Reflections from 52 weeks, 52 projects

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Reﬂections From 52 WEEKS, 52 PROJECTS Jefferson Lam May 11th, 2015

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2014 2015

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2014 2015

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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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THE GOAL: 52 PROJECTS IN 2015

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Weathery January 11th 1

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52 January 19th 2

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52 January 19th 2

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3 Messengerbot January 25th

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4 Eightball January 31st

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5 Keyﬁghter February 9th

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6 Peeps February 25th

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7 Rollaball February 28th

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8 Flapper News March 12th

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9 Project Euler April 1st

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

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REASON #1 : TIME

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

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REASON #2 : PROJECT IDEAS

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REASON #3 : NOT MAKING PROGRESS

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time skill Expectation time skill Reality

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Some reﬂections…

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REASON #1 : TIME

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24 Hours

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24 Hours Sleep

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24 Hours Sleep Work

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24 Hours Sleep Work Commuting

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

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

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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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REASON #2 : PROJECT IDEAS

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

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“Project”?

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

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

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

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REASON #3 : NOT MAKING PROGRESS

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time skill Expectation time skill Reality

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

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time happiness How Skill Acquisition Feels

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Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

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Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

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I was trying to hit too many targets.

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

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Kathy Sierra: Making Badass Developers

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I was getting really good at being mediocre.

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

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

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

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

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WHAT HAVE I ACHIEVED?

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

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

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

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I started redesigning my website.

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

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I’ve done 2 talks. This is my 3rd.

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I’ve started working out more.

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

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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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LOOKING FORWARD

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- 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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in closing

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Most days feel like failure days.

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