Year in Review
As a programmer who deals with the typical stress of imposter syndrome and the tech skill treadmill, I've long had an ever-present guilt about how I spend my free time. It used to be that at the end of the year, I would look back at what I spent my waking time on, and the next thing after work was usually video games, or a combination of games & TV, by a landslide. This was discouraging, because I couldn't avoid thinking about what I was missing out on, professionally, because that time wasn't spent on experiments or projects or freelancing or business ideas.
That changed this year. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle with choosing between "relax" or "be productive" when I find downtime. I still get discouraged when I think about just how long it will take me to get good at something new, or build the app I want to sell. But in reflecting on this year, I don't have regrets about how I spent the vast majority of my waking non-work time.
So what's different? What did I change?
Well, in 2012, my wife and I had a daughter. And in 2013, the activity I spent the most waking non-work time doing was, without a hint of a contest, being a dad.
That's a skill that I'll never struggle with letting get rusty, and it's a passtime that I'll never wish I'd done less of. It's something that I don't even need to think about to know that I'm making the right choice with my time, every time.
And as we sit here on December 31, 2013, on tenterhooks waiting for the arrival of our second child literally any hour now, I've never been more certain that my life is on the right track.
Happy New Year, everyone!
That changed this year. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle with choosing between "relax" or "be productive" when I find downtime. I still get discouraged when I think about just how long it will take me to get good at something new, or build the app I want to sell. But in reflecting on this year, I don't have regrets about how I spent the vast majority of my waking non-work time.
So what's different? What did I change?
Well, in 2012, my wife and I had a daughter. And in 2013, the activity I spent the most waking non-work time doing was, without a hint of a contest, being a dad.
That's a skill that I'll never struggle with letting get rusty, and it's a passtime that I'll never wish I'd done less of. It's something that I don't even need to think about to know that I'm making the right choice with my time, every time.
And as we sit here on December 31, 2013, on tenterhooks waiting for the arrival of our second child literally any hour now, I've never been more certain that my life is on the right track.
Happy New Year, everyone!