---
title: '2022 - A year in review'
slug: 'year-in-review-2022'
date: '2023-01-01'
thumbnail: '/thumbnails/writing.png'
tag: 'year-review'
canonicalUrl: 'https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-in-review-2022/'
---

My blog has been neglected for the last few months. Writing a year review is my way of making amendments to start writing back and reflecting on the year gone by.

It's been a good year that allowed me to focus on myself. I do not feel one bit guilty about not writing enough or creating enough. I spent most of my time prior to this year in a burnout state. I did not want to repeat that. Getting over burnout is tricky, and I am not sure if I am completely over it, but I often feel that I am coping better than before.

Right now, I'm still trying to balance my life and work and find a way to fit the new endeavors I'm seeking to pursue in between.

## Starting the year with a new job

I started the year by switching jobs in a new role as a [Senior Content Developer at Vercel](https://twitter.com/amanhimself/status/1488351029708341251).

I was excited to work full-time on the docs team. In the past year, I have often felt like I have been working towards this career path. I started at the end of January and left it at the end of April.

During my time there, I learned a lot about working on a team full of creative and hyper-focused people who shared a love for writing and creating content like mine. But unfortunately, it was a short adventure. I felt left out as the weeks passed. Besides writing in tech, I've been a part of React Native community since almost the beginning of my career. So that shift in tech focus I was working daily was a huge leap to take mentally.

## App.js conf 2022

[App.js conference](https://appjs.co/) has been a vital part of my professional career. I forgot what it felt like to be at a tech conference (since the last one I attended was in 2019) and in the end, it was an amazing experience.

Meeting with beautiful and like-minded people who share their work and interesting ways of solving problems is always fascinating and curiosity-engaging. Not only one gets to see the new and exciting upcoming stuff but also meeting people in person after such a long and limited human exposure felt like it was the first time.

![Me with friends at the App.js conference in June 2022](https://2022.appjs.co/images/photos/0014.jpg)

[It was a wonderful experience to attend it in person](https://twitter.com/amanhimself/status/1535694759653740547), meet old friends, make new ones and travel once again. Everything from the venue, the beautiful city of Krakow, the quality talks, and the MCs, was a great experience. Kudos to the organizers for hosting it and providing that altogether!

## Joining Expo

I joined Expo at the end of June 2022. Leaving my previous role, traveling and attending a tech conference, and getting the new opportunity was like a full circle. I am working majorly on the docs. Other areas of my work include engaging with the community.

Before joining, I'd been familiar with the team and their work for four years. From the outside, I know the tremendous amount of hard work the whole team puts in. Driving React Native ecosystem forward, making exponential improvements with each SDK version, focusing on better tooling, Developer Experience (DX), and adding support for native modules. After joining, it is exciting to observe that closely and be a part of it every day!

## I wrote 21 articles

I enjoy the process of writing for many reasons. One is that I get to learn something new and deepen my understanding of a topic. Another is pretending to be the first user and trying to understand a way of solving a specific problem.

It also opens doors for me to explore new opportunities. This year, I got to work with some of the publications I have been working with for a long time such as Jscrambler and Logrocket. Two new additions where I published a couple of tutorials as a guest author for [Sentry](https://blog.sentry.io/authors/aman-mittal/) and [FlyCode](https://blog.flycode.com/how-to-use-flycode-to-update-your-react-apps-on-the-fly).

It also turns out people like to read them too. Here are some of the most popular posts I wrote this year:

- [Setup Macbook M1 for Web and React Native development](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/setup-macbook-m1/): Even though, this post was Originally published in 2021, I'm actively updating this post and will continue to do so for a while. It's been a popular post once again and I hope it helped folks to get started with their new Macbooks.

- [How to install Node.js using NVM on macOS M1](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/install-nodejs-using-nvm-on-macos-m1/): I had fun collecting this piece of information. For a long time, I have been using NVM to manage Node.js on the fly. I wrote this one to make a walkthrough of how to set it up and keep up with the latest Node.js versions.

- [Getting Started with React Navigation v6 and TypeScript in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/react-navigation-v6-and-typescript-in-react-native/): A post that was exciting to work on. In this tutorial, I discussed how to add type checks to the app screens and how to add type checks to the React Navigation navigators. Using type checks and annotating navigators is a great way to make your app more robust and maintainable when using TypeScript with React Navigation.

- [Implementing Infinite Scroll with React Query and FlatList in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/infinite-scroll-with-react-query-and-flatlist-in-react-native/): Another exciting post that I wrote to explore how to implement infinite scrolling in an app using React Query and a real-time external API.

- [Set up a Next.js project with ESLint, Prettier, Husky, and Lint Staged](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/setup-nextjs-project-with-eslint-prettier-husky-lint-staged/): In this post, I shared my personal and minimal configuration that I used in a couple of Next.js projects.

