2023: My Year in Review

It feels a little strange to write a “Year in Review” post on a blog that’s been so quiet this year!

But 2023 was all about finding balance for me in the rest of my life. The last five years have been a rollercoaster of big changes (from a career change, to meeting my husband and getting married, to adopting our dog, to the pandemic)—after all that, I realized I was overdue for a check-in on habits, goals, and career planning.

In 2024 I’m aiming to be more active here learning in public, so perhaps this post can serve as my baseline!

2023 Wins & Milestones

Marking 5 years as a software engineer 🎉

Five years after switching careers, I still love to write code! I feel like I’m finally shaking the imposter syndrome and starting to appreciate the value of the perspective I’ve developed. Recently I published some general observations for anyone else interested in taking the leap (see:👩🏻‍💻5 Years as a Software Engineer) and I’m re-committing myself to blogging this year.

Running my first 5k 🏃🏻‍♀️

This was a huge win after struggling for awhile to get back into a healthier fitness routine in the wake of all this life change. I didn’t care at all about my time in the race; instead, what made it meaningful was: 1) sticking to a consistent training program, 2) getting over the intimidation factor of signing up for a race, and 3) allowing my perfectionist self to be bad at something in public, but still do it!

Writing 50k words in one month ✍🏻

Every November since 2020, I’ve been challenging myself to write 50k words of a first draft of a novel as part of an event called National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I write on my laptop, scribbling in a notebook, sometimes on my phone in bed. I sprint with other writers online, and this year I finally got out to in-person events around New York.

I never emerge from November with polished writing, but much like the 5k, the goals are just to build a consistent routine, allow myself to prioritize progress over perfection, and connect to a supportive community. At 50k words, I’m almost halfway through my first draft of this current novel, and I think I’ll be editing it throughout 2024.

Reading 54 books (and counting) 📚

Ever since reading 📒The Shallows last year I’ve been making a concerted effort to turn off the TV, stop scrolling, and pick up a book or audiobook every day. This year I finally got my Brooklyn Library card and Libby set up to fuel my habit. Then I read more books in a year than I have… maybe ever? Reading helps me think more clearly, helps me put my life in perspective, helps me empathize with others, and helps me write. I definitely want to keep this habit in 2024.

Technologies

Work this year was full of (mostly) familiar technologies:

• React / Next.js
• Nest.js
• Directus
• TypeScript
• Notion API
• TailwindCSS

As the year winds down, I’m also deep-diving into AI tools and mobile app development, hoping to expand the range of projects I’m working on in 2024.

Learning

The pace of projects at work this year has required me to go broad, jumping around between a lot of different subjects instead of focusing in on a few courses at a time to build deep understanding. This is not an exhaustive list, but below are a few stand-out resources I found especially helpful this year.

Courses

• Google’s Machine Learning courses — I started working my way through this program to strengthen my foundational understanding of ML and AI tools. It’s a very well-designed on-ramp if you want to understand key concepts.
• Frontend Masters’ DevOps for Developers — The early material on building team processes and writing technical design docs were extremely helpful this year, and I’m looking forward to continuing the infrastructure and CI/CD units.

Books

• Eric Evans, Domain Driven Design — This book has been a constant touchstone this year, and the early sections are usually the first reading I recommend to anyone who’s learning about data modeling, learning how to work with non-engineer domain experts, or feeling discouraged by a lack of clear technical requirements on a project.
• Sarah Drasner, Engineering Management for the Rest of Us — I’ve been dipping into this for tips and tools as I started to shift into more of a management/team lead role, and it also really helped clarify my focus and priorities as a team lead. (I published some notes and takeaways here: 📘Engineering Management for the Rest of Us.)

Podcasts, Blogs & Newsletters

• Pivot — My main source of tech/business news. (I also love On with Kara Swisher.)
• Syntax — Probably the most helpful resource I’ve found for keeping up with frontend-world tech updates in little digestible tidbits throughout the week.
• The Ezra Klein Show — I really love his deep-dives into the ideas that are shaping our world (especially all the different perspectives on the potential of AI and Israel and Palestine this year). And the book recommendations.
• The Pragmatic Engineer — I’ve started turning to this blog recently for engineering management resources, but every post is a fantastic window into how people work in this industry and where a lot of our practices and culture comes from.

2024 Goals

Read 4 engineering books 📚

I read a story recently (I wish I could remember where) about someone who asked a 10x engineer at their company how they got so good. “That’s easy,” this person said. “I read 4 engineering books per year. That’s more than anyone else reads.” Maybe the story’s apocryphal or I’m misremembering the number, but this still seems like a pretty good rule. So I’m going to do it in 2024.

Learn something every day 🤓

One of my favorite blog formats is “TIL” (Today I Learned). It’s a low-stakes way to take note of the small moments of learning and new understanding that we stumble into every day as engineers. My goal is to start writing down these moments and incorporating them into my notes.

Write about some technical learning every month ✍🏻

This blog has gotten very quiet over the last few years as work got busy and difficult and I hit that mid-level plateau. 😉 But this year I’m going to find something to write about each month, even if it’s small.

Balance work, health, and creativity ✨

The most important lesson I’ve learned since the pandemic is that nothing works when life is out of balance for long. My thinking, problem-solving, attention to detail, and empathy at work are all stronger when I’m taking care of myself and nurturing my creativity. I built some great habits in 2023 and I’m going to keep reinforcing them in 2024 to keep myself balanced.

Cover photo by Nick Morrison via Unsplash.