Comment by uzername

Similarly to how someone else shared, I've added a Hacking Time to Friday afternoons on calendar. I've been using this time for over a year. Try a new tool, try a different approach, try cloning another team's repo, experimenting with XYZ, and so on. A lot of that has allowed me to have "just in time" knowledge of topics which helped unblock a team member or provide early recommendations for a new task.

All that said, I also read HN regularly and I know I don't touch beyond the very tip of the iceberg and that's fine.