For me, I always incorporated something interesting and new into the small projects. While maybe not necessary to use Pandas or an ARG parse framework, or even

For me, I always incorporated something interesting and new into the small projects. While maybe not necessary to use Pandas or an ARG parse framework, or even Redis caching, I found by adding little things like these to smaller projects I was able to maintain interest and motivation. While counterintuitive, I also usually delivered a better product even though a tool I wanted to learn was a bit shoehorned in. Now I'm about four years in, competent and confident. 100% worth it.