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Developer Diaries 09

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Welcome to 2023!

It seems a bit late to write this at the start of February, but as this is the first post of the developer diaries series in 2023, I think itā€™s still good to say!

šŸ‘ØšŸ»ā€šŸ’» Work

Time goes by fast, and January 2023 is already over. Unfortunately, the year started slow for me. We had two big projects planned for mid of January, and both got pushed into later this year.

But that wasnā€™t a problem; it allowed me to shift my focus to other things. This meant I increased my workload in my maintenance jobs and took a lot more time to write!

I also tried to plan my year a bit. One thing Iā€™ve learned already after almost a year of freelancing is that you get a lot of flexibility in how you can work, but you also have to be very flexible. Projects can be canceled, postponed, or need to start immediately. Everything can happen, and that is what makes it so fun for me.

When I talked to other freelancers, who are a bit longer in the game, they all agreed that January is a quiet month concerning freelancing.

People are still on holiday, and it takes time until everyone returns at Work. Companies are still in the planning phase of the year. Budgets still need to be approved.

So I was grateful for this relaxed month and took the opportunity. I have a lot of exciting projects planned for this year, and I canā€™t wait to get into them!

šŸ“ Blog Posts of the month

As I already said, fewer client projects meant more time for focused writing. So here are the blog posts for January. Iā€™m especially proud about New CSS features in 2023.

šŸŽ“ TIL Posts of the month

Here are the Today-I-learned posts for January:

šŸ” Life

Hello, new category! I also want to write about general things in my life, what happened, how Iā€™m feeling, and what Iā€™ve learned, so letā€™s see what this category will contain.

We moved in January! Moving is always stressful; it takes so much time and energy. But it was totally worth it. We moved out of the city, as we are not using most of the advantages a city offers, like going to bars and clubs.

We moved closer to family and nature and got a bigger flat. All in all, itā€™s a fantastic life upgrade. We already enjoy the quieter surroundings a lot.

šŸ‹šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø Fitness

Due to the whole process of moving, this was, at least for the first few weeks, the only workout I got. But Iā€™m slowly getting into a great workout routine. The current plan is:

  • yoga on Monday and Friday,
  • a strength workout on Tuesday and Thursday,
  • a Zone 2 workout (Zwift ride) on Wednesday.

So letā€™s see how this turns out!

Here are my Apple Watch rings from January:

Apple Watch Rings January 2023

šŸ“š Reading

I finally finished one of the biggest books Iā€™ve ever read.

I think itā€™s fantastic, and I definitely will read the other two books of the series. Iā€™ll take some time first to read some smaller books šŸ˜…

šŸ•¹Video Games

No playing any video games in January!

šŸŽ™Podcasts

Iā€™m back in the podcast game! I noticed how much a like theĀ Syntax.fm Opens in new tabĀ Podcast by Wes and Steve and I listened to three episodes this month. I think this will be a habit again soon.

Thatā€™s it for the Developer Diaries in January! See you next month!


I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter Opens in new tab or via Email Opens in new tab.

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I wish you a wonderful day! Marco