That’s a wrap for 2021
Despite working from home, it has been an eventful year for me. On top of the usual work, I have started a few initiatives to push myself further. Some are still ongoing, some stopped, and some are reconsidering a restart.
What’s changed
Here are some of the take away I find useful in helping me achieve most of my goals this year.
Plan my week (first thing first). I wrote about it previously and still actively practicing them. I don’t always complete all of them. But, I will make sure to allocate time for the big rock that I have marked. Over time, I learned to adjust, and for some of the week, I intentionally put fewer items into my to-do to give my self break. I intentionally planned this to be a slow month for me.
Listening to inspiring and motivational podcasts. Podcasts are easy to listen to while multitasking with other stuff such as exercising or just resting while doing nothing. Sometimes, when I am feeling low and tired, those inspiring words help push me through. And the best part, I manage to learn something new to the point that I go back to listening for the second time to write them in the notes.
Outcome
Thanks to the habit and planning, I am grateful to end the year nicely. These include the impact I am delivering, getting the promotion, and winning prizes in 2 of the 4 hackathons I participated in.
Some effort wasn’t fruitful either. I also tried to bug bounty hunt, hoping to become a side hustle kind of thing. It didn’t work out, I guess I am not mean for this? And, toward the end of the year, I have stopped producing content for the Instagram theme page. There is a limit to how much we can do at any given time. This is the choice I made for not wanting to risk burnout to participate in the hackathon.
Next
Reflecting back, the planning helps a lot in a way where I can prioritize and allocate time to work on self-improvement and coding. Truly happy to be where I am now.
For the coming 2022, I intend to continue the habit I have developed and put a bit more priority into learning (eg. reading more books, and cybersecurity) and building community.