Programming/Self-development Goals for 2017

Welcome back guys, as stated last week I was going to start posting about my 2017 Goals to help keep myself accountable. This post is going to mainly cover my programming/self-development goals, I do have other goals related to Fitness and relationships which I may or may not discuss later. Without further explaining here are my programming/self-development goals for 2017 and why they are a goal for me(this part is very important when setting goals):

Goal: Code every day
Why: This was inspired by a post I seen on another blog where the person decided to do this last year and wrote a blog post on what he learned during the entire process. It really motivated me and I realised I need to be coding more, learning new technologies and creating side projects. So I will be coding every day, I have already started and all my code will be checked into GitHub. There are a few rules to this:

1. All code must be checked into GitHub
2. It cannot be just a comment or writing some documentation, it must coding something(bug/feature etc).
3. Only exceptions are unexpected emergencies and if I am on vacation and don't have my PC or WiFi.

Goal: Meet or catch-up in person with at least 40 people.
Why: This may seem very strange but I often find myself sending a message or email instead of actually meeting up with that person face to face. It seems like its easier to send a message rather than go to a person desk and ask them but there are many advantages to this: You meet new people, you finally know what the person looks like, avoid awkward situations in the future where this person comes to your desk unexpectedly and you have this awkward interaction while you’re trying to see their name on their badge.
NOTE: Tell the person you are coming to their desk don’t show up or else you are putting that person in the awkward situation we just described.

Goal: Read at least 3 books a month, 1 should be related to software development/programming.
Why: I started reading a lot of books around August last year and I want to continue that momentum into next year. The only thing I am changing is at least one of the books should be related to Software development/programming as I have only read a few this year but it has taught me so much more about my field.

Goal: Create and Release at least 2 side projects.
Why: This goes with the code everyday goal but it gives the code every day some purpose. I want to be coding something useful and at the end of it, I want to release it so people can use it and see it so stay tuned :).

Goal: Track my time via tools like toggl.com
Why: Something I have been struggling with this year is really tracking my time effectively. I notice when I track my time I start seeing when I am most effective and where all my time is going. The older I get the faster time seems and it can be scary when you don’t realise half the day is already gone. Hopefully, by tracking my time, it will give me more time.

There are a few of my self-development/coding goals for 2017. I have a few more goals that are more private specifically related to the role I am in so it would be pointless in publishing them here.  If I think of any more goals during the year that I want to track I will update this post.

This is probably going to be my last post for this year so Happy Holidays and let us have an awesome 2017!

Jason!