My year in review - 2021 📅

Is it 2022 already? Where did the time go!

2021 was an interesting year for me, I had a busy and successful year!

What I achieved

• Helped launch several new services and features at my old job
• Got a new job!
• Salary increased!
• Completed more courses on Udemy
• Developed an API and deployed it via Heroku (Python) and Azure (C#)
• Learnt more about Postman
• Built several smaller applications
• Blogged more! (The only month I didn’t make a post was in February, which is an improvement on my efforts in 2020)
• Made improvements to my website - now it has images for each blog post on the front page
• Made 275 contributions on GitHub (I’m tempted to get my GitHub skyline printed out!)
• Learnt more about Python and Ruby
• Took time to look after my mental health
• Got engaged! 💍

What my goals are for 2022

• Learn more about using web frameworks (specifically, Ruby on Rails)
• Move to a new blog framework (possibly?)
• Create new content
• Learn more about automated testing
• Complete more courses on Udemy
• Move out!
• Buy a new computer (maybe?)
• Get married!

The lows of 2021

Although I’ve achieved so much this past year, there were some low points as well.

The main low point is that I’m still living with my parents. I would’ve hoped that I would’ve moved out by now and at least renting!

Now, it doesn’t help that house prices have skyrocketed in value and this did cause a setback in my plans, but I’m hoping to move out this year at some point!

What I’ve learnt for 2022

A major theme for me over the past year has been learning new skills. I took the skills I learnt from a Python Udemy course and took it further by looking at a course on Flask for example. And these new skills allowed me to get a new job.

If there’s one lesson I’d like to share with you, is that taking the time to learn new skills has many benefits and now is an excellent time to look for courses online and start doing them. Even if you spend an hour a night learning, you will end each day with learning something new.

And for this year I want to continue learning more about development and broadening my horizons. More specifically, about web frameworks (it’s one thing that I’ve just never really worked with)

Another lesson I’ve learnt is to look after yourself. Not just physically but mentally as well.

The future of this website

Majority of the content that I make is blog posts, like this post you’re reading! The rest of the website honestly doesn’t do very much to be honest. I’ve been thinking of what the future of this website is and I’m leaning towards moving my content to Medium or revamping my website with using Ghost so I can grow my audience.

I’ll still continue to use the same domain - but I want to use a platform that is more geared towards content. So I can spend more time writing and less time building my website for one new Markdown page.

It’s crazy to think that I’ve had this website for nearly two years! But maybe a change is needed.

New year, new content?

Once upon a time, I used to make YouTube videos about retro games (you’ll have to go and search and see if you can find them!). And making videos is something I’d like to bring back but more focused on development, work life, interviews, etc.

These videos or audio clips will be embedded as part of my blog posts. I guess I want to be more creative with my work this year and find new ways for people to interact with my content.

Who knows, I might even launch a podcast as well. Because everyone has a podcast now (I mean hey, if you’re interested to talk about tech, life and other topics and want to do a fun, small side project with me then let me know! Let’s talk!)

A new computer as well?

This is something that I’ve been thinking about somewhat recently. My current computer is not compatible with Windows 11. Thanks to TPM 2.0 not being compatible with my CPU.

With Windows 10 being deprecated in 2025, I only have 3 years until my computer stops receiving updates. Plus, my current setup is getting slightly long in the tooth.

So my thoughts initially went to building a new Windows machine, but the ongoing semiconductor shortage has made buying certain components tricky. The market for graphics cards continues to be a mess.

But then I thought on what I mostly use my computer for. I mostly use a computer for programming in Ruby and Python, browsing the web, blogging and content creation.

And recently, I’ve been doing more work (both personal and professional) on a Mac. Plus, the new M1 SOC seems to offer excellent performance (who knows, maybe when I get a new computer the M2 will be available!).

I did think about going to Linux, but since I do need some software for content creation, I’ll be switching to Mac.

It’ll be weird going from Windows, something that I’ve used my whole computing life, to Mac. The earliest memory I have of computing is using Windows 95!

Let’s go!

So that’s how 2021 has been and my plans for the new year!

Thanks for reading, and here’s to a great 2022! 🎉 (And be sure to like and subscribe, that’s what everyone says now right?)