## I redesigned my blog

My blog is one of the most consistent things in my life. This year, I decided to finally move it to Next.js (if you have been reading this post from the top, you might have realized why 😄). It was fun to do it and to learn new frameworks such as Next.js and Chakra UI.and and implement some of the tweaks that have been on my backlog for a while. I have decided to call the current version 9. Honestly, there have been so many changes and tweaks since I started it in 2019 that I have lost track in the past.

### My blog in numbers

I moved away from Google Universal Analytics since their public announcement about GA4 to Fathom in the middle of March. However, I did not remove Google Analytics from my blog after I realized that I might lose historical data for the first three months.

Overall I got a pretty consistent readership this year with over [150k+ views](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-in-review-2021/#i-wrote-43-articles):

![Yearly stats from Google Analytics 3](https://res.cloudinary.com/amanmittal/image/upload/v1672559907/CleanShot_2023-01-01_at_13.24.51_2x_zujbbg.png)

It is also interesting to see that what's driving most of the traffic is a mixture of both old and new articles:

![This year, both old and new articles are driving traffic to my blog](https://res.cloudinary.com/amanmittal/image/upload/v1672561827/CleanShot_2023-01-01_at_13.59.48_2x_bv5t2n.png)

Also that visitors are coming mostly through organic search:

![Most traffic is organic](https://res.cloudinary.com/amanmittal/image/upload/v1672561601/CleanShot_2023-01-01_at_13.56.26_2x_x6jacf.png)

I occasionally cross-posted my articles on [Medium](https://medium.com/@amanhimself), [Dev.to](https://dev.to/amanhimself) and [Hashnode](https://amanhimself.hashnode.dev/). Not as much as I would like to since I didn't spend that much time writing.

Dev.to is my primary platform to focus on cross-posting this year. I did manage to get 45k+ views.

![Dev.to stats, in a nutshell, this year](https://res.cloudinary.com/amanmittal/image/upload/v1672562431/CleanShot_2023-01-01_at_14.05.52_2x_z0rws4.png)

## Hackernoon award

Awesome folks at Hackernoon nominated me for two categories in the Noonies 2022 awards. One of the categories was [Most authentic Developer Advocate of the year](https://noonies.hackernoon.com/2022/programming/2022-most-authentic-developer-advocate-of-the-year).

I ended up winning the award (to my surprise). **A huge thanks to anyone who voted for me (and is reading this post 🤗).** I'm humbled by the recognition

![Noonies 2022 award for most authentic developer advocate of the year](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fj7zc51acAELXgH?format=jpg&name=medium).

### Newsletter saga continues

Less writing equals less number of issues. I did manage to send out a newsletter anytime I had something to share. However, this project was also abandoned for the last four or five months.

[Last year](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-in-review-2021), I was charmed by Revue and decided to jump on the wagon. Unfortunately, however, Twitter's new owners have decided to close it down. After moving to Revue, I thought I could stick with the service for some time, but the newsletter saga continues.

I have decided to move to Substack. I have used it in the past, and it's a good service. If you haven't already subscribed and would like to, here is the link: [amanhimself.substack.com](https://amanhimself.substack.com/). Even though Revue did allow migrating existing subscribers to Substack, there was no way of migrating the previous issues.

## Highlights from my GitHub

A couple of years back, I started to maintain a [single repo](https://github.com/amandeepmittal/react-native-examples) for all the demos and example apps I write using React Native and Expo. These example apps are part of the tutorials you see on this blog. To my surprise, it reached 700+ stars. It's still being actively maintained by me and occasional PRs from other contributors.

I also continued to maintain the [Expo Community project that integrates Firebase JS SDK in an Expo app](https://github.com/expo-community/expo-firebase-starter). After being involved directly with the [changes in the latest Expo SDK around Firebase](https://docs.expo.dev/guides/using-firebase), I planned out a new version of this project. Even after working on official integration documentation and guides, I feel this project can still serve as an additional resource.

### I made a lot of commits

Working on open-source projects makes the GitHub chart go green:

![A glimpse of activity on my GitHub account](https://res.cloudinary.com/amanmittal/image/upload/v1672574631/CleanShot_2023-01-01_at_17.32.15_2x_px9qkx.png)

_A big shout and a huge thanks to folks who [sponsored me on GitHub](https://github.com/sponsors/amandeepmittal) this year!_

## Reading

I did manage to go through some good books this year. Here are some of my picks that I enjoyed reading:

- [First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35847961-first-we-make-the-beast-beautiful): A beautifully written book about anxiety for anxious people without any fluff. Love the short chapters, and the writing style which is quite soothing.
- [The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57504944-the-practice-of-groundedness): I first heard Brad speaking about his book on a podcast. I don't remember what got me hooked in the first place. I remember picking this book after listening to that episode and I am glad I did. It talks a lot about patience.
- [Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55742688-four-thousand-weeks): Having read "time hacks" books in the past, this book becomes a bit easier to read and understand the flaws with the former strategies (or hacks). I realized that those "hacks" work only until one gets burned out completely and gets put off track in life. The importance of flexibility, living one's life, being patient, and coming to a realization that work is a never-ending, spiral pit.

