1. Google Sheets & Excel – Your Unexpected Power Tool

If you'd told me years ago that I'd be spending time in spreadsheets, I would've laughed. But here we are.

I’ve used Google Sheets to examine data pulled straight from the database — usually exported as a CSV. I’d clean it up, apply filters, format text and numbers, and try to make sense of what the data was actually saying. Nothing fancy — no pivot tables or wild formulas — but enough to catch patterns, spot issues, or make quick decisions when a full dashboard just wasn’t available.

Google Sheets is surprisingly powerful. It comes with a ton of advanced features that I haven’t even scratched the surface of. But even the basics? Extremely useful. Don’t sleep on it.

2. Cloud Monitoring Dashboards – It’s Not Just DevOps’ Job

PSA, Cloud dashboards are not exclusive to DevOps folks and SREs! As I advanced in my career, I’ve found myself digging into graphs on AWS and GCP more times than I can count — especially when something goes wrong in production.

CPU usage, memory pressure — those visualizations can look like hieroglyphics if you’re not used to them. And honestly, it took me a while to get the hang of what I was even looking at. But when a customer is reporting slowness, and you're on the spot, understanding those metrics (even at a basic level) becomes essential.

It’s still not second nature for me, but I’ve learned to stop avoiding the graphs and start asking the right questions when something looks off.

3. Documentation Tools

One of the biggest mindset shifts I’ve had over the years is realizing that code isn’t enough. Writing self-documenting code is cute and all — but once you’re responsible for handoffs, incident reports, release notes etc You better know how to write clearly.

I’ve written Notion docs to explain implementation decisions, outlined release steps, filled in Jira tickets with technical considerations, and documented how features should behave — not just how they’re built. Markdown has become second nature, whether it’s for internal wikis or GitHub READMEs.

It turns out documentation isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s part of the work. If your docs are clear, people trust you. If they’re not, you slow the team down.

Good writing = good engineering.

4. Command-line Tools You Thought You’d Never Touch

As a developer, this should come as no suprise, you literarily live in the terminal!

I run a lot of commands — so much that I’ve created aliases for the ones I use the most. But honestly, compared to what’s out there, I know just a sliver. Tools like htop, dig, curl, jq, awk — I know of them, but I haven’t used most of them deeply.

The one I’ve really come to appreciate is grep. Simple, but so powerful. I’ve used it to:

• Search for a commit message by hash: git log | grep abc1234

• Recursively search for files containing a string in a directory: grep -rl 'DB_PASSWORD' ./config

It’s in those “I just need to know where this is happening” moments that grep becomes gold.

You don’t need to be a CLI wizard, but knowing even a few of these tools can save you serious time — especially when you’re debugging or trying to unblock yourself quickly.

5. Visual Code Mapping Tools – For When Words Aren’t Enough

At some point, your words just won’t cut it — you’ll need to draw it out.

I haven’t had to diagram system designs or flows much at work (yet), but I’ve done it plenty while preparing for system design interviews. Tools like Lucidchart have helped me get comfortable sketching out ideas clearly and quickly.

Understanding how to build and read flowcharts — even at a decent level — will absolutely set you apart. Whether you’re designing a service, explaining how data moves between components, or walking someone through a process, a visual goes a long way.

You don’t need to be an artist. Just clear enough to make someone go, “Ahh, now I get it.”

Final Thoughts

As you grow in your career, you start relying on tools you never expected — spreadsheets, dashboards, flowcharts, even Jira. It’s not just about writing code anymore. The real work is in understanding, communicating, and solving problems — however that looks.

If this resonated with you, feel free to share it. Someone out there might be surprised they’re not alone!