How I Built a Professional Blog with Next.js While Working a 10-Hour Labor Job
My Journey: How I Mastered Next.js While Working as a Laborer in Saudi Arabia
Introduction: A Life of Two Worlds
My name is Maqbool. If you saw me during the day, you would see a man covered in dust, working under the 45-degree heat of the Saudi Arabian sun. I work on a farm, a job that requires my physical strength every single minute. My hands are rough, my back often aches, and my clothes are soaked in sweat. This is the life of thousands of overseas workers who come to the Middle East to support their families back home.
But when the sun sets and the other workers go to sleep, I enter a different world. I open my laptop, and the dust of the farm is replaced by the glow of a code editor. In the quiet of my room, I am not a laborer; I am a Full-Stack Web Developer. This is the story of how I learned Next.js, Prisma, and Advanced Ads Systems while living a life of hard physical toil.
The Motivation: Why Coding?
People often ask me why I chose something as difficult as programming. Why not just rest after a 10-hour shift? The truth is, I wanted more than just a monthly salary. I wanted a skill that the world respects. I realized that while my physical strength might fade with age, my mental skills would only grow.
I saw how the world was moving toward the "Digital Economy." I saw how websites were becoming the new storefronts. I decided that I didn't want to just use the internet; I wanted to build it. I wanted to show that a person’s current job does not define their brain's potential.
The Struggle: Learning Under Pressure
Learning to code is hard even for students in big universities. For a laborer in the desert, it felt impossible at first. I didn't have a high-speed fiber connection or a quiet study room. I had a small mobile hotspot and a shared room.
My "classroom" was the farm. During my 15-minute tea breaks, I wouldn't chat or scroll through social media. I would watch a video on React hooks or JavaScript logic. I would save the concepts in my head and "code" them in my mind while I was digging or lifting heavy equipment. At night, I would put those thoughts into my laptop.
There were many times when I felt like quitting. I remember a night when I spent 4 hours trying to fix a "Slash" error in my image loader. My eyes were burning with tiredness, and my body was crying for sleep. But I told myself, "Maqbool, if you sleep now, you will wake up as only a laborer. If you solve this, you wake up as a developer."
Why I Chose the Next.js Tech Stack
When I started, I tried many things, but I fell in love with Next.js. For a self-taught developer, Next.js is like a superpower. It handles so many things for you.
Speed and Performance: In Pakistan and India, internet can be slow. I wanted my website, WiseMix Media, to open instantly. Next.js's Server-Side Rendering (SSR) made that possible.
SEO Friendly: I wanted my articles to rank on Google. Next.js makes managing Metadata very easy, which is why my blog is now SEO-friendly.
The Power of Prisma: Managing a database used to be scary. But Prisma ORM made it feel like writing simple JavaScript. I built a system where I can manage my posts, categories, and authors with total control.
Image Optimization: I learned how to use ImageKit. This was a big challenge. I had to write a custom loader to make sure my images look great but don't slow down the site.
Building WiseMix Media: My Digital Masterpiece
I didn't just learn to code; I built a real product. WiseMix Media is a professional blog platform. I designed it to be as good as any international tech site. One of my proudest achievements is the Ads System.
I wanted to show advertisements to earn money, but I hated how empty boxes look when ads are not active. I spent days learning advanced CSS and logic to make sure that if an ad is not there, the space disappears completely. This level of detail is what makes a professional developer.
The Challenges of an "Overseas Developer"
Being a developer in Saudi Arabia is different from being one in a Silicon Valley office. I have to manage my "Iqama," my farm duties, and my coding projects all at once. Sometimes the internet fails, sometimes the heat makes my laptop too hot to touch, and sometimes the physical exhaustion is so much that I fall asleep with my fingers on the keyboard.
But these challenges made me stronger. They taught me "Problem Solving," which is the most important skill for any coder. If you can solve a bug while your legs are tired from 10 hours of standing, you can solve anything in life.
Advice for Others: The "Maqbool Method"
If you are reading this and you feel stuck in a job you don't like, here is my advice to you:
Consistency Over Intensity: Don't try to learn for 10 hours in one day. Learn for 1 hour, but do it every single day.
Build Real Things: Don't just watch videos. If you learn a "Button," go and build a button. I learned by building my blog.
Don't Fear Errors: Errors are not your enemy. They are your teachers. Every error I fixed in my Prisma or Next.js code taught me something I will never forget.
Use Your Breaks: You would be surprised how much you can learn in 10 minutes. Use your phone to learn, not just for entertainment.
Conclusion: The Future is Bright
Today, I am still in Saudi Arabia. I still work on the farm. But my mind is no longer limited by the boundaries of the farm. I am a part of the global tech community. I am a Next.js developer who understands Ads systems, SEO, and database architecture.
My journey proves that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is what we create. I created my opportunity with hard work and late nights. Whether you are in a village in Pakistan, a city in India, or a farm in Saudi Arabia, the world of coding is open to you.
I am Maqbool, and I am just getting started. One day, I will be coding in a professional office, but I will never forget the lessons I learned in the Saudi desert.
