to failure. This focused approach has enabled him to successfully manage his full-time engineering role while actively developing side projects that have gained substantial user bases.
In his closing advice, Prashant emphasized three core principles that have shaped his career journey. First, he advocates for continuous learning: "trying to learn things trying to mean just learn all the things that you can." He's observed that many people, including his juniors, are afraid of learning new technologies and prefer staying in their comfort zones, but he believes embracing challenging and initially scary technologies is essential for growth since "it's again a problem that you're solving and as an engineer you have to solve a lot of problems."
Second, he stresses the importance of following your interests while not neglecting important but boring tasks. Prashant discovered his passion for creating projects he could see in action, from automating math calculations in college to building successful side projects. However, he also acknowledges the need to consistently work on less enjoyable but crucial activities like DSA preparation: "we need to consistently work on those boring important things every day, need to schedule at least an hour or whatever time we can every day to continue forward."
His final and most powerful piece of advice centers on taking action despite fear or shyness: "whatever you find you just do it, don't think a lot about it." Drawing from personal experience, he shared how participating in one extracurricular activity despite his natural shyness gave him such a confidence boost that he started participating in everything, eventually leading to leadership roles. "Just do things, not worry a lot about anything else," he concluded, emphasizing that this mindset of action over hesitation has been the foundation of his success.
"I used to think that I had no idea what I was going to do 3 months ago and I had different plans maybe for this year for six months from now and if I see myself I if I go back two years and see what I've done now I could not have planned for this."
— Prashant Discussing why he doesn't plan 3-5 years ahead and how his career has evolved unexpectedly.
"There are always some ideas bouncing off my head on what all I can build but there always at least two or three projects that I'm actively working on during my weekends or after my working hours."
— Prashant Explaining his approach to continuous learning and side project development.
"The most helpful things about the planning sessions that I do - the monthly planning, the monthly goal setting that I do, then the weekly planning that I do on the weekends and then the daily planning I do the night before."
— Prashant Describing his structured approach to time management and productivity that he's followed for 3-4 years.
[0:00] hello welcome and Namaste today my guest [0:02] is Prashant heing in one of the startup [0:06] in India and I know Prashant for almost [0:09] three years now we met uh Twitter and [0:14] theno I had a contest in which I wanted [0:18] to give back to ship 30430 community so [0:21] I purchased a ticket um H um and then I [0:26] wanted to give away that to one of the [0:29] and many people apply I knew Prashant [0:32] from before and then what he wrote in [0:34] that application it was amazing so him [0:38] and we have been in touch since then so [0:43] with that rashan I want to hand over mik [0:46] to you uh to about what you do and [0:50] what's your typical day and week look [0:54] like thank you yeah as you mentioned I [0:57] we know each other from very long time [1:00] and I'm still very grateful to that one [1:02] opportunity that he had provided me by [1:04] gifting me that access to a cohort for [1:06] 30430 I am a software engineer I an sd3 [1:09] at a company called qab it is a customer [1:13] experience and analytics platform so my [1:17] usual work is actually I'm a backing [1:19] developer I work on microservices based [1:22] architecture and we we are actually [1:24] moving away from a monolitic [1:26] architecture Manu Services architecture [1:28] so I was working on on couple of [1:30] projects which are monolith based [1:32] earlier and now we are working on [1:33] microservices based architect and I'm [1:36] currently handling one of the micros [1:38] service which actually involves building [1:41] some infrastructure on and I also handle [1:45] some parts of the the infrastructure of [1:47] our whole [1:49] applic uh that includes working on the [1:51] kubernetes the whole cluster working on [1:54] the other part of the architecture like [1:56] the every other aure resource that we [1:59] use example data packes or data base [2:02] clusters you know managing that is also [2:05] the part of that and yeah before that I [2:08] also been working on the their crawler [2:10] project that our company has it is an [2:13] internal I've worked on almost every [2:15] product that uh a company has built and [2:19] yeah it has been a really great [2:21] experience a really good team that I got [2:23] to work with a really great manager that [2:25] have got the chance to work on them and [2:28] yeah every colleague has been very help [2:30] and very encouraging to me yeah working [2:32] in all these projects different kind of [2:34] technologies that I have wanted to work [2:36] with and also that I never thought that [2:39] I would get chance to work on I got a [2:41] chance to work on all of those yeah of [2:45] it I cannot sit still on doing that so [2:49] there are always some ideas bouncing off [2:50] my head on what all I can build but [2:53] there always at least two or three [2:55] projects that I'm actively working on [2:57] during my weekends or after my working [3:00] as one of the site projects actually got [3:03] very successful and I got to learn a lot [3:05] of things doing that there are quite a [3:09] few users of that product and all the [3:12] other projects that I've been working on [3:14] have been very helpful in this journey [3:17] that I've had as a as a software [3:19] developer yeah even right now whenever I [3:22] want to learn something new when I want [3:24] to try something new I would have a [3:26] project ready already working on and I [3:28] already have opportun to at least try it [3:32] out on that and I would also know that [3:34] because there are some of the users who [3:36] are using that product so I would also [3:39] get to know that it works in uh real [3:42] world as well man [3:46] wow so microservice kubernetes AER uh [3:50] the web crawler and then your own [3:54] project um definitely require two things [3:58] not being married [4:01] not having kids so check mark this also [4:06] require Um passion and incredible time [4:11] management right um I have many [4:15] questions [4:16] here first I want to give you a big [4:19] advice when you join ship 3430 and you [4:23] started writing about different topic [4:26] those are um one of the most popular [4:30] article that you wrote was about not [4:32] taking [4:33] app um why don't you write about these [4:37] things [4:39] microservices uh r that you building [4:41] without sharing the detail about the [4:46] company or detail about the actual [4:48] implementation you can still talk [4:51] about what is your process to um in a [4:57] microservice from a monolithic [4:59] application [5:00] right it doesn't have to share syntax [5:02] you don't have to share the granual [5:04] detail that your company probably won't [5:06] want to but you can still share the [5:10] reason behind it and and what was your [5:13] designing [5:14] process uh most time these process are [5:18] high level and common right standard but [5:21] you share you you players of your [5:24] impementation so there are hundreds of [5:27] things that you can talk about [5:30] the reason I'm saying this is then is [5:32] not a second thought or second activity [5:35] we do 10 15 things a day and you can [5:40] pick one of those things and write a 200 [5:44] uh words like ship 30 430 sh talk one [5:50] topic one person one outcome that's it [5:52] like one small thing so anyway I wanted [5:55] to share that any any quick reflection [5:57] before I ask the next question [6:01] yeah I I never thought a lot about this [6:04] most because I'm working on kind of [6:06] autopilot working all the time never [6:08] thought about the fact that I could [6:10] write all these [6:11] things so we'll catch up on that I I [6:14] will share more detailed um input and uh [6:19] some of the tips around that okay so [6:22] let's um come back to the topic you're [6:25] doing a lot and I'm you realize that so [6:29] how do you manage your time what's your [6:31] typical day and week look like and how [6:34] do you plan it yeah so I I wake up early [6:38] morning do a bit of workout at home most [6:41] probably unless I I woke up very late [6:44] and I'll rush to get ready for work uh [6:47] my work starts at 9:30 so we have a [6:50] daily stand up and from 9:30 to 6:30 I [6:55] work taking breaks in the middle take an [6:58] hour break for lunch when I read when [7:00] I'm Mindful and I want to when I'm [7:02] working at my best I usually remember to [7:04] take breaks in the middle so I'll get [7:06] out and go for walks in the M between [7:09] rest want to rest my eyes or go in the [7:11] balcony sit for a while a few minutes [7:13] over there I some sometimes I would get [7:16] time to just chat with a few of my [7:18] colleagues other times I I would [7:20] continuously and I would keep on [7:23] standing at my skreen the whole day but [7:25] yeah anyway I I usually close my work at [7:28] 6:30 by by 7 [7:30] after that I I go for a walk for half an [7:33] hour to 1 hour every day so if I BL off [7:36] by 630 640 I would uh go for a walk for [7:40] for an hour come back by 7:30 [7:43] 7:45 I have a short meditation session [7:45] for 10 to 15 minutes every day after [7:50] that I have a very short window of about [7:54] half an hour to 45 minutes so what I do [7:57] during that period is I plan for the [7:59] next day also there's two parts of this [8:02] I work at my at my organization so [8:05] there's the task that I work there but I [8:08] also have this 30 minutes every day or [8:10] sometime during the morning early [8:12] morning half an hour to 1 hour again so [8:14] I also want to plan for that part of [8:16] what all things that I can do I have [8:19] sometimes I have to do some other things [8:20] I can plan for that sometimes some [8:23] project that I'm working on I need to [8:25] read about something or I will just try [8:27] something out a lot of things that I can [8:29] do in those 30 to 45 minutes of time so [8:33] what I do is when I'm logging off in the [8:34] last 15 minutes of my day before 6:30 [8:37] before 7 I plan for the next day of of [8:40] my world same way after it after my walk [8:44] and Main Bing session I'll plan for the [8:47] next day again those 30 to 45 minutes [8:49] but what actually helped me in planning [8:51] this part of the day is the plan I made [8:54] for the meat before so every weekend on [8:57] Sunday I have a r [9:00] I review the past week what what are [9:03] things that I've done and I also have [9:07] monthly quarterly and annual planning [9:09] interiew all of these I learned during [9:11] the lockdown we were [9:13] all I was watching a lot of videos by [9:16] August Bradley his PP and that content [9:19] had one of the biggest impacts on me I I [9:22] started planning and reviewing my whole [9:25] weeks months and years on based on my [9:27] monthly goals I plan my week weeks so [9:31] every weekend I plan what are things [9:33] that I'll be picking up and I'll most [9:36] probably also schedule time on my [9:37] calendar but daily it only 5 to 10 [9:40] minutes of work for me to see if I'm [9:42] going on track if I want to change a bit [9:44] of my calendar and that's then I mostly [9:48] have half an hour that I'll maybe do [9:51] something I'll goome something or I take [9:53] some list that's it and that's our [9:56] management time and also the biggest [9:58] time that