Delivering value as a software engineer often becomes a matter of triaging incoming requests.
There are many possibilities for changes you could make to the software. Some are more important than others. Some changes are urgent. But at the end of the day, you only have so much capacity.
This is a challenge that many managers, tech leads, and senior engineers face on the team level. What should our team focus on? Where will we spend our effort?
At some point, you'll bump up against the reality that we can't get everything done. We're going to have to say "no" or "not right now" to some things. Maybe many things!
This is where a great manager, tech lead, or project-owner shines. Strategically choosing what to avoid.
Here's the thing...
Saying "no" or "not right now" is easy when it's something you don't want to do. But it's very difficult to say no to something you really want to do!
You will inevitably have to decline things you'd like to pursue, simply because splitting your attention between too many initiatives means you won't make meaningful progress on any of them.
That's a critical lesson that's challenging to practice.
One way to make it easier - realize that you don't really have a choice. You'll never be able to do everything. So, merely doing something is a choice at the expense of all the other possibilities.
I'm just suggesting you confront that reality, instead of pretending you can do it all.