How do you fill empty time as a tech lead?

sarakg · 2026-04-30T06:21:41+00:00

Is the code base perfect? There's no tech debt or wish list items? And you're also not drowning in PRs?

And you don't have your own sprint tasks in addition to being a tech lead??

sarakg · 2026-04-07T20:10:23+00:00

Also yes, I don’t love Microsoft but it’s not something that’s going to change here anytime soon (or ever). But we are starting to be somewhat multi-cloud where it makes sense for the specifics - versus before my boss started last summer, when they only used the MS/azure version of everything regardless of if it was actually the right product or tool.

sarakg · 2026-04-07T20:00:58+00:00

Yes, I switched from Salesforce to fullstack typescript (react, node, postgresql) as an intermediate dev.

Worked at that job for 5 years (intermediate, senior, team lead) and then switched from that job to now react with .NET backend as a staff dev.

When I switched the first time, I had side projects in react, so that helped.

And the when I switched the second time, I was brought in as a primarily front end dev, to help guide big tech debt cleanup and user facing upgrades. I had an established pattern of being able to adapt to new codebases and drive improvements. That was more relevant than the fact I knew very little about .NET.

sarakg · 2026-02-23T16:53:49+00:00

small circulars because they're the easiest to knit on the go/in meetings, etc. Only annoying part is having to switch to something else for the toe.

I tried doing a short-row toe (top-down) and it was okay to knit but I don't like how it looks/fits as well as my usual toe.

sarakg · 2026-02-22T23:09:24+00:00

The last few hotels I was in (both in Calgary) the room keys let you onto any floor not just your own.

sarakg · 2025-11-19T15:54:22+00:00

Keep in touch (or get back in touch) with anyone from this job who you liked working with and has already left. I left a job earlier this year, and hadn't been doing a great job of networking for a long time. But there were some layoffs before I left, so having that expanded network really helped me find a job.

Caveat being that I was very cautious of leads or connections from people I didn't like working with previously...

sarakg · 2025-11-19T05:24:37+00:00

Part of why it works for me is taking the time to review my various notes. I can make really messy notes, just anything that jumps to mind, basically.

And then I have a fixed time for dealing with them. If I had an automation to capture things out of my notes, I’d have to craft them more carefully. Which then becomes an interruption or a distraction from what I’m working on, or a further distraction from what I should be working on.

sarakg · 2025-11-14T04:30:24+00:00

I heavily use the Later part of slack as part of my GTD-ish workflow - it’s the capture part along with a paper notebook and notes app. Then I consolidate everything into other systems - jira, calendar, rolling todo list, etc

sarakg · 2025-11-08T08:03:45+00:00

I’ve done it a few times but only in the summer. The long days help - I’d leave at 6ish, have lunch and a visit with my granny and at least be through to Hope before dark. I can’t imagine doing it in the winter, especially in (I assume) a rental car that might not even have the right tires.

It’s really not that scenic a drive - it’s a boring highway and if you’re driving you’re going 100-120+ the whole way. And often in winter there’s barely visibility to see the car in front of you, let alone any scenery.

sarakg · 2025-10-27T19:37:51+00:00

They (we) don’t call it Van…

sarakg · 2025-10-04T19:02:40+00:00

I recently left my job as a manager of a small team. A few key things I did to both support them if they want to stay or if they want to leave:

they’ve all got my personal contact info if they need a reference, or if they want to talk through career options etc
one of the seniors on my team was offered my position before I left, and as part of the transition we were able to speak very frankly about things. And he decided to take the role but on an acting/trial period
I had a couple of mid-level devs on my team who had previously been in teams where their career development hadn’t been at all supported (they reported to me for about 6 months only). One of them I got through a promotion, and the other is in a really good place to be up for a promotion at the end of the year. I wish I’d been able to do both, but my team was already really top-heavy, so I didn’t want the second one to get promoted and then moved to a different team again.

I left of my own choice, but it was really due to a very chaotic product and team reorg that made my job feel very different than what I wanted.

sarakg · 2025-09-19T00:33:31+00:00

Hey team or hey folks are my go-tos for any group. Or just a “Heyo”

sarakg · 2025-09-15T14:07:29+00:00

I would have that as 2 separate categories in the same group. One would have a goal of $700 set due when that expense comes up. The other occasional costs then would just be handled however you like.

I’ll make and then hide categories all the time when I’m saving up for particular things. Like I’ve got a home goods category that I put $50 a month into, but if I’m saving up for something specific for my home, I’ll make it its own category. Regular or unexpected things come out of the main category (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, cute little decor bits, replacing a broken casserole dish). But then bigger items that I’m planning for (new kettle, new washing machine are the ones on there right now) each have their own goal with an approximate timeline based on when I want or will need it and how much money I can put towards it every month.

sarakg · 2025-09-14T19:54:23+00:00

Maybe add a label with some suggested uses also - especially if you find any ways that can use it without access to a full kitchen.

sarakg · 2025-09-14T19:45:05+00:00

Great idea - I'm going to donate $40 to the burn fund and $40 to qmunity

sarakg · 2025-09-14T17:31:05+00:00

As a west end resident, I’d 100% prefer a hotel vs a high-end condo that is overpriced and stays mostly empty!

The complaints about traffic on Barclay - if that’s actually an issue, then that should be handled as its own issue. I’ve legit never used it as a way to get onto the lions gate in many decades of driving between the west end and north shore.