I have is on the weekends [10:00] because on the weekdays I cannot [10:03] accomplish much on on any of my other [10:05] things so on Frid dayss I usually plan [10:08] my the two days of my weekend so I'll [10:12] probably schedule some blocks some two [10:14] to three hour blocks of work some [10:16] weekends I would go out with my family [10:18] or with my friends to and take a break [10:21] some weekends I would plan to just work [10:23] for some time or just to read or yeah [10:26] again work with something else the most [10:29] helpful things about the planning [10:31] sessions that I do the monthly planning [10:32] the monthly goal setting that I do then [10:35] the weekly planning that I do on the [10:36] weekends and then the day planning I do [10:39] the night before ran you have very [10:42] structured way of planning and tracking [10:46] and following that [10:48] plan and you said you you Bradley has [10:51] influenced it but 2020 to 2024 you've [10:56] been following that for 3 4 years now [11:00] nothing right there have been times when [11:02] I been when I went off track I couldn't [11:05] do much of this yeah I always tried to [11:08] come back to this because has been very [11:10] helpful for me I think this is you may [11:15] not realize that but this type of [11:17] structure [11:19] planning has contributed to um you are [11:24] able to do a lot compared to some other [11:28] people yeah [11:30] so [11:32] plus and planning [11:34] Andy that amplify what you could become [11:38] in few [11:39] years so amazing I want to ask um [11:44] started second quarter have you done any [11:46] kind of quarterly planning for this [11:49] one I usually do but this qu at the end [11:53] of the quarter I went for a trip so I [11:55] couldn't do that this weekend I was [11:58] working on some issue at [12:00] not I didn't do that but you did for so [12:04] audience will have an idea what we are [12:06] talking about would you like to give a [12:09] glimpse of what was your March monthly [12:12] plan or q1 [12:16] plan I have a note piing app here let's [12:20] so what I usually do is at the beginning [12:23] of the year I I set some big goals or [12:28] whatever and then mostly there's still I [12:31] cannot plan for the whole year once so I [12:35] have my sides on the first two quarters [12:38] mostly and then I divide my goals into [12:41] quarters for what I want to do in the [12:44] first [12:45] quarter and again mean I cannot achieve [12:48] a lot I cannot three or four goals in [12:51] the first month at so mostly I Target on [12:53] one go one big project and maybe I will [12:58] see that if I can do something for the [12:59] second one is so I January I have this [13:02] in log [13:03] S I had some three four goals for the B [13:07] quarter but January I plan some [13:11] financial planning that I wanted to do [13:13] at the year end but I could [13:15] not that I planned that I would complete [13:18] that in January and there was one thing [13:21] that I wanted to try on my side project [13:24] all the things that I been doing was in [13:27] the architecture that I buil mhm [13:29] was stable as I realized after 3 years [13:34] so I change the whole architecture of [13:36] that yeah these were the two goals that [13:38] I because the financial planning goal [13:40] would not take a lot of time was just a [13:42] weekend of work I that's why I had [13:45] planned for these two main projects most [13:48] of the other times I have a single [13:50] project in mind for a month okay and [13:54] then um when you set that goal for [13:58] changing the AR chitecture weekly you [14:01] was brok on it into pieces and then [14:04] weekly you accomplish and by end of the [14:05] month you had the new [14:09] architect for for the project that I [14:11] acted for this month in the E week [14:15] planning cycle I would break the project [14:17] down to the next tasks and then I would [14:20] schedule those tasks onto my calendar if [14:22] I'm not going during the week days so I [14:25] I don't schedule those tasks on my [14:26] calendar but the other tasks for example [14:28] the fincial if I want to collect some [14:31] data from my B account from my B [14:33] statement that I can do in the 30 [14:35] minutes I set those block on my [14:38] calendar that's how I do awesome I'm [14:42] just impressed I mean I may speak to you [14:45] I'm impressed for the depth that you [14:48] have um your work and also for your [14:51] thought process so thank you so much for [14:54] sharing all [14:55] this as we are talking about goals [14:59] or time [15:02] management do you also decide your big [15:06] goals like where Prashant is going in 3 [15:09] to 5 years from [15:11] now I usually never think about 3 to 5 [15:15] years I've never thought about that [15:17] until now how about 20 [15:20] years not my thought process till now [15:23] had been that so in in 2020 or 21 in [15:26] 2020 me so I was working in an IND ship [15:30] and it was a really tough job that I was [15:33] working on I used to work very long [15:35] hours and I had no idea what I was doing [15:38] but by the end of it I realized that I'm [15:40] going to become a software engineer that [15:42] that was my final realization right I [15:45] I'm actually going to do [15:47] this for that I had even until a second [15:51] year of my of my college I don't think [15:53] this was a final decision on me I was [15:56] still tring out all the different things [15:58] that I could [16:00] so just in a year uh lot of things had [16:03] changed I had no idea that I could do [16:05] this all the different things that I had [16:06] done during myship a few months later I [16:09] did even more things I won some hacker [16:12] and there were a lot of things but I [16:15] used to think that I had no idea what I [16:18] was going to do 3 months ago and I had [16:20] different plans maybe for this year for [16:22] six months from now and if I see myself [16:26] I if I go back two years and see what [16:28] I've done now I could not have planned [16:30] for