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
   

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2. 2014 2015
   

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3. 2014 2015
   

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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.
   

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6. THE GOAL:
   52 PROJECTS IN 2015
   

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8. Weathery
   January 11th
   1
   

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9. 52
   January 19th
   2
   

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10. 52
    January 19th
    2
    

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11. 3
    Messengerbot
    January 25th
    

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12. 4
    Eightball
    January 31st
    

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13. 5
    Keyfighter
    February 9th
    

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14. 6
    Peeps
    February 25th
    

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15. 7
    Rollaball
    February 28th
    

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16. 8
    Flapper News
    March 12th
    

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17. 9
    Project Euler
    April 1st
    

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

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19. REASON #1 :
    TIME
    

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20. started dating someone
    • work
    • sleep
    • friends
    • driving and being stuck in traffic
    

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21. REASON #2 :
    PROJECT IDEAS
    

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23. REASON #3 :
    NOT MAKING PROGRESS
    

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24. time
    skill
    Expectation
    time
    skill
    Reality
    

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25. Some reflections…
    

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26. REASON #1 :
    TIME
    

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27. 24 Hours
    

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28. 24 Hours Sleep
    

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29. 24 Hours Sleep
    Work
    

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30. 24 Hours Sleep
    Work
    Commuting
    

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

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

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33. Not having time is no longer an excuse.
    You have to make time, and you have to make
    sacrifices.
    Lesson Learned #1
    

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35. REASON #2 :
    PROJECT IDEAS
    

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37. It’s hard to build something out of nothing.
    Build your projects around content.
    Lesson Learned #2
    

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38. “Project”?
    

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39. Q
    Why am I doing this Project 52?
    A
    To become a better developer.
    To give myself opportunities to code.
    

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

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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
    

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43. Big projects are daunting. It’s easier to get
    things done if you keep your scope small.
    Lesson Learned #4
    

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44. REASON #3 :
    NOT MAKING PROGRESS
    

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45. time
    skill
    Expectation
    time
    skill
    Reality
    

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

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47. time
    happiness
    How Skill Acquisition Feels
    

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48. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers
    

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49. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers
    

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50. I was trying to hit too many targets.
    

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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
    

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

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53. Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers
    

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54. I was getting really good at being mediocre.
    

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

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58. I was trying hard to create cool stuff.
    But as I read more, the quality of my work
    naturally improved.
    

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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
    

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62. You can only create what you know. Your
    work is a direct reflection of your knowledge.
    Lesson Learned #7
    

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63. “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined
    effort of everybody I’ve ever known.”
    - Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
    

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64. WHAT HAVE I
    ACHIEVED?
    

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65. My Github
    activity blew up.
    Repos
    ~2 ➞ 18
    Streak
    ~2 ➞ 15
    Contributions
    0 ➞ 436
    Pull Requests
    0 ➞ 2
    

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66. I started using
    Twitter more.
    Followers
    ~12 ➞ 59
    Tweets
    ~10 ➞ 85
    

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67. I started using
    CodePen.
    Projects
    0 ➞ ~6
    Followers
    0 ➞ 1
    

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68. I started redesigning my website.
    

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

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

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71. I’ve started
    working out more.
    

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72. I’ve developed more
    of a toolkit.
    - Gulp
    - Sass
    - Linters
    - Normalizer
    - Reset
    - Pesticide
    - Sublime Settings
    - Codepen
    

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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/
    

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74. LOOKING
    FORWARD
    

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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…
    

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76. in closing
    

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77. Most days feel like failure days.
    

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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.
    

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79. It’s not easy to become an expert. The
    important thing is to keep pushing forward,
    intelligently. Keep coding.
    

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80. Just keep coding.
    Lesson Learned #8
    

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

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