Getting Personal

First-quarter Review (January to March)

So three months have passed since I made my end of 2021 blog post.  It was arguably the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt, and that includes when I released Project Zero.  I talked about things that I would never normally talk about, even if it was vague and nondescript.  To even just admit that I wasn’t all that great in my mental health was a big thing.

Quite a bit has changed personally, and if I’m completely honest it’s not necessarily for the better. In fact, it resulted in me sort of stepping back from social media accounts. I occasionally popped in and looked around, but I haven’t posted anything on there for almost all of February and March, at least that I didn’t have already scheduled or was automatically posted from my site. But at least I’ve got some awareness for what’s going on, even if I’m still feeling the effects of COVID and burnout.

Professionally, I have made headway with two projects that will hopefully go live next quarter. I don’t want to talk about them much yet, but I will post on here once they go live. In addition, I’ve also updated my professional site (even though I said I wouldn’t). I’ll talk about that more later.

So let’s look back at the goals that I set, and see what I have achieved these last three months.

More blogging

Not only have I blogged a lot more than I had before, but I’ve also had posts connect between my blog and my social media posts.  My post about domains has an accompanying Instagram post on domain hacking, which you may find interesting, and you can learn more about the “right to be forgotten” which accompanies my post about GDPR.

I have even gotten some ways of partnering with me on posts, including sponsoring content through Buy My A Coffee and PayPal.  I’m not going to do a regular thing like Patreon or one of those other networks, but I do want to create more. I made a post where I talk about how I’ve changed my branding plans that contains more information.

Finish my documentation

Done, and done, sort of. Documentation for Project Zero is online. As with any good documentation, it will continue evolving, but at least the most basic elements are published. The project landing page has also been changed to reflect this. As new releases are produced and new features are catered for – especially with WordPress 5.9 and its full site editing capabilities – new pages will be added, but I think I can chalk this up as a success.

Branding plan

Again, done. Not only have I written the plan, but I’ve already put it into practice as well. It has resulted in major changes on balance, but it will hopefully set me up for a while. You can read more about it in the update post.

Recharge Day

Lately, that hasn’t been fully possible, but the time that I have taken off has been very beneficial. I’ve still got a lot to do to get onto some even keel, but I’m getting closer. It’s something I’m still going to keep on top of, and hopefully, things will get better. It’s still going to be on my list.

What next?

Since I’ve achieved quite a lot of what I set out to do, I will need to get a new list of goals for the next quarter and beyond. So, let’s get this done:

  • To continue to schedule one day off all social media platforms and support tickets each month
  • To create a database-powered reporting system which can produce PDF reports for clients
  • To create an online and PDF annual report for Cocode Designs
  • To continue to blog once per month, and to post an associated social post once per quarter

I don’t want to push myself too far, especially given how my mood has been these past couple of months. My professional projects have even been based on things I’ve sort of started and want to finish, so there is some impetus in that.

How has 2022 started for you? Have you stuck to your plans? Is there anything new you want to announce? Head on down to the comments and let’s discuss.

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