Your calculus analogy has me thinking that I may just haven't encountered some pain points where being able to apply certain things that will improve my quality of work. Especially in regards of being a better communicator to be more effective team member, and employee. I also tend to work in silo'd situations.
I mean, I always encounter problems at work, just not the right ones to get me to where I want to be today.
And where I'm in a situation where I'm free to do side projects, it doesn't feel better. I can't effectively come up with new problem scenarios unless they resemble something I encountered in the past.
You're correct that I'm in a comfort zone. I can read about why these tools are useful. At the same time, these are tools that solve problems I don't have. How can one practice them like that? My mind is blocked here, I'm unable to come up with situations even "for learning purposes", for side projects, scenarios that would let me understand them better.
I have difficulty coming up with new problem scenarios in my head, unless they resemble something I already encountered in the past. I will have to overcome this, if I were to become a better engineer.
Without having a problem scenario, there's no work to be done. So there's only the job hunt right now.
> At the same time, these are tools that solve problems I don't have.
If you're applying for jobs in companies, and those companies want you to have skills in tools x, y, z, then they have a need and they have problem scenarios that will be relevant to those tools.
You can read company blogs - go look at any of the big tech company engineering blogs and they'll go into a lot of depth on the problems they have and how they go about using modern tooling to solve those problems.
The information is out there, if you don't have any ideas, then talk to ChatGPT , read company blogs, buy a book, do a course, put a question into google.
There has never been an easier time to get an answer to a question - you just need to ask it in the first place.
Your job relies on you being a problem solver. Start by solving your own problem, stop with the excuses.
I can read an article explaining how a tool is used.
There are many tools that solve technical and organizational problems I don't have. There is no "work" to be done if I don't have those problems. You're correct that I'm in a comfort zone. When there is no problem, I cannot find agency. The most effective learning I've had is learning on the job, or from being able to draw parallels to past job experiences. Without either of these things my mind is blocked and I feel unable to take action.
I'm unable to create problem scenarios for something that I haven't used before. My perspective doesn't go past- encounter problem first and then see if I should try something else that would work within my constraints.
I mean, I always encounter problems at work, just not the right ones to get me to where I want to be today.
And where I'm in a situation where I'm free to do side projects, it doesn't feel better. I can't effectively come up with new problem scenarios unless they resemble something I encountered in the past.