Another year has passed by and it has been, what you can say, an interesting year for better or worse. The first six months hummed along and honestly I don't remember much of it. It seems like years ago. Then, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, between March and June I worked from home. Once the stay at home orders were lifted, I came back to the office along with some other of my coworkers. Some haven't come back and are working from home due to family/child needs.

I'm going to be gentle on myself as because of the pandemic everything seems more stressful and I feel like maybe things just haven't gone as well.

Overall, I'm still focusing on improving my JavaScript skills and I do feel like I'm making steady progress. I still struggle with confidence - what people call imposter syndrome. I think I just need to accept I'm going to have these feelings and learn to cope better.

What have I learned this year?

  • I'm still getting better with JavaScript and have progessed into learning more server side JavaScript like Node.js. I've learned to set up a local server with Express. I've also learned how to port in data from a database (MongoDB) and render that with server-side code. I won't use this at work but I do feel like it's helping level up my skills. I can solve more issues with JavaScript. I feel like I can debug issues better too.
  • CSS is getting easier and easier but as it's getting easier, I'm learning to do more complex things with it. I'm discovering more pseudo-elements, functions, and also gaining more deep knowledge on how it all works. I feel like I can better explain what I'm doing and why.
  • As I get better at CSS and JavaScript, I feel more confident with accessibility and creating more accessible code and I can help our clients make better decisions.
  • I still write down my daily accomplishments. Since I'm still doing it, I feel like there's worth in it. I do think it gives me perspective. A lot of the same things from last year apply. My Second Year As A Web Developer
  • I think I'm getting better at talking on the phone with clients.

What do I hope to accomplish in the next year?

  • More site construction projects. I didn't do much on that front except help with projects. At this point, with being in support, I don't think that's going to happen unless we get another support person.
  • I want to continue to develop my skills with JavaScript. I've been working with Node.js and want to continue with that. I'm in the process of learning how to implement authentication using Node and JSON Web Tokens. In addition, I've been learning Svelte. Again, I may not use these at work but it helps me get better with the language.
  • I'm going to continue to work on my confidence and not allowing myself to get too down on myself when I feel like I can't solve an issue.
  • I need to speak up more in meetings and share ideas and thoughts more. I think I need to start writing things down because a lot of times I feel like I draw up blanks.
  • I'd like more billable hours but that's all dependent on how much work comes in. I feel like in the the past I had more billable hours or the same but I feel like I'm doing more work now. I think it's that I'm getting quicker at building and solving issues that come in so I do more work in less time.
  • As for phone skills, I think I still need improvements on support calls in which I am not knowledgeable about the issue.
  • I do want to dive into more asp.net stuff to understand more of that code. I don't care too much about doing server side programming but I'd like to understand more of C#.