This post is dedicated to outlining what I would like to personally accomplish in 2020. In short, it’s a lot of studying, writing, and product development (code).
2020 is a new chapter
As of this past November (exactly a month ago), I am completely unemployed. I don’t have a manager. I don’t have a boss. I don’t have a todo list with priorities handed to me.
I get to do whatever I want, which is both great and terrifying.
I’ve worked hard up to this point on the correct things, so I’m not too worried about doing the wrong things. But, I think I can get in a place where I don’t want to do the things I am supposed to be doing.
In a sense, Closet Tools is my job. I don’t like having lots of obligations, so I have to keep it in a place where it’s not an obligation. It needs to be something that is fun and helping me grow.
Using new technology, exploring writing concepts, and helping other people through features and products gives me motivation to keep working and pushing the boundaries of the company.
What I’d like to remind myself for the year, is that even though there’s so much work that can be done, it’s only done one hour (or even a half-hour) at a time.
Break up the work into small chunks that can be completed in a sequence to reach the desired goal. This requires a significant amount of time planning, but it’s the only way to consistently get the right things done in the right order.
2020 is about distributed writing
This upcoming year, quite literally, will be me spilling my brain out on a keyboard.
I will be starting a regular newsletter and consistent writing. The newsletter will be called Increase and it will talk about building character, wisdom, wealth, and other timeless principles of success.
I want to deliver a perspective for engineers, developers, and other technical folks that stems from timeless truths found in the Bible and other great minds in history.
It will all be evergreen, character building pieces that help people become better and create a lasting positive impact on their lives.
I want people to read what I have written and be challenged to take steps toward getting better in that area. I want people to focus on building themselves in order to build a better future for them and their family.
The more selfish reason for all of this is that I want to dive deeper and learn more things about the different topics I write about. Writing it all down will help me learn the topics for myself, and you (the audience) are the direct beneficiaries of my writing.
I’m working out some of the kinks, but I plan on studying, reading, and taking notes for a week, and then spending another week writing.
What I just described is how I would love my life to be. Studying, diving deep into topics, writing concise guides and references, and building an audience through that.
Ideally I would like to make my living doing that. I don’t know how many years it will take, but I know I can do it. This year is about kickstarting that journey and taking it to a new level.
Another form of writing that I will be tackling is for my company Closet Tools. I’ll be writing informational articles to help Poshmark users sell more on the platform (and attract people to the tool I’ve built). I already have a sizeable amount of traffic coming in from Google every month, and I will be expanding that further.
I’ll also be writing lots of documentation, and of course responding to customer support issues. Lot’s of writing.
2020 is about product refinement
I want to be someone who is able to produce a complete and polished product from start to finish. Everything from billing, to features, integrations, testing, and performance. I want to have a system in place for how I tackle the problems I face when developing a tool for customers.
There are so many things that I need to work on with Closet Tools. Issues with billing, issues with features, more features to build, expansions for different pricing and product options. There’s no end.
I will be tackling things one at a time, and I will be honing my skills as a developer to be able to deliver a product that reduces the amount of time I am spending chatting with customers about issues.
The systems that I build over time will compound, and I will be able to spin up a complete business quickly. This will help in the future as I build out other income streams, and when I want to help others create businesses.
I want to make simple, performant, well designed applications that help people make more money, save time, and have a great experience when they use them.
As of right now, Closet Tools is my only source of income. So, it takes priority over some of the other things I am working on. It’s not on fire or anything, so it’s fine as it is. But I wil defenitely be spending several months working on some of the underlying issues, so I can then begin to scale it harder and promote it more.
2020 is about less distraction
Now that I work for myself, how I spend my time is 100% up to me. I can choose to waste it, or I can choose to use it wisely and productively.
We all know that social media is a huge source of distraction, so it’s a given that I will be scaling back on consumption. I will be unfollowing most people on Twitter, and YouTube. It will keep my feeds lean, and will ensure I’m not speding too much time scrolling.
What’s more important is that I am planning out my time and using it to its full potential. I should have every hour of work blocked off to work on things that will benefit me in the future.
Every day should be planned the night before, and the week should be planned before the week starts. It doesn’t have to be incredibly preceise, but it needs to be progressing me forward towards the goals that I have.
Staying focused and working consistenly will allow me to move faster, achieve more, and increase farther than I ever could have imagined.