Reflections from 52 weeks, 52 projects

My new years resolution was to do one project a week for the entire year. This is a presentation on how it's been going, and what I've learned thus far.

Transcript

1. Reflections From 52 WEEKS, 52 PROJECTS Jefferson Lam May 11th, 2015
2. 2014 2015
3. 2014 2015
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
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
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
35. REASON #2 : PROJECT IDEAS
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.
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.
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.
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