Monday, 31 December, 2018 UTC
Summary
Every turn of the year is a new opportunity to start over, set goals, and renew optimism that time can heal wounds and drive us to change and achieve. I did really well with my 2018 goals:
- I started a fun podcast with TrackJS’ Todd Gardener
- I found my passion again by joining Mozilla’s DevTools team and improving the Debugger, as well as pitching in on other DevTools projects. I also removed the old debugger, which was a testament to how amazing the new debugger is
- Not the mark I thought I would make but I realized the huge value of the work I did to customize the Phabricator instance which will soon be used by all Firefox developers and contributors. It didn’t feel like much at the time but the impact I had was massive and I’m quite proud of that. I’m also proud of the work I did on the Debugger to improve its design, features, and stability.
- I didn’t redesign but I do have a new logo coming soon so I’m happy about that.
All in all it was a really awesome year for DWB and my career at Mozilla. With 2018 behind me it’s time to try to duplicate an amazing year in 2019. The following are my goals for this coming year!
Become a Better DevTooler
While I’m on the DevTools team at Mozilla, I’ve been mostly isolated to the DevTools Debugger; not that that’s a bad thing. In 2019 I’m hoping to become a more well-rounded DevTooler, having the ability to jump from panel to panel with more fluidity and more knowledge. In doing so, I think I’ll also learn more about Firefox, the C++ engineers, and browser architecture.
Achieve “Staff Developer” Status
This new year will be my seventh year at Mozilla and I’m almost humiliated to admit I’m still “Senior” Engineer/Web Developer. In fairness to myself it’s not for lack of trying; the truth is that due to Mozilla’s shifting priorities I got moved around a lot, and when that happens, you get new managers who can’t necessarily judge whether you’re up to that level; it’s almost like I started over a half dozen times. I think it says something that I succeeded on every time I was on, but that’s neither here nor there. In 2019 I want to cement myself as a Staff Developer at Mozilla; someone who can think big and execute bigger.
Improve the Script & Style Show
I’m proud to have gotten over my insecurities to co-host the Script & Style show — it took quite a it of fortitude and encouragement to do it, but it’s paid back big time. We’ve had amazing guests, fun conversations, and loads of laugh along the way. In 2019 I’d like to get us up on iTunes, do a proper show intro/outro, and mix up formats.
Redesign and Rebrand
My current blog theme has served me very well over the past five years but I’d really like to spruce things up. As you an imagine, maintenance after five years has become difficult and I’d like create a framework-less site, now that ES6 and the JavaScript language have everything I’ve been shimming with MooTools. I also have a top secret new logo I hope to debut soon.
All The Small Things
A few bits and bobs to attack on the side this year:
- I want to get a better understanding of Webpack and Babel this year. I’ve skated under the radar on these because they’re usually already setup in projects I work on.
- I’d like to become better organized in what my daily tasks will be, especially transitioning from the end of one day to the beginning of another. Too often I can get sidetracked by a brand new task while neglecting an old one.
- I need to become a performance expert: identifying performance problems using profiling, pinpointing the exact code causing the problem, and then fixing or making recommendations. Coding something just to work isn’t good enough anymore.
- I want to continue to improve my work-life balance. I’m doing well these days but I can always do better!
Whew, it’s looking to be another ambitious year for me. What are your goals for 2019?
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