My Year's Retrospective: 2019

Keeping up the habit started last year, I'll try to summarize my year into a single post. Sadly, this won't be a long post as this year wasn't as good as expected. I don't think I was over optimistic last December, but I went with a lack of motivation the whole 2019. I'll use this post to see the good things that happened during the year. Again, I'll add a list of other developers reviews at the end of the article, remember to add your own if you want. Let's find something positive to write!

HOME

The new flat we moved on last year turned to be a worries factory instead of a place to rest. We had some serious troubles with the neighbours, nights without sleep because of the noise and suffering terrible smells at the living room because of their smoke getting inside our home. The community talked to them about the smoking issue because there were more people concerned about this, and we tried to be more patient and open-minded about the noises, using headphones and ear-plugs.

WORK

We're still working in this big project started back in 2017, and I had a serious burn-out problem back in February & May. Recently, the motivation is back on track in this matter, and the project is close to its end. More people jumped onboard and I gained more responsabilities towards the code and the team. I'm really happy now seeing where this is going, specially the light and the end of the tunnel.

In September, I started to open source small parts of our code as packages and it's going great. We don't have a lot of downloads for now, but I love creating those repositories and leaving the code up there for everyone who wants to use it. Also, in this attempt to become more open to the community, I suggested the idea of creating a Twitter account and post some tips, advices or news regarding our small team, and I was the designated one to manage it. Both things are going well and keep me motivated to continue on this path.

SIDE PROJECTS

This year I focused on trying to learn some Vue.js, and I did two small projects I'm proud of. Snake and Minesweeper games.

Aside from that, I started my beloved project about managing pets back in August, but after working on it during the summer break, I stopped the development. I still have a clear idea in my head of what I want to do with it, it's just that I'm taking it slowly. I studied a few options to monetize it, like a SaaS for the user or a SaaS for the vets, but all of this stuff is new to me and here in Spain making money from side projects is hard because of the law we have. I plan to release the product and study the monetization later if it gets popular enough.

Last couple of months I had a few project ideas but I wrote them down in my notes instead of developing them. Some of them require good design I don't have the knowledge yet.

MENTAL HEALTH

This has been one of the toughest years I remember regarding my mental health struggles. I promised myself last year that this one I would overcome all this anxiety issues, but I discovered that, even knowing it's possible, it's not so simple. I haven't surrender, and in September I made a huge step with another psychologist.

I left the local Python meeting group I joined in 2018 because I didn't enjoy it as much as before.

The library volunteering I applied to at the end of 2018 didn't went well. I wanted to do it but the schedule was impossible.

In March I stopped going to the gym every single day. I still go, from time to time, but not as much as I would like. I'm planning to change this next year. A few days ago I listened to this Full Stack Radio episode in which Adam talks about keeping yourself in good shape and I'm planning to follow the advices mentioned in there.

SOME SMALL ACHIEVEMENTS

Joined this Hacktoberfest, focusing on Astrotomic repositories. Also, I helped a few co-workers to complete the challenge with the idea of getting a group photo with the shirts for the company twitter account.
Bought PlayStation Classic and started a new Final Fantasy VII game. I already completed this game like 3 o 4 times when I was a child, but I really love it.
My retro Spider-Man collection grew a lot, but I'm unable to find more stuff near me. I'm happy with how it is right now and I have no plans to increase it.
I also started collecting old books about Science Fiction. I have a lot of them printed in the 60's and 70's with short stories and amazing retro-covers.
I bought one of those Xiaomi Electric Scooters to move around the city, can't be happier with it!
My girlfriend and I created an Instagram account for our dog and she already has more followers than I have!
I'm reading a lot more books right now. I plan to keep this trend up as I love it and I learn a lot.
I started collecting National Geographic magazines from previous years and reading them from top to bottom. I learned a lot of stuff and had a nice time.
I bought a Headpsace year subscription, an app about meditation, and I'm taking this really seriously for now, meditating about 15 minutes everyday. My goal is to learn mindfulness.
I continue listening to RetroWave music, specially The Midnight
Finally I registered at Forge to manage my server. I don't have neither time nor patience to take care of it myself.

CONCLUSION

I didn't accomplish any of the resolutions I decided for this year, but I'm not sad about it because I didn't waste my time. Of course there're things I would like to do, situations I would like to overcome, projects I would like to finish, but I am who I am and I have my own speed and limitations. The key is to keep working on it and never give up. I used most of my free time to complete a few PS4 games I always wanted to play, and I enjoyed them a lot. Now it's time for my books collection which is growing really fast.

RESOLUTIONS

I don't have big expectations for next year, but for now:

I'll continue fighting my anxiety issues, harder than I did in 2018 and 2019.
I plan to return to the gym at a minimum of three days a week.
I want to read as many books as I can, both for entertaining and learning purposes.
I want to improve the styling of this blog. I love the retro touch but it looks a little shabby.
I want to release at least two side projects.
I want to attend Laracon EU Madrid 2020.