I am a huge advocate for learning. It is my number one value when it comes to life. So it is only natural that I have some learning goals for 2024. There are 4 main things that I want to learn deeper in 2024. Before that though I want to share my learning process.
How I learn
I like to learn in four steps.
Step 1. Try the hello world (or equivalent) to get a feel for the subject I am learning.
Step 2. Go through a basic, project based course to get a grasp of the fundamental concepts.
Step 3. Build a side project that is similar to what I learnt but different enough where I will run into challenges I’ll need to solve along the way.
Step 4. Repeat step 3 until proficient.
There it is, pretty straight forward. I find that it takes many projects before a concept really solidifies in my head.
Now onto the actual things that I will be learning in 2024.
React
I will be diving deeper into React this year. The reason is that my team has picked up a couple of React projects last year so I will need to know about it as team lead. My plan is to finish Josh Comeau’s Joy of React course followed by building a side project to solidify my knowledge. I’m thinking a video game completion tracker or a social media site for fighting game fans.
Having to work on React projects in the workplace should also help.
Go
Another thing I want to learn this year is backend programming. As primarily a front end developer, I think building backends and APIs would be a different and cool experience. Golang seems to be one of the top languages for this. I am still not one hundred percent sure how I will tackle learning Go but I plan on starting with the official docs and guided journeys. Then I’ll probably just build an API for something I’m interested in.
Web Design
Last year I dipped my toes into freelance, partnering with amazing designers to help bring their designs from Figma to the web. During this time I’ve realised that I want to have a larger impact, I want to design the website as well, guiding my clients towards all of the decisions to make a great website that gets them the results they are looking for.
I love design but didn’t think I was that good at it. So this year I will study more on web design, design a lot of things and really work to improve my design skills. I will go through SuperHi’s Visual Design and Branding Course from start to finish, being sure to do the exercises and get feedback from the Discord community (one of the best online communities btw 🙂). Then I’ll just start designing things.
Management
This one is a bit different to the three above. I’m a manager at my full time job and it is something that I want to get really good at. I’ve spent the last few months reading a few recommended management books like Engineering Management for the rest of us and The Managers Path.
I think to improve here is a matter of constant self reflection, applying the lessons from the books I read as I encounter them and most importantly, getting feedback from my own manager, colleagues and my team.
I don’t know if I plan on advancing my career into management but it’s where I am at now and I enjoy enough to want to be good at it, even if it is really hard.
So there you have it, the four things I want to learn this year. I don’t expect to be masters of any of the above but I do plan on being at least a few orders of magnitude better than I am right now.