this I could not have uh even if I [16:33] had set some goals I I may have follow [16:37] on the wrong PA maybe I could have G for [16:40] something else but what I right now is [16:42] completely different this absolutely [16:44] right that what you have to achieve in [16:46] last 3 4 years you could not have [16:48] planned it right it's TSE it's deep it's [16:52] um um low rative as well as um [16:57] opportunity that you had whatever [16:58] situation that you have you capitalize [17:01] on it I always say that your career is [17:04] 30 40 years WR right where it start and [17:09] where it will end you cannot plan it for [17:12] sure and there are three thing that will [17:15] you will encounter opportunity situation [17:18] and people there will be opportunities [17:21] that you will either take or decline [17:23] there will be situations that will make [17:26] you do certain type of um or do certain [17:30] make certain type of decisions and then [17:32] there are people who will influence you [17:35] in whatever direction right so those two [17:39] three things will shape your career and [17:42] does to [17:43] everyone [17:44] um the long-term planning obviously you [17:48] have two ways to do one you set really [17:52] really goal uh so make a example you [17:55] live in B and you said that I'm going to [17:59] go [18:00] to in the [18:02] direction Bombay right some direction I [18:06] am okay if I land uh pun or Goa or [18:11] Mumbai [18:12] right so that's one way you have a [18:15] direction decide that you're not going [18:17] to go Kolkata that's for sure because [18:20] you are going in this [18:23] direction and then every time driving [18:27] and then you have 200 me into visibility [18:30] and that's enough for you to drive and [18:32] then um like monthly or quarterly how [18:36] far you have came and is this still a [18:39] good direction and then you keep going [18:41] there right uh the same one is once you [18:45] have a extreme Clarity and you said I'm [18:48] going to go Bombay Mumbai and I will [18:51] reach there at this time and this and [18:53] this and that right and then you write [18:55] that Ines and then you go there and you [18:58] te there both are [19:01] fine the process that you are adopting [19:04] is very agile in counter for all the [19:08] signals that you're getting all the [19:10] opportunity situation and people [19:13] so so let's talk about last 3 years [19:17] let's go on a flashback Journey what are [19:20] the different thing that has helped you [19:22] in last three years I I think the the [19:25] biggest thing that helped me um drw and [19:29] become what I have right now is to the [19:32] mindset to always try to learn I always [19:37] wanted to learn the internals of [19:40] everything I working on whether it be [19:42] software even if I was working on [19:44] something it is and in some plugs I [19:46] always wanted to understand how works so [19:50] even in software I want to understand [19:51] how Works U again and if if there's [19:55] something new that uh you up I always [19:59] want to try now I always want to try new [20:02] technologies new tools uh new things and [20:05] I always want to try it out because only [20:08] once I try things out I understand [20:10] things and that's how I learn about [20:12] these [20:13] things so when I had made almost made up [20:17] my mind that I'm interv of the engineer [20:19] I decided there were a lot of [20:21] opportunities to for [20:23] internships maybe not that much but [20:25] still I had a few but most of them they [20:28] were [20:29] not that I was already working on some [20:31] freelancing projects till now I had work [20:33] a lot of them but most of them they were [20:35] used by five 10 R the vle at Max so that [20:40] time I wanted to learn how to build [20:43] things that would be used by a bigger [20:46] number of people I would I would do [20:48] applications work when they be used by [20:52] that I wanted to understand that and [20:54] that's what what what my focus was [20:56] during that time while [20:59] for the down I that's how I learned the [21:02] that down and that was one of the [21:05] biggest bro moments for me that six we [21:08] six or seven we that I W over there I [21:11] learned so many different things that [21:13] time because because I learned the [21:16] perfect opportunity for me same way I [21:18] wanted to understand lot of other things [21:21] how applications get deployed so I T [21:24] things on AWS on gcp on FID all the that [21:28] I wanted to try all things I wanted to [21:30] learn how do these things work so I [21:32] always asked my [21:34] manager work and he always gave me the [21:37] opportunity try those things out as well [21:40] they always wanting to learn has been [21:43] one of the biggest Ro factors for me at [21:46] least this is incredible that what you [21:48] shared is very practical and something [21:52] that has work for you when you have [21:54] something [21:55] new what's your typical learning process [21:58] for [21:59] that I think of myself more as a person [22:03] who ties things out and takes things to [22:06] understand how J FL so yeah until now [22:10] until I read of AI news like and all [22:13] what I always used to do was I would [22:16] just open a document page of [22:19] documentation of the thing that I want [22:21] to do and I will just try to write Bo [22:24] and build a small prototype let's say I [22:27] want to build web server that does [22:29] something let's I'm trying to build a [22:31] web server for the first thing you just [22:34] open a very [22:35] short and just check out the code see [22:39] what it does and then I'll maybe not be [22:42] the whole in depth explation of what [22:44] everything does I just write the code [22:47] myself and then run and then see where [22:50] are all the points for [22:53] breaks and that's how I understand what [22:56] each thing of the application does and [22:58] then maybe if I have documentation what [23:00] I'll do is I'll open documentation page [23:02] to see what each method does because [23:05] that that teaches me in a more gram [23:08] press in more of each other thing that [23:10] it does and what are the other things [23:13] that I can achieve same people and with [23:17] the Advent of charp I right now I would [23:21] just ask a few questions about the thing [23:24] to CH so that it gives me some stting [23:28] but [23:29] and once I have those I can just go and [23:33] TI with few things I I can read a few [23:36] articles about it can we all let's say [23:39] again if I'm trying to build the web [23:41] applic web server for the first thing I [23:44] just ask uh it what is the best way to [23:46] in a web server using python I would ask [23:49] it to give me two three different [23:51] options so that I can check them on my [23:53] own and then make a decision myself we [23:56] can be buyers that can name and all the [23:59] different things I would TI all the [24:02] things myself way the way the pros and [24:04] cons myself and then I ask a questions [24:07] bed of my understanding I ask questions [24:10] to clarify whether my understanding is [24:12] great and I give my own list of pros and [24:15] cons then I ask it to generate a list of [24:17] pros and cons and based on that based on [24:20] my thinking and based on chat rep is [24:22] combinational work we can make up [24:25] something and I mean start you work with [24:28] and [24:29] again I just want to BU something quick [24:32] you just ask it to write some after that [24:34] ask to write some BO and let do it [24:38] that's what I was doing even today once [24:41] I wanted to build one A6 red server I [24:45] already used the like the inite and I [24:48] want to how to do that with fast there I [24:52] wanted [24:54] to so I just asked it the best ways to [24:58] I asked it to write some code and then I [25:01] had some code from a I gave it the code [25:04] and asked it to convert it to F there so [25:07] that I could see the differences between [25:09] these [25:10] two yeah it's a combination of tring to [25:13] get some idea from the we trying to [25:16] understand trying to read articles TR to [25:17] read [25:18] documentation and getting some idea from [25:21] chbd [25:24] or I [25:27] use man your answer is always so in [25:30] depth has uh so much information and [25:34] practical advice in it I could spend [25:38] entire day talking to you about [25:40] different areas different [25:44] topics but let's bring this to the [25:48] closer I thoroughly enjoyed talking [25:51] these are all great topics and great [25:54] answers I want to give you an [25:56] opportunity to talk about your project [25:58] site project and if somebody is [26:01] interested in learning more about it or [26:03] joining you and helping you what's the [26:06] easiest method for them to find [26:10] out so yeah the the the major site I [26:14] work on is a telegram Bo and it's it [26:17] runs some scripts it's actually very [26:20] nich tool for some businesses so when I [26:22] was fancing in [26:24] college m920 [26:28] sitting at home who did not have to good [26:30] buls I had this opportunity to work a [26:33] lot on Landing projects and there was [26:36] there were few these tools that were [26:38] common across some small business small [26:41] and Med businesses that they wanted to [26:43] use and they [26:45] were and they had all similar kind of [26:49] requirements and somewh Fa to trading in [26:53] growing for so those are common kind of [26:56] common SP and I thought why not uh this [26:59] start make it can make it a s so that I [27:02] do not have to I'm also very lazy so [27:05] that if I find something like that I [27:07] have to spend a lot of manual effort in [27:09] and I would do everything so that I [27:12] could Auto thing so I was getting a lot [27:14] of requests to do the same thing over [27:16] and over again so I thought why not [27:18] automate U building all of this again so [27:21] I thought I build a s and since all of [27:24] them they were already on telegram they [27:26] were using telegram for everything I [27:28] thought why not building onam so I build [27:30] up andam has amazing set of features and [27:35] tools has opened up every API for for [27:38] developers so I buil theam B and it runs [27:41] some scripts on the cloud [27:44] so a user can give it some configuration [27:48] and then can ask it to run the scpt yeah [27:52] what what the perfect it's simple but [27:54] the issue is that it needs to be highly [27:58] aable because these are trading people [28:00] who trade so they want it fast and be [28:03] available when the trade comes up they [28:06] do not want to lose any single penny qu [28:09] because of the tool that they use and as [28:13] time true uh a lot of people have been [28:16] using it and I started understanding the [28:20] all those terms those Buzz words people [28:22] use about skaing and distributed systems [28:25] all yeah if anyone wants to ask you [28:29] understand more about project anyway [28:31] reach out to me on I do not do it a lot [28:35] but I do read a lot and I will read all [28:38] the messages do not actually I so right [28:42] now I do not work actively already some [28:44] there would be if there are some Mar [28:46] mixes I would be things and if I want to [28:49] just explore a new or explore a new way [28:52] of doing things again I would schedu [28:54] some time on the weekends but yeah it [28:57] mostly up right now I a lot [29:02] of yeah Contin using it as a [29:08] learning awesome and you spent like last [29:11] three years in it you've been doing this [29:14] for three years right yeah but I think [29:17] the major effort came in for the one [29:20] year when and I at the end of my college [29:23] that one year when I was at home and had [29:26] just started working [29:29] okay that really not [29:32] that except [29:36] those got it got it all right so guys [29:40] please check out Prashant has multiple [29:43] projects I just check out and he used [29:45] that not only for learning