## Traveling

I did manage to escape on two occasions but overall did not travel as much as I would have liked to.

## Wrapping up

I have been writing [yearly reviews](https://amanhimself.dev/tags/year-review/) since 2020. It's fun for me to look back over what I did and what I focused on last year or where my time went.

Thank you all for reading this post or reading any other post!

That's it for now. Happy New Year!


2022 - A year in review

---
title: '2021 - A year in review'
slug: 'year-in-review-2021'
date: '2021-12-31'
thumbnail: '/thumbnails/writing.png'
tag: 'year-review'
canonicalUrl: 'https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-in-review-2021/'
---

As we transition to 2022 and leave 2021 behind, it's a great time to reflect on the year passing by. It is my second year writing a ["year review"](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-rewind-2020/). It's fun for me to look back over what I did and what I focused on last year. I want to continue the tradition this year as well.

I started this year in a burnout phase. I didn't feel like doing things that generally excite me. It took me a while to realize that I was in the phase. If you don't realize it, you won't know what hit you. Getting burned out from last year was not over. It takes time to accept it and get out of it. That's okay, and I'm glad I took my time.

That said, I focused on the areas I could or had the energy to do so. And I'm happy with the choices I've made so far.

## Working as a Developer Advocate 🥑

I got my first role in DevRel early this year from a career perspective. I started [working as a Developer Advocate at Draftbit](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/first-three-months-as-developer-advocate/). It was not something I was actively looking for, but I couldn't say no to it when the opportunity arrived. It was a significant change for me, the kind of change I needed without knowing.

Working as a Developer Advocate allowed me to learn a lot about different things, majorly about documentation and working in a fast-paced environment. Working closely with a team with a lot of experience and learning about moving pieces of a business is a precious addition to any technical career.

Most of my work time was spent on writing content and leading documentation. Picking up pieces and trying to recognize the gaps were challenging. That's still a work in progress. For me, technical writing and blogging have been an integral part of my career. This year was better because I used my skills and experience and acquired more knowledge.

## I wrote 43 articles ✍️

Writing tech articles or tutorials is a gateway for me to engage with the tech community and keep me indulging in upcoming updates, starting conversations with people, and meeting new folks. I enjoy the process of writing and everything that comes with it. I still get to learn and share many long-form tutorials, but I also tried publishing a few short notes on this blog. Something that I haven't done in a long time and turns out people like to read them too.

Here are some of the most popular posts I wrote this year:

- [Setup Macbook M1 for Web and React Native development](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/setup-macbook-m1/): one of the most read blog posts. I'm glad I wrote it. The process of setting up a new laptop thrice a year can be daunting (the laptop that I bought at the start of this year went dead for no apparent reason, and then I had to buy a replacement for it while it went for repair, fun times 😬). I'm also actively updating this post and will continue to do so for a while.

- [How to Create a Custom Image Gallery in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/custom-preview-image-gallery-in-react-native/) In this tutorial, I talk about how to create a custom gallery of images using react-native-snap-carousel and FlatList component from React Native. The FlatList is used to display the thumbnail view for each image below the carousel. The construction of the syncing part between the two is to add functionality such that when an image in the carousel is scrolled either left or right, the thumb in the FlatList is also going to be scrolled along with it. To achieve this synchronization between the two, I used React Hooks.

- [How to use shared element transitions in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/shared-element-transitions/) I learned a bit about using Shared Elements in React Native and React Navigation. Transitions in mobile applications provide design continuity. This continuity is provided by connecting common elements from one view to the next while navigating in the app. I wrote about the process of doing that in this post.

- [How to Create a Custom Tab Bar in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/create-custom-tab-bar-in-react-native/) Another post that I was excited to work on. Creating a custom tab bar using Bottom Tab Navigator from React Navigation and Blur View.

My personal blog is one of the most consistent things in my life. I didn't run experiments on it, move to a new framework, or try a complete overhaul. It is still flawed. I have an ongoing list of things that I'd like to implement as I find myself writing more active over the years. I also love that people like to visit it and read the content I share here.