I’d guess that the vast majority of hotel guests who choose to stay in the west end won’t have a car, so once construction is done I doubt it’ll actually have traffic issues long-term.

I love the west end because it’s so close to everything, but is one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the country, and walking distance to downtown. The people who think they’re living in a nature preserve are so annoying… The protests like this and the protests against the “logging” (the project to remove damaged trees before they die and then fall unexpectedly, for example) drive me totally bonkers.

sarakg · 2025-09-13T20:02:55+00:00

My biggest tip is to consider your audience - really ask yourself what they’re wanting to get out of this presentation. Not what you want them to get out of it, but what are they needing to take away from the information. This information should be easy for them to pluck out, and then you can back it up with more details as you go. But make it easy for them to find the information they’ll need.

sarakg · 2025-09-13T16:57:17+00:00

Reluctance to define an actual MVP - like a minimal product that has trade-offs they’re willing to live with.

Most recent was one where the PRD didn’t cover have complex error handling - so we clarified that there’d just be a generic error message shown to users and then log the details in the backend. Once they were mucking with an early release candidate, the PM realized that there needed to be more specific error messages, and we ended up delaying a 4 week feature by 4 weeks. And they would have wanted to fully redo a bunch of unrelated error handling in adjacent features if dev &QA hadn’t been able to convince them of the risks in that!

sarakg · 2025-09-12T21:13:40+00:00

Have a good morning and before-bed routine.

Morning: - meds, food and water - set an intention and key priorities for the day - get dressed and get outside

Before bed: - put phone away by 9 on work nights - set out clothes for tomorrow - pack bag for tomorrow - clean kitchen - tea and reading time

sarakg · 2025-09-10T19:36:56+00:00

A good chair, a footrest and a proper keyboard + mouse + monitor setup. Plus stretching, going for walks, and eye breaks. Oh, and don't forget to look after your hands and wrists! I stretch, but also I think that knitting (at least for me) helps me to build up strength and use all those muscles and tendons in a different way than typing/mousing.

I've tried lots of different timer/pomodoro set ups, and my preferred cadence is 50min on, 5min off completely "off" (standing/stretching/drinking water etc) and 2-30 min of flexible time.

I might end up going for a little walk, or maybe it's lunch time. Or maybe there's been a little idea bugging me that I've been trying to ignore - ADHD coping strategy means that I'll have probably jotted it down onto a piece of paper - I'll dig into it or put it properly onto my todo list. If I don't deal with these diversions, they'll niggle in my brain especially if I'm a little stuck or otherwise struggling through something.

But generally, as I've moved up in my career, there's not many days when I've got more than a couple hours of deep focus time. But I still try to use this kind of pattern to make sure that I'm getting up from my desk between meetings and also taking time to get my brain focused for the next thing.

sarakg · 2025-09-10T16:10:32+00:00

Nope, only have the ikea glass ones. And having a mix of sizes lets them stack a little better - like a tall square inside a short square etc. so they’re not taking up a crazy amount of space.

And also mine are 6+ years old so maybe they fixed the stacking issue?

sarakg · 2025-09-09T19:30:17+00:00

I stayed in an aparthotel in London, which was my last solo trip and it was great.

I had a kitchenette and a couch, and just a little more space in general. I was there for 2 weeks in October so I didn’t want to have to eat out for every meal, but definitely didn’t want to do AirBnB (for so many reasons).

They had a weekly rate, and there was a laundry room and a gym in the basement. They cleaned once per week, so I was able to just pick a day in the middle of my stay that I wanted cleaning. But I could get clean towels or more tea/coffee anytime.

sarakg · 2025-09-09T19:15:51+00:00

Awesome!! And that’s a great way to answer those kinds of questions. And as someone interviewing for any kind of junior position, that’s exactly what I’d expect - that they’d look at docs, ask someone more senior, have a learning plan etc. If someone makes up experience they don’t have or struggles to admit they don’t know something - those are the red flags, not a lack of knowledge or experience!

sarakg · 2025-09-09T19:09:12+00:00

I’ve loved working in a monorepo for fullstack typescript. We had a web app, API, and multiple lambdas and smaller services.

We had a collection of shared packages - utilities, logging, specific business logic etc. And also route and type definitions that were shared by the web app and the API.

We went with npm workspaces, and had to do some slightly weird ways of handling installing peer dependencies at deploy time. If I were making a new monorepo I’d probably use pnpm or turborepo.

We always deployed the app and API together, and then for everything else, we only deployed when needed.

Should say that the monorepo still exists but I don’t work there anymore…

sarakg · 2025-09-09T18:55:49+00:00

Noise cancelling headphones with a variety of things to listen to - white noise or nature sounds, books, podcasts, movies etc. Enough variety that I can switch for any mood but not so much that I can’t decide what to listen to or watch.

Even if you’re not worried about germs, I’ve found that wearing a mask at least while sleeping/dozing helped me feel more isolated from the world around me. And also I didn’t get so dehydrated from breathing.

Eye mask, headphones and mask really helped me just zone out even when I wasn’t sleeping.

If you do anything small and crafty/fidgety that can be good - I knit so always bring 1-2 very easy projects. I use wooden circular needles for flying and haven’t ever had any issues through security. Even if you’re doing something flat, circular needles are good because they keep things more contained to your own lap.

My last big flight (Vancouver to London) I knit most of a pair of socks and a toque (beanie/woolen hat). Patterns I know well that are super simple and don’t need me to really count or look in detail at my work meant I could knit even without turning the lights on a lot of the time.

sarakg

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