Reflections from 52 weeks, 52 projects

Transcript

1. Reflections From 52 WEEKS, 52 PROJECTS Jefferson Lam May 11th,

   2015

2. 2014 2015

3. 2014 2015

4. None

5. What do I want to do in 2015? I want

   to continue to hone my skills in development. I’m gonna make it a New Years Resolution to develop a small project every week, and post it online every week, Saturday at or before noon. It can be big, or small. It needs to be something meaningful that challenges me and shows my skills.

6. THE GOAL: 52 PROJECTS IN 2015

7. None

8. Weathery January 11th 1

9. 52 January 19th 2

10. 52 January 19th 2

11. 3 Messengerbot January 25th

12. 4 Eightball January 31st

13. 5 Keyfighter February 9th

14. 6 Peeps February 25th

15. 7 Rollaball February 28th

16. 8 Flapper News March 12th

17. 9 Project Euler April 1st

18. 20 weeks in, and I have 9 “projects”. What happened?

19. REASON #1 : TIME

20. started dating someone • work • sleep • friends •

    driving and being stuck in traffic

21. REASON #2 : PROJECT IDEAS

22. None

23. REASON #3 : NOT MAKING PROGRESS

24. time skill Expectation time skill Reality

25. Some reflections…

26. REASON #1 : TIME

27. 24 Hours

28. 24 Hours Sleep

29. 24 Hours Sleep Work

30. 24 Hours Sleep Work Commuting

31. 24 Hours Sleep Work Commuting Friends, hobbies, errands, etc.

32. 24 Hours Sleep Work Commuting Friends, hobbies, errands, etc. Code

33. Not having time is no longer an excuse. You have

    to make time, and you have to make sacrifices. Lesson Learned #1
34. None

35. REASON #2 : PROJECT IDEAS

36. None

37. It’s hard to build something out of nothing. Build your

    projects around content. Lesson Learned #2

38. “Project”?

39. Q Why am I doing this Project 52? A To

    become a better developer. To give myself opportunities to code.

40. “Project”? Project. Code snippets are fine. In fact, anything is

    fine. Just make something.
41. None

42. It’s OK to discard old goals if they are no

    longer helpful. Constantly re-assess your goals and move them as needed. Lesson Learned #3

43. Big projects are daunting. It’s easier to get things done

    if you keep your scope small. Lesson Learned #4

44. REASON #3 : NOT MAKING PROGRESS

45. time skill Expectation time skill Reality

46. time skill How Skill Acquisition Works discover task-runners! discover CSS

    animations!

47. time happiness How Skill Acquisition Feels

48. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

49. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

50. I was trying to hit too many targets.

51. Develop a specific toolkit, and focus on mastering those skills.

    You won’t learn anything if you try to learn everything. Lesson Learned #5

52. “Jack of all trades, master of none.” - Unknown

53. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

54. I was getting really good at being mediocre.

55. None
56. None

57. I was coding in a vacuum. I wasn’t reading or

    learning from others.

58. I was trying hard to create cool stuff. But as

    I read more, the quality of my work naturally improved.
59. None
60. None

61. Learning by doing is great, but don’t forget to take

    in new information. Read, and get other people’s feedback. This will help you stay up-to-date. Lesson Learned #6

62. You can only create what you know. Your work is

    a direct reflection of your knowledge. Lesson Learned #7

63. “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort

    of everybody I’ve ever known.” - Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

64. WHAT HAVE I ACHIEVED?

65. My Github activity blew up. Repos ~2 ➞ 18 Streak

    ~2 ➞ 15 Contributions 0 ➞ 436 Pull Requests 0 ➞ 2

66. I started using Twitter more. Followers ~12 ➞ 59 Tweets

    ~10 ➞ 85

67. I started using CodePen. Projects 0 ➞ ~6 Followers 0

    ➞ 1

68. I started redesigning my website.

69. I have a ton more dev stickers and t-shirts.

70. I’ve done 2 talks. This is my 3rd.

71. I’ve started working out more.

72. I’ve developed more of a toolkit. - Gulp - Sass

    - Linters - Normalizer - Reset - Pesticide - Sublime Settings - Codepen

73. My New Favorite Resources: • Github (other people’s repos) •

    Codepen • Twitter • Panda • Medium • A List Apart • HackReactor YouTube Channel • The FED interview question list • http://h5bp.github.io/Front-end-Developer-Interview-Questions/

74. LOOKING FORWARD

75. - Read more - Teach more - Start blogging -

    Pair program more - CodePen everything - Ask for feedback more - Answer all the FED interview questions Looking forward, I am going to…

76. in closing

77. Most days feel like failure days.

78. But the fact that I’ve taken any steps forward means

    I’ve made progress, and that is a success in and of itself.

79. It’s not easy to become an expert. The important thing

    is to keep pushing forward, intelligently. Keep coding.

80. Just keep coding. Lesson Learned #8

81. Thank you! Jefferson Lam May 11th, 2015