The feeling of overwhelm in our industry is more common than you might think. It reflects the sorry state where getting older and having more experience does no

The feeling of overwhelm in our industry is more common than you might think. It reflects the sorry state where getting older and having more experience does not relate to gaining value, most of the time the opposite (imagine a doctor being dismissed for having too much experience) Some ideas for coping: - try to focus on learning fundamentals, things that are still useful 30 years from now. - don't worry at all about knowing the latest sh*t, framework, language. they'll disappear. focus on your toolset, but ignore the rest. Instead, see above - your career only partly depends on your tech chops. You need to decide where you want to go: into management? focus on social skills. Technical lead? Take as much responsibility as you can, get around, also people skills. Going freelance? Specialise, and gain as much domain knowledge as you can (e.g. automobile, telecom) - clock ticking? See point before, but with only 4 years into I don't think anything is ticking for you. In fact, I don't believe this at all. Ageism exists, yes, but there are plenty of ways to prosper