Twenty Twentytwo at a Glance

Let’s try something for the first time. Writing a few words about the whole year.

Overall, it was a busy, stressful but productive year. For some reason, I cannot remember a lot from the first half.

I’m going to focus on the more positive things!

On Writing & This Place

The second half of the year was more productive for me. I pushed myself to work on article ideas and post them on a “soft” schedule. I didn’t want to do it as an obligation, but I needed something to get me out of my comfort zone.

I started being more active on LinkedIn and here. This one is the tenth post for this year in codegazerants, an improvement based on 2020 and 2021 post numbers. I’ll take the win!

The weird thing is that I never stopped doing the work. I have a considerable number of drafts that were never published. Editing and publishing is always the most challenging part.

Some things that changed and helped me be more active:

• I stopped worrying about expressing my thoughts more in public.
• I accepted that I’m probably better at writing short content of 500 - 1200 words and not worrying about “big revelation” articles. (see also “on Reading”)
• It doesn’t matter if I write about things others have written before. It’s my perspective. If someone finds this information helpful, well, that’s awesome!

I also did a micro-redesign of this place. I shouldn’t even call it micro, but did I put some effort into it.

On Reading

This year I started reading books in a physical form again. I wanted to get my eyes off of screens and reduce binge-watching. Do something different.

I tried to read things that wouldn’t be work-related. I had to remember again to focus on one thing and enjoy it. I started with a “goal” of reading two books, and in six months or so, I managed to go up to ten. The themes were mainly Fantasy, Mystery, and Sci-fi. Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, J.K Rowling and Douglas Adams were the writers I enjoyed reading.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to finish reading Foucault’s Pendulum once again. I stopped at page 400+ or something. Again. I probably need to accept that I’ll never read the whole thing. Who knows.

Now an observation on work-related reading, I had an information overload at some point. I needed a break. I was mainly consuming instead of learning.

It was challenging for me to focus on a 4000 words article or 300 page book unless the writer had the charisma of storytelling. I respect and acknowledge the work and achievement of writing a book, but I’ve become a fan of reading things where writers quickly get to the point.

On Miscellaneous Things

I’m in year two of remote working, so it was time to create my own space in the house. An “office room” where I can focus on the working hours and when I’m not working use it to play some music. No more working from the kitchen or moving equipment around the house to get some “privacy”.

On the subject of music, I got a new guitar that I absolutely love and a keyboard that I can play a tune or two. Playing on an S-type guitar for a long time created a challenge for me to make a good sound on the Sheraton, but it’s also like a white canvas for me. I am still trying to tame the sound of a semi-hollow guitar.

On 2023

Based on the last two years, I’m not sure I should be making big plans, so there are some things I want to continue doing:

• Take up challenges that help my introverted self improve.
• Keep reading and writing. It looks like ten was the magic number for me this year. Twenty sounds like fun.
• I’d like to start doing some kind of exercise. I’m not a person that loves exercising, but it’s needed.

As promised, 500-1200 words! 👌