Things became more complex when I started managing teams across multiple countries and even different states within Australia. Suddenly, I found myself pulling public holiday data from various sources, piecing it together into a Confluence page, and constantly updating holidays that depended on lunar calendars or other shifting factors.

Some holidays don’t fall on the same date every year, making planning less predictable. For instance, Easter Sunday can land anywhere between late March and late April, depending on the lunar cycle. Eid’s dates are similarly determined by moon sightings. Then there are holidays like Australia Day, which have fixed dates but when it falls on a weekend it’s observed on a working day. Keeping track of all these combinations for multiple countries was a nightmare.

What should have been a simple task quickly turned into a maintenance headache. Important? Yes. But also, incredibly repetitive and tedious.

After some research, I found that Google Calendar provides public holiday calendars that can be added directly. That helped, but it didn't solve the challenge of accurately forecasting capacity for future sprints. So, I created an API client to pull the data that I can then cross-reference with the engineers’ location to identify when they’d be unavailable.

Here’s a code snippet on how I achieved it.

//dotnet add package DevExLead.Integrations --version 0.2.1-g3f62bbd878
//using DevExLead.Integrations.GoogleCalendar;
var googleCalendarConnector = new GoogleCalendarConnector("{{Google API Key}}", false);
var googleCalendarPublicHolidays = await googleCalendarConnector.GetPublicHolidaysAsync("{{CountryId}}");

Check out the full list of Google Calendar IDs here.

Have you faced a similar challenge? How did you handle it?

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, keep learning!

Fast forward to the next day and things take an unexpected turn. Your teammate’s laptop is out of commission because his cat decided to use it as a litter box. Now they are stuck reinstalling everything from scratch. Rest in peace, productivity.

Then a critical bug pops up. It should be a quick fix, but surprise, there is no local test data to reproduce the issue. What was supposed to be a fast resolution turns into an all-day setup nightmare.

Just when you think things are back on track, a high-priority production incident appears out of nowhere. Suddenly you are pulled away from your planned work, scrambling to address it.

Sound familiar? These kinds of disruptions can pile up quickly. Emergencies and invisible work do more than drain productivity. They slow down momentum and make it harder to deliver on your commitments. Without visibility into these interruptions, sprint predictability goes out the window.

That is why transparency matters. It is not just about keeping stakeholders informed. It helps you spot patterns, identify where the team’s time is getting lost, and find ways to prevent similar disruptions in future sprints.

But let us be honest. Logging unexpected work into JIRA is no one’s favorite task. It forces engineers to break their focus, open JIRA, navigate through forms, and fill out all the required fields. It is tedious, which is why it often gets skipped.

So I tried a different approach. I built a CLI assistant that lets me create tickets directly from the terminal without ever opening a browser. It has saved me time and made staying on top of tasks much easier.

I would love for you to check it out and share your thoughts. Feedback is always welcome.

Until next time, keep learning!

Yet, for all its power, the CLI has its challenges. The sheer number of commands, flags, and syntax variations can be overwhelming. That mental overhead can slow us down, pulling us out of our flow just to track down the right option. Muscle memory helps, but even the most experienced developers occasionally find themselves searching for that elusive command they used last week.

This is where PSReadLine becomes a game-changer. It transforms the way we interact with the CLI, making command recall and editing effortless. No more retyping or digging through history, predictive IntelliSense surfaces relevant commands as we type, reducing friction and keeping us focused on the task at hand. With tools like this, the CLI isn't just a tool; it becomes an extension of how we think and work, turning every session into a smoother, more intuitive experience.

You can enable it by following these commands:

Install-Module PSReadLine -Force; 

# To ensure persistence across sessions, add this line to your PowerShell profile.
Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle ListView -PredictionSource History -HistoryNoDuplicates -MaximumHistoryCount 10000

Until next time, keep learning!

Think of your memory like RAM; it’s great for handling things in real time, but it’s not built for long-term storage. Notes act like your hard drive, capturing all those key details so you can offload what’s in your head and avoid the dreaded overflow.

We juggle so many moving parts each day that trusting our mental “RAM” alone is basically asking to lose track of something important. By writing things down, you create a permanent record for your future self, so you’re not left scratching your head later about why you chose a particular approach. Everything is right there, waiting to remind you how it all went down.

Notes also make life way easier in all sorts of ways:

• Help you track achievements, so you’re ready when performance reviews roll around.

• Give you talking points for your one-on-one meetings with your manager.

• Remind you of challenges you want to bring up in your next team retrospective.

• Let you keep track of brainstorms or half-formed ideas that could grow into something bigger.

• Allow you to document processes you only tackle occasionally, sparing you from relearning them every time.

Another huge perk is how much this habit helps your team. By sharing your notes, others can solve problems on their own without hijacking your time at the worst possible moment, like when you’re knee-deep in a bigger production emergency. It’s also the first step toward automating repetitive tasks, freeing up everyone’s bandwidth for more impactful work.

Pick whatever tool works for you and start now. I personally use Obsidian (check out my GitHub repo) because it lets me connect notes on different topics for my professional growth, and it’s been a total game-changer. It may feel like a small shift, but give it some time, and you’ll notice a jump in your productivity, a boost in your confidence, and a more collaborative, self-sufficient team. It’s a tiny adjustment you definitely won’t regret.

Until next time, keep learning!

No worries if you’re already set up. Save this article for later, it’ll be a lifesaver next time you unbox a new device or decide to factory reset your current one.

So now you’re staring at a blank slate. In the best scenario, someone has graciously prepared an onboarding doc with all the download links and version numbers. In the worst scenario, you’re on your own (no doc, no links), just you wandering around the office (or Slack) bugging your new colleagues for help. Hey, at least it’s a solid excuse to meet people!

Once you do track down all those installers, it’s time for the big moment: double-click that setup.exe, hit “Next” a bunch of times, then “Finish”, then restart. Repeat as necessary. Welcome to the setup marathon, my friend!

But here’s a shortcut: winget configuration. This handy command automates the entire setup process with just one go. Thanks to Windows Package Manager and PowerShell DSC, you can run everything hands-free, grab a coffee and let your machine do its thing.

It’s also reliable and repeatable because everything is pre-defined in a handy YAML file. You won’t have to worry about rummaging around for the correct versions of tools and software. Once you’ve got that config set up, onboarding to a new project (or helping the next newbie) becomes a breeze.

Curious about how to implement it?

Check out my GitHub repo for an example.

Your new colleagues will be forever grateful you spared them the headache of manual installs.

Until next time, keep learning!