2021 Year in Review

A bit late to close the previous year, but it is never too late to evaluate your goals and set new ones.

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Goals 2021

Looking back at the previous year I am happy, even though I haven’t been able to finish most of my goals. Comparing 2021. with 2020. I see an improvement in all areas. So, lets start with the review of last years goals.

Publish more blog posts (20-25)

Last year I published a total of 5 blog posts. 2 of those were actual technical posts. The others were a “diary” thingy. I decided to skip those posts going forward and will only write about those if there are significant learnings from them (ÖIF B1 exam, Duo Lingo). I am keeping this goal for next (this) year. ⏭

Create a boiler plate(s) with Webpack, React, Next.js, TypeScript, testing

I did not have the time to do much on my side projects and this one specifically. I think this one is important and still relevant and will tackle this before I start any of my next side projects. This one also transfers to this year.⏭

Finish all the learning resources for vanilla JS

I kinda put this on a back burner and did not really focus on this. The reason is that this is really something that is not a priority for me and more of a recap and inspiration for blog post ideas. Other things I have been learning throughout the year have been more important. Once I reduce my Pocket list even further I can focus more on this. It will tie nicely to the rest of the goals. This one also goes to this year's goals.⏭

Create a plan to write about all the ES6+ features

This one is kinda done. I will use this book from Frontend Masters to guide me. It is mostly about going back in time and checking the new features by new ES versions and distilling them down for me and then putting that on the blog. So, this one is ✅

Bit by bit improve the visuals and the UX of this website

Again, I haven’t focused enough on this one. It will tie nicely to what I want to do this year. So: ⏭.

At the end of the year I want to be at least somewhat satisfied with the overall look and feel of the website

Same as the previous one. I see that I have made a mistake and this is essentially the same as the previous goal and not really a goal. So, I will focus on the previous one this year and discard this one.

Publish an NPM package

Haven’t done this one, it goes to this year’s list as well ⏭.

Finish Scrum Poker Cards project and start at least one more side project

I did not really touch this project at all. I will focus on finishing it this year. ⏭

Have below 10 items in Pocket

Currently, I have 11 items in my Pocket. Even though it is still not technically the correct number, I consider this one as done. I have been keeping tabs on this throughout the whole year and I believe I did a good job there. ✅

Pass the B1 ÖIF exam

On this one I am happy to put a big ✅. It has been my main focus last year and took away lots of my energy and time. I hope the guide I wrote about it can also help someone who also needs to prepare for this test.

Train regularly (at least two times a week)

Although I have improved with my training schedule I believe I am still not there. Various reasons are at play here. I will transfer this one as well to this year as I want to have it as a reminder of my priorities. ⏭

Create a training goal

For the first time in my life I created a specific goal(s) and focus for my training. It is going well so far. ✅

Create a training schedule

Tied to the previous one, I am keeping a diary of how my training goes. So far so good. ✅

Finish all german lessons in Duolingo

Duolingo has been great for the previous year. But, I do not find it useful anymore. I am now learning german through reading the magazines and listening to the radio, etc. But, it has been a helpful base to jumpstart learning german again. ✅

Learn the tools for post processing RAW photos

Not done, goes to this year’s list. ⏭

Improve scene selection when taking photos

Same with this one. ⏭

Goals 2022

Finish the SEO setup of the website

I am following this SEO guide by Monica Lent. I want to make sure I have all the SEO basics covered before moving on to content syndication.

Improve the visuals of the website

Basically a carry over task from last year as well. I want to define and implement the visuals of the website. I would like to do this before starting content syndication.

Start content syndication

I want to try out content syndication. My focus platforms would be: Medium and Dev.to (maybe also Reddit and Quora). Maybe some more if I see it makes sense.

Finish Scrum Poker Cards project and start at least one more side project

I want to bring this one to some form of completion. To play around with it and see how far I can take it.

Create a boilerplate(s) with Webpack, React, Next.js, TypeScript, testing

Before starting any new side project I want to have this one done so I can start my projects quicker and easier.

Publish an NPM package

Self explanatory. I have a couple of ideas. I want to learn how this process goes.

Publish more blog posts (20-25)

My aim is to have around 2 blog posts per month.

Train regularly (at least two times a week)

More of a reminder for me than an actual goal. The goal here is to train regularly and have more training sessions than last year.

Finish all the learning resources for vanilla JS

A stretch goal for me this year again. I really want to cement the knowledge and this one should help me. Not a priority though.

Learn the tools for post processing RAW photos

A stretch goal as it is not a priority. I kinda started it in my free time.

Improve scene selection when taking photos

A more long term goal that is also not a priority.

Conclusion

This year I am planning to focus more on my blog. Finish up the SEO and design setup and check how content syndication goes. After that, I would like to focus on the side projects and get those going.