but also as a [29:48] playground and trying out different [29:51] things that has been giving him source [29:53] of being a source of inspiration passion [29:57] energy and learning Prashant before I [30:01] ask you my last question is there a [30:04] question for me yeah I've been seen you [30:07] doing a lot of faing SP Li thingss and [30:10] for such long time been also have some [30:15] digital in newsletter and I saw your [30:19] recent videos of you started going [30:21] par I I wanted to understand your time [30:24] management how do you manage your time [30:27] your tis [30:28] [Music] [30:29] one how I can start doing [30:31] that so I am somebody who easily get [30:36] distracted by a shiny object and I've [30:38] done that for a longer long life what [30:42] happened in uh [30:44] 20179 I started writing on medium and I [30:47] my articles was uh getting [30:50] traction so once they reach to [30:54] 150,000 views per month [30:58] I realized that writing I can take it to [31:03] the next [31:04] level but I also felt that I am limited [31:09] to my thinking my writing techniques and [31:12] everything so then I joined ship 3430 [31:15] that was April of [31:18] 2021 they completely changed how I was [31:21] thinking about writing as a hobby [31:24] to utilizing writing to build something [31:29] from a scratch and uh possibly [31:31] converting into a coaching business and [31:34] all they always talk about writing about [31:36] one topic one person one outcome but the [31:39] biggest thing that they have done is to [31:42] create give me the consistency before I [31:44] was taking a month a week to write one [31:47] article with ship 30 for 30 I was able [31:50] to produce 30 article in 30 days and [31:53] then I kept extending that to 50 days [31:56] and 100 days and 200 100 days so since [31:59] then I've been writing either an article [32:02] every a day or a post couple of post [32:05] right that practice and especially the [32:09] emphasis on one topic one person has [32:13] helped me transform this habit writing [32:17] habit into more tangible thing because [32:20] when you write every day you have so [32:22] much articles so much content that you [32:25] can bundle into either a course or a [32:29] eguide or newsletter or many different [32:32] ways but the most important thing it [32:34] does to you is to give your [32:36] Clarity Clarity of what one [32:40] transformation that you want to do what [32:42] is that one thing that you want to do so [32:46] anyway that background Al and also why I [32:50] am doing all everything that I'm doing [32:52] now how I manage my time and goal is my [32:56] fuel is the passion or and extreme focus [33:02] on one thing and handle everything else [33:05] like 2080 right so at my work I have a 9 [33:10] to5 work so I pick the topmost uh thing [33:13] that if I miss one of those then it will [33:18] be a [33:20] problem to my stakeholder or or me and [33:25] then also pick what are the most [33:27] important things that if I do will bring [33:29] the most impact to my team and my [33:31] product and my customers right so I I [33:35] have an extreme focus on those I them [33:38] and then on writing has been my extreme [33:41] Focus for last couple of years so every [33:44] quarter I set a goal and that become [33:48] where area where I'm [33:50] spending all my energy like up to 60% of [33:54] my focus and energy and then my work my [33:59] other activity my other interest compete [34:02] for that remaining 40% of my attention [34:05] and my [34:07] time and that has been working really [34:09] good for me as long as I'm really [34:12] hyperfocused on the top thing of that [34:16] goal that I have for that [34:18] quarter I am able to spend the action [34:25] time exploration time learning time [34:29] around those 60% of my life and then the [34:34] 40% is my work XYZ activities and I was [34:39] able to manage that right so anyway my [34:42] point is my time management is around [34:45] that biggest goal that I have for that [34:47] quarter and then managing everything [34:49] else in that remaining 40% of my time [34:52] and lastly I am someone who does not try [34:57] to manage the entire day as long as I am [35:01] focused for 2 to 3 hours or as long as [35:06] I'm doing the right thing for those two [35:09] three hours either focusing on my [35:13] content focusing on video or something [35:15] right if I can do those two three [35:17] activities a day I feel [35:20] happy before I was always feeling guilty [35:25] that I have a list of 20 it and I only [35:28] finish six item I I don't do that [35:30] anymore [35:32] so I know I was all over the place but [35:35] that's how I've been managing myself for [35:37] last 3 [35:39] years one more thing that I will add for [35:42] my office work Prashant I'm one of those [35:45] extremely organized and extremely [35:48] planned people my entire career is even [35:53] when in the beginning of my career or [35:56] now when I work with five teams work [36:00] with big [36:01] project my Approach and my biggest [36:05] quality is to bring people together have [36:07] a solid plan for them and then deliver a [36:11] big project on time with proper [36:13] communication so yeah I'm trying to [36:15] bring all those in my side work as well [36:18] I I had a little question that that this [36:21] for be even more helpful for me is I'm [36:24] not that good at networking or when then [36:27] in [36:28] that any person that I've met till now I [36:31] would remember that person almost for I [36:33] remember each person from my to up now I [36:37] live very small thing but the the thing [36:40] one one thing that not that good at is [36:43] being regularly that people [36:46] that meeting new people myself we have [36:51] very for that yeah I do because I'm like [36:56] you I still remember people who I work [37:01] in my first company and I've changed [37:03] five different companies so I know [37:06] people who I have worked with 20 years [37:10] ago so yes I'm like that person but at [37:12] the