Hey,
Welcome to my weekly update for the third week of January.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
What did I get done this week?
In terms of shipping every week and coding, I worked on one of the most challenging features for the mimesis simulation. This needed me to rewrite the entire backend of my application to be robust and accommodate new features. I spent the whole week working on this feature. Even though I have almost completed my work on this feature, one bug still needs fixing.
I completed five runs in my half-marathon training, totalling around 28 km this week. I am following the plan and staying patient.
In terms of writing, I finally published my first blog post, a memo for 2023 and wrote some draft posts.
I have also started a design course online and got through a couple of modules.
What went well
There are a few positives in this week. First, I was highly motivated at the start of the week, so I got a lot of work done. Also, my morning routine was setting in, which meant I could do more of what I wanted.
Midweek, I was really burnt out, my app was always running into errors, and nothing was making sense anymore. Usually, in situations like these, I break down and dive into unhealthy habits. But this week, I was able to recognise this and intentionally take a break. This break helped me bounce back the next day and end the week with high energy.
Also, I like how effective following a plan can be, I have tried running 100k a month before, but I could never do it. This month all I was trying to do was follow my plan, and even though I felt sick for one week, I am at 75km this month, and there is still one week left. But again, I am entirely focused on the process rather than the final outcome.
What went wrong, and how can I improve
As I mentioned, I was feeling burnt out mid-week, which is not a good sign. I would pay attention to only taking the amount of load my body can handle without shutting down.
Also, when I decided to take a break, the break was full of watching tv shows. Instead, I could have focused on other projects, which would have re-filled my creative energy.
I only published one blog post this week, and what’s stopping me from publishing more is this idea of perfectionism and what people will think. I have to have this stern reminder that people don’t care much about my blog. Hopefully, this can lower the stakes and encourage me to publish online more often.
Goals for the coming week
On a macro level, the main goals of this week are
- to publish the v2 of the mimesis simulation.
- Publish two posts (at least one technical).
- Follow my running plan and train my core 3x this week.
- Follow my design course every hour a day.
- Spend two hours every day reading course material for college.
- Find a good book to read and get back to reading.
Quote I am pondering.
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.
~ George Bernard Shaw
until next time,
Pushkar Singh.