So every year, I try to come up with some big resolutions for the new year. Every time after that I begin to fail at most of the resolutions, but the key here is most of them. This past year, Kim and I decided to try to overhaul our diet by limiting our intake of beef to once a week. This was a mix of both diversifying our diet and decreasing our red meat intake. We stopped paying attention around September, but overall (I, at least) have continued to eat red meat only once a week. My efforts of reading became secondary as I have spent more of my train rides coding, but I continue to read to some degree. I got married, which pretty much blew everything else that happened this year out of the water. I will probably write a 2012 wrap up post in the next day or so… I really need to write on this more. I have a recoded version of the admin side which should make it easier for me write more (since it is a pain to auth with the current system).
So anyways, onto the resolutions for next year. Every time I begin to think about the next year’s resolutions, I often put some through a sort of trial. In toying with some of the ideas, I think I have ironed out a few to stick with (for now). They are:
- Keep a “lab notebook” This is something I have been trying for the past month, I am keeping an electronic journal of notes and daily work done in my professional field (both for work and for fun). I have been noting information related to various projects or technologies and keeping a daily summary of what I have accomplished and various thoughts on what I am working on. I hope to continue keeping this going, to track my progress and document my thoughts on stuff.
- Take care of my photography I have written and worked on gallery uploads and taken pictures, yet none of the pictures have made it onto my site. I am debating switching from self hosting to something like flickr, but am not sure (they have a free 3 month trial of their pro service). I will probably take that for a spin and decide whether to trash or modify my current gallery code.
- Finish some projects I have a good deal written for two of my projects (tamari and cimera) but have yet to finish them to a point where they are feasible. I also have a project related to work that is fairly far along, yet I have all but abandoned at this point. I really need to bite down and get these to a state where I can call them something other than alpha. I also need to put my admin page code up (it has been done for months and I have yet to stamp it down and start using it). I may also try to rewrite the site code at some point, as it has become more and more bloated and I have become more and more unsatisfied with messing with it.
- Diversify my technology stack I have become fairly complacent in the languages and technologies I use. I could use for a change in window manager, major language(s), try to improve various application set ups, etc. I am becoming lazy when it comes to trying to improve the tools that I use, it makes me more and more dependent on a single application and not the knowledge I have in doing the task (example: I have been trying to write an application using pure JS, i.e. no jQuery, and it has been very tough).
- Read I need to push the habit of reading more fiction and emphasize reading non fiction. I spend more time dicking around on my computer or watching TV when I get home, there is definitely room to improve that. (Maybe we will cancel our cable subscription ?)
So overall, a bunch of random efforts, most will probably not see the light of day. But my main goal is really just for me to adopt 1 or 2 of these and make them real habits I continue to follow for years to come (previously: giving up soda, diversifying my diet, switching to Linux, or giving up fast food). Maybe I will even write about my progress (and other things going on in my life.)