Looking at 2007, Preparing For 2008
Around this time last year I was surmising both a stressful and successful 2006. Although 2007 was nowhere near as life-changing, it still saw me enrol in — and complete the first module of — my first step towards an official qualification in web development. I gained my first pay rise in the job that I still love and a cat! I saw parts of my family ‘unit’ destroyed because of the selfish actions of my brother — the consequences of which only now beginning to repair themselves.
The year itself was more positive than negative, which gives me a good footing to go forth in 2008. As has become my tradition, I won’t be making any resolutions but I would like to see myself complete a few goals.
I intend on ‘dropping’ some of my responsibilities to open up more time for myself (closing fanlistings and other subdomains). I also plan on finishing my SimpleDir replacement which will probably see the end of my free script developing for a little while (upkeep is tedious). That doesn’t mean what I’ve got is going anywhere, it just means I won’t be releasing anything new. I want to dive further into PHP security, and really get to grips with OOP (my procedural background often does me no favours). All in all I want 2008 to be about personal and professional development, improving what I do so that I can further help others.
In a last ditch attempt to give myself a fresh slate to work from in 2008 I’m going through my e-mail and website today trying to do a bit of cleaning. I am determined to start the year on an empty inbox but with 108 e-mails as of this morning, it might be easier said than done. However, I’m being brutal and anything not 100% urgent or necessary is being deleted (yes, that includes various e-mails demanding help easily gained elsewhere). Now, if only I could figure out how to apply the same strategy to the clutter on my bookcase, I’d be on to a winner…
Rachael said:
On 27 Dec at 4:31 pm
A colleague of mine went on holiday for one week. When he came back, he had 700 emails. He deleted every single one of them, figuring that the important emails would be resent. That’s what you call “being brutal” !
TWD said:
On 27 Dec at 4:45 pm
Good luck with the inbox (and your bookshelf – I need to do that to my whole room)! Me, I’ve been cleaning out online junk – forum memberships that I don’t use, accounts on sites, that sort of thing. I think I’ll also get around to making my passwords unique for each account (finally)! Hopefully that PHP how-to series is on your list of stuff :P
Kelly said:
On 27 Dec at 6:07 pm
Seeing as I’m back at work tomorrow (I work part time at Domino’s Pizza to keep me in Uni), I’ve gotten back to Uni today. I live in a shared house with three other people, and I’m just taking a ten minute break from cleaning the whole place (top to bottom, and it’s a pretty big house), and then my room (shudders at the thought), so that I’ve gotten a clean slate for next year. Here’s to caffeinated beverages! :D
Hev said:
On 27 Dec at 8:43 pm
Good Luck, Jem. Please, have a safe and happy New Year celebration.
Annie said:
On 28 Dec at 1:09 am
Good for you :). The workload couldn’t have been healthy – I wouldn’t have survived :D.
Bubs said:
On 28 Dec at 4:50 am
I don’t think my inbox will ever be empty…
Amber said:
On 28 Dec at 2:54 pm
My friends look at my inbox with looks of pure horror on their faces — “you cannot possibly respond to all these emails”. To which I just smile, more often than not highlight all of them and click ‘delete’. Absolute rubbish these days I get through. Good luck with cleaning yours out! Want to come and sort out my bookcase when you’re done? It could do with a reshuffle.
Brenda said:
On 28 Dec at 5:55 pm
Heheh, you’re possibly the only one I know who commemorates the new year by working on your domain. :P 2007 has been a dreadful year for me. I hope 2008 will be better. Likewise for you. (:
Daniel said:
On 28 Dec at 8:36 pm
Good luck with OOP and everything. I’ve been giving it a try through one of the books I bought but it’s kind of hard to get a hand on it. The worse part is recognizing situations where it should be used or where it shouldn’t.
Yara said:
On 28 Dec at 10:02 pm
I rarely get spam *feels lucky* but I still get really crappy and pointless emails, which usually take up 11 pages of email space. Well I hope your email inbox is spickety spam clean for the New Year!
Snowcore said:
On 29 Dec at 12:50 pm
2007 year was great! It’s the best year of my life )))
Chans said:
On 29 Dec at 7:26 pm
Good to hear 2007 was a good year for you :) Let’s hope 2008 is just like it or even better! And good luck with that bookcase…
Ashley said:
On 02 Jan at 7:26 pm
My inbox never seems to be empty either. Good luck with clearing all of that out! Happy New Year! :)