same time I'm also not that uh party [37:15] person who who can meet 50 new people [37:18] and then still remember their name and [37:20] everything now I need to meet somebody [37:23] for five time four five time to remember [37:26] that person [37:28] and if you see social media the Nom is [37:32] that they meet 100 people a month 10 [37:35] people a day and they go to many spaces [37:39] many Discord and all that I cannot do [37:42] that and I'm sure you cannot do that too [37:45] so the process that I have been adopting [37:48] is I have selected group of people these [37:52] are spaces Twitter spaces that I [37:55] frequently go to then there are three [37:59] Discord thousands of [38:02] people but there are three Discord that [38:04] I keep going back to and in those [38:07] Discord while they have like possibly 20 [38:11] different channels I only track one [38:14] channel or two [38:15] channels where there I felt like I will [38:19] be able to make [38:20] contribution right so [38:23] that's second and then the third is [38:26] there are bigger [38:28] accounts Danny Thompson is one of them [38:31] sha Charles is another one anush is [38:34] another one these are people who I felt [38:36] like trying to do things that syn with [38:39] my thinking so Denny Thompson he does [38:44] probably 20 things but there are one [38:46] thing that I really feel connected with [38:49] is he does a cohort tce a year where 100 [38:55] different people apply they make team of [38:58] four to six people and they find a [39:00] leader a team leader who can lead this [39:03] team so I've done three cohort with this [39:06] person my point [39:08] is instead of going crazy with hundreds [39:12] of new people I try to go back to the [39:15] same group and same people and that is [39:20] helping me remembering them and building [39:23] more deeper connection with them if I go [39:25] to one of their spaces they niiz me now [39:28] because I've been doing that for 68 a [39:31] year now so that would be my advice [39:33] instead of going wild pick two group [39:36] three groups and then uh contribute to [39:40] those [39:41] groups those could be Twitter spaces [39:44] that happens every week those could be [39:47] Discord group and in those Discord group [39:51] or in those Facebook group X Twitter [39:55] spaces and all what you do [39:58] is there are three type of activities [40:00] that you do one is liking what somebody [40:04] else has posted right you don't have to [40:08] write your own post actually because the [40:12] basic thing that you could do is to like [40:15] give somebody an [40:17] appreciation of the time that this [40:19] person has invested in writing you could [40:22] do that in LinkedIn as well there are [40:24] many people who write good post about [40:27] the work that they're doing and that you [40:30] like what they have writing so if you [40:33] just like it give a signal to that [40:36] person and they feel appreciated for [40:40] whether they spend an hour or two hours [40:42] you have seen that right in ship 3430 [40:44] when you post something and somebody [40:46] like you you feel some kind of [40:49] connection the second thing that you [40:51] could do is to write a thoughtful [40:54] comment that's a next level of [40:56] Engagement you could do that in Twitter [40:59] LinkedIn Discord Community or Facebook [41:02] Community is posting a comment to [41:04] somebody who have write something right [41:08] and it could be as simple as your post [41:12] helped me with this it helped me with [41:15] transformation it helped me it helped me [41:18] make or it make me think XYZ right [41:24] something happened some kind of emotions [41:26] happened after that or a learning happen [41:30] now next is you can share that with [41:33] other people that's another level of [41:35] appreciation and connection so you can [41:37] share directly without anything or you [41:41] can share with your own comment in which [41:43] you're writing that um I found this post [41:47] and this talk about this XYZ and this is [41:51] what I like about it simple [41:54] thing and that is like extreme LEL of [41:57] contribution that you're making to this [41:59] person and you're making a connection [42:00] with this person if you do this 10 time [42:04] that person immediately recognizing you [42:06] now oh Prashant always come and support [42:09] me and things like that so [42:13] summarizing instead of going wild you [42:16] select few people and few communities [42:19] and then start contributing to them by [42:22] simple step of comment share and then [42:25] the next few thing that you could do is [42:27] to ask questions asking question many [42:30] people don't realize that asking [42:32] question is so [42:33] powerful people get to think and then [42:36] answer and makes a really good Bond and [42:41] then finally if you feel comfortable at [42:43] some point to start writing your own [42:45] things and as we was talking initially [42:47] earlier you don't have to come up with [42:50] new topic you can talk about the thing [42:52] that you're doing how are you thinking [42:57] about moving from uh monolithic to [43:01] microservice architect and there are [43:03] hundreds of topic pran what are the [43:05] challenge that you face what are the [43:07] challenge you're facing with monolithic [43:10] what are the problem that you think [43:12] microservice will solve what are the [43:14] problem that you thought microservice [43:15] will solve but not solved what are the [43:18] problem that microservice is now [43:20] creating for you it's all different [43:22] topic that you can just talk about so [43:24] you can add that kind of contribution [43:26] and last thing that I will say there are [43:29] time when you need more [43:32] strategical networking those are the [43:35] time when you are trying to find a job [43:37] or something right what we have spoken [43:40] about that will build a long-term [43:43] foundation for you with people that will [43:47] start knowing you but then there are [43:49] time when you need more strategical [43:52] thinking that I'm looking for a job and [43:55] I need something in next three months [43:57] right so at that time you can go back to [44:00] all these connections and one thing that [44:03] will happen and how many people they [44:05] know right and then then the other type [44:09] of people that you will help you in job [44:11] searching or Career Development and [44:13] things like that is the recruiters [44:15] hiring managers and developers in other [44:18] companies so at that point if you [44:20] targeting a company you can find how [44:23] many people are working there who you [44:25] can reach out who can you start [44:27] applying all these principle all these [44:29] ideas that we spoke about to those [44:32] people by liking commenting dming and [44:35] all that I've been taking notes on this [44:37] all right let's go to the last question [44:42] what is your [44:44] advice and message to the audience [44:47] whoever will watch this video what do [44:50] you want to say to [44:53] them I I'm not sure I can give a s of [44:57] some career advice to anybody but I can [45:00] just talk about the things that help me [45:03] a lot during all this time the first [45:06] thing we already thought about is trying [45:08] to learn things trying to uh mean just [45:12] learn all all the things that you can [45:14] youve seen some of my juniors or some [45:17] other people out who are afraid of [45:20] having new things of made up learning [45:23] new things they want to keep on working [45:26] the [45:27] think that they're both custom gr try to [45:30] work with you is more challenging and [45:33] it's also scary in the beginning but I [45:36] find that scar is is a challenge you're [45:39] solving again it's again a problem that [45:41] are solving engine you have to solve a [45:44] lot of [45:46] problems other thing that has helped me [45:48] a lot is following what I like doing I [45:52] remiz that I like cating projects that [45:56] that I use that I can see in in [45:59] action as soon as I learned how to [46:02] program in see I created started [46:04] creating some programs to solve some uh [46:07] usually it was just how to find the [46:10] inverse of a matrix because that's what [46:11] we were doing in a math [46:14] classes then there were other things [46:16] that you would make manually in maths or [46:18] other classes I just wanted to create [46:20] automate things I to program things same [46:23] way that's how I decided that I want to [46:25] learn python how to say I will start [46:28] freelancing that's how you said I start [46:29] working on all these other side I like [46:34] doing all of this and on that basis of [46:37] that lighting I tried to find out that [46:39] how could I apply all these things could [46:42] I do more of these things on the other [46:45] hand I did not enjoy in DSA that much I [46:51] would not I cannot leave C two three [46:53] hours a day and do that but you still [46:56] have to do it and there are few things [46:59] that are buing that you not like but you [47:01] still have to find time and do it cons [47:04] think because those are important things [47:07] and I this is one one of those important [47:10] things that I remember from those all [47:12] this battery we use that we always find [47:16] things which are Urgent and those things [47:19] may be important may not be important [47:21] but if there's something urgent comes up [47:23] we always schedule time for it but [47:26] because of that the things which are non [47:28] urgent but which are important long they [47:31] take a step back but we need to [47:35] consistently work on those boring [47:37] important things every day need schedu [47:39] at least an hour or whatever time can [47:42] every days to continue forward the [47:44] Nuance okay so learn always focus on [47:48] learning do what you like to do and [47:51] explore all the [47:52] possibilities doing that and also never [47:55] forget who the important things which [47:58] are boring which you may not like doing [48:00] but those actually very important and [48:03] one more thing is that whatever you find [48:06] you just do it don't think a lot about [48:09] it you if you're shy and just like I was [48:13] I I used to be very shy I would not do [48:15] things I would participate a lot of [48:17] things but one day I decided to do [48:20] things and then just slowed to [48:23] everything in my school I I participated [48:25] in one extra [48:27] and gave me such a big confidence boost [48:30] that I start participating everything [48:32] same way once I participated in an [48:35] activity in a club activity in college [48:37] it slow B into me becoming Club lead and [48:41] doing all sort [48:42] of just do things not worry a lot about [48:46] anything else I guess that that is what [48:48] helped me and I it a lot of other people [48:52] is 100% whoever is listening if you can [48:57] just follow this last segment you will [49:01] learn a lot and you will be able to [49:04] create a career that you will [49:08] enjoy Prashant thank you so much for [49:12] being my guest on this [49:14] podcast I enjoyed each and every second [49:18] of this discussion you have so much [49:21] depth in your thought process right your [49:25] work has the depth but your thought [49:27] process also have a Clarity and and the [49:31] depth there so thank you so much I [49:33] personally learn a lot any last comment [49:36] from [49:37] you thanks thanks a lot will for having [49:40] this I I I think by having this [49:41] conversation few more things that got [49:44] clarified while I was talking about who [49:46] again was very helpful on and hoping to [49:51] be a part of the next season as well [49:52] hoping that be doing even more things [49:56] yeah for sure and I can see that the [49:59] type of career that you will be making [50:02] in next 5 10 20 years I'm just excited [50:05] that I'm part of your journey thanks a [50:08] lot
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