I loved these as a kid – PD Days – the extra day that would pop up here or there on your calendar, sometimes at the last minute giving you a whole extra day to sleep in, play lego, goof off, whatever.

For those in Education – they stand for Professional Development Days – from Google.

PD days in the school calendar recognized that teachers needed time during the school year to hone their skills, improve practice, and stay current with changes related to teaching and learning.

I don’t see this much in software, you hear about, sometimes it takes shape for a period of time, but then we get busy with the next release.  Or some people take it, but others don’t, or you are sitting there thinking you should really be helping on that release and you don’t get to really apply any focus.

And then there is the inevitable piece that it must be tied to what you are working on – aaack.

But what if PD days for Developers were something completely different that emboldened the same criteria in the definition of the above;

  • Hone your skills
  • Improve with practice
  • Stay current on changes in the industry
  • Experiment
  • Create
  • Learn
  • Share

That last one is key and one I would add to the above definition, share what you learn, share what you succeeded at, share where you failed and think about what you are going to do on your next PD Day.

Want more? Check out my book Code Your Way Up – available as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon (CAN and US).  I’m also the co-host of the Remotely Prepared podcast.

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