The fastest way to learn something is to use it.
If there's a library, package, or even language you want to check out, why not build a small app using them?
As you're building the app, think of it as debugging your way to understanding.
Here's an example of something I built recently to solve an issue I had when starting a new project.
I call it Instant JSON API. It's a little helper to easily create a local server with API endpoints using JSON files.
The reason I built this was because whenever I start a new personal project, I prefer working on the frontend and the biggest blocker would be setting up the backend and database. I can do it but I don't want to.
My end goal for this project is to make it a package available on PyPI and integrate with Flask projects.
I think by starting with a little project, it can easily snowball into something bigger because of the momentum from having something working makes it easier to iterate on, expand, and grow.
Staying curious and building new things are a few ways we can continue to develop our skills as software developers.