Why am I writing this?
This is my first recap article. I am writing this because for the first time, I began to set a yearly goal at the beginning of 2022.
Now, as the new year(2023) is approaching, I have the opportunity to cross-match my goals and see the changes.
Besides, I think it's a good way to keep track of my progress year by year. I don't know if anyone else
will have something to take something out from here but it at least will be a reminder to me. Finally, though I am yet
someone to be followed for anything, I follow PHP community influencers who also motivate me to write my own. So, why
don't I write my not-so-interesting review of 2022?
Work Environment Setup
Lot of things changed due to COVID-19. It has remarkable impact on the work environment of IT industry. As we work
mostly with a machine(Computer) that can be portable(Laptop), a new revolution started which called "Working from home".
Though by now the effect of COVID-19 is not as strong as before, it has left its mark. From my side, I bought an
electric height adjustable table, an 32-inch monitor at the end of this year so that I can work from
home comfortably. I also replaced my 2015 Intel Macbook Pro by a new 2021 M1 Macbook Pro. I regularly use pen and
paper to list down all my tasks of the day at the beginning of the day on my notebook. For all my long term
tasks/wishlist, I use Google's Tasks app. I still try to keep my setup as minimal as possible, but staying minimal
is getting complicated day by day.
My YouTube Channel
I started my YouTube channel in 2021. In 2022, I finished a
PHP tutorial series
in my mother tongue(Bangla) for the beginners who want to start learning web development with PHP. After completing that series, I started another series to explain
SOLID principles
in PHP with practical examples. I haven't finished with this SOLID principles series yet. I had a goal to create at least 50 videos for my
channel in 2022, but I created only 30 videos. I haven't achieved my target but still I am happy with the numbers.
Form now on I just want it to continue this content creation journey, my target for this year will be same as before.
One remarkable change in my YouTube channel might happen this year is, I will start creating video in English.
Though my english is not in a level to start speaking publicly, I want to be shameless in public speaking.
Books
I only read 7 books in 2022, I wanted to read at least 12 books. I count all(ever small ones) the books I read. I don't know why, I don't enjoy reading fiction books anymore. I choose to watch Movies or TV-Series for fiction nowadays. Here is the list of books I read in 2022 and my one-line feedback.
- Show your work(by Austin Kleon): This is a small but very effective even somewhat life-changing book. Highly recommended.
- Laravel Beyond CRUD(by Brent Roose): Awesome book that explains a possible organization of big Laravel Projects. Highly recommended.
- Atomic Habits(by James Clear): Quite a popular book for discussing the impact of habits in our life and how to form good habits. Highly recommended.
- I will Teach You to Be Rich(by Ramit Sethi): This book contains useful for building wealth, especially in UAS's contexts. Learned a few things but didn't enjoy the book much.
- যুক্তিফাঁদে ফড়িং(by Chomok Hasan): An awesome book written in Bangla for beginners who want to know about logical fallacy. Recommended for Bangla readers.
- Ten++ Ways to Make Money as a Developer(by Florin Pop): Ideally I avoid books with this sort of catchy(click-bite) title, but as I was following Florin Pop on Twitter, I am influenced. The book is not bad, recommended.
- It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work(by Json Fried): An impactful book about the importance of personal life and work-life balance. Highly Recommended especially to the people who run businesses/companies.
I started reading 2 more books related to databases and Machine Learning but haven't finished yet.
Articles
This is the most embarrassing area for me to talk about. I wrote just one non-technical article this whole year! I wanted to write way more than this.
I think I write less because I feel my writing will be mostly useless. I am motivated to write more even if those are useless.
Let's see how far I can go.
Overall
I am not unhappy with my progress this year, but I can see there is a lot of room to improve. I am looking forward to writing more articles, read more books and create more contents.