Overall, I got a pretty consistent readership this year with over 90k+ views:

![ss1](https://i.imgur.com/0gGHK68.png)

It is also interesting to see that what’s driving most of the traffic is old articles:

![ss3](https://i.imgur.com/msuWpjr.png)

And, also that visitors are coming mostly through organic search:

![ss4](https://i.imgur.com/xErLMj1.png)

I still cross-post stuff at times on [Medium](https://medium.com/@amanhimself), [Dev.to](https://dev.to/amanhimself) and [Hashnode](https://amanhimself.hashnode.dev/). Not as much as I would like to, but I am eager to explore Hashnode more next year.

Dev.to has been my focus on cross-posting this year. I did manage to get 70k+ views and 15k followers.

![ss2](https://i.imgur.com/B8tQxBN.png)

## I spoke at a few events 🗣

Giving talks or speaking is not my strongest asset, and I used to find it quite challenging (at least in my head). Although, after going through some appearances, I did find it quite satisfying.

Thanks to React Day Bangalore for inviting me for a panel discussion on React Native. It's on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HKzhe8f47Y). I also [gave workshops](https://amanhimself.dev/speaking) due to my role of working as a Developer Advocate.

I also got invited [to speak at a Twitter space](https://twitter.com/TheAnkurTyagi/status/1465624585773228034). Thanks to my friend Ankur ([@TheAnkurTyagi](https://twitter.com/TheAnkurTyagi/)) for the invitation and hosting it. We talked about tech writing and its impact on being a Developer Advocate role and working with startups.

## Highlights from my GitHub 🐙

Last year, I started to maintain [a single GitHub repo](https://github.com/amandeepmittal/react-native-examples) for all the demos and example apps I write using React Native and Expo. These example apps are part of the tutorials you see on this blog. I continued to do it this year as well.

Another thing I maintain is an [Expo Community project](https://github.com/expo-community/expo-firebase-starter) that integrates Firebase JS SDK in an Expo app. Since the Expo SDK's exponential growth in the past year with the awesome tooling, Developer Experience (DX), and support for native modules, I have some thoughts on what changes I'll be doing next year. Keep an eye on this [GitHub repo](https://github.com/expo-community/expo-firebase-starter).

I also got my first [GitHub sponsor](https://twitter.com/amanhimself/status/1454352509124820994) this year 🤩

## Newsletter saga continues 💌

I failed to run my [weekly newsletter](https://amanhimself.substack.com/). First, it became bi-weekly and then monthly. It's all due to my inconsistency in sending out and not managing my time with publishing posts. However, it did grow to 1319 subscribers from 1201 last year. I appreciate folks who stick around after me being inconsistent enough to deliver.

I did move it from Substack to Revue after Twitter acquired Revue. With Revue, I like the experience so far. I've been using it for three months and have sent three newsletters. Anyone using Twitter can now easily subscribe from [my Twitter profile](https://twitter.com/amanhimself). Thanks to my buddy [Scott Spence](https://twitter.com/spences10) who showed me how easy it was to migrate to Revue. If you're on Twitter, then give Scott a follow. He's an amazing person, an experienced developer, and he creates awesome content in the Web Dev space.

## Reading 📚

I did manage to go through some good books this year. Here are some of my picks that I enjoyed reading:

- [Getting Started in Developer Relations by Sam Julien](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57735972-getting-started-in-developer-relations) - One of the best resources I read starting out. Sam concisely talks about what a Dev Rel/Advocacy role is about, the skillset, the mindset, and some red flags when seeking a role like this one. I highly recommend this book.
- [The Business Value of Developer Relations: How and Why Technical Communities Are Key to Your Success](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40167835-the-business-value-of-developer-relations) - It goes more in-depth and talks about the importance of nurturing a community, maintaining positive relations, building a team of DevRels, and much more.
- [Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54373691-before-the-coffee-gets-cold) - I've only one word for it: mesmerizing!

## Travelling

During the end of the year, I managed to get out of New Delhi for the first time in two years for a [weekend trip](https://www.instagram.com/p/CXsVqr9lJyY/):

![ss5](https://i.imgur.com/qRBwCNO.jpg)

## Wrapping up

Even though I have been inconsistent with my personal goals this year, failing to achieve many of them, yet, there is a lot of things when I look back at this year that I did and the choices I made, I am glad it happened.

Thank you for reading this post and reading any other post, opening and reading email newsletters, reading my tweets on Twitter, and listening to me 🙏

Have a great 2022!


2021 - A year in review

---
title: 'Year Rewind: 2020'
date: '2020-12-23'
slug: 'year-rewind-2020'
thumbnail: '/thumbnails/writing.png'
tag: 'year-review'
canonicalUrl: 'https://amanhimself.dev/blog/year-rewind-2020/'
---

![cover](https://i.imgur.com/Qfd1K4M.png)

The year 2020 is coming to an end. The Earth is completing one more revolution around the Sun.

I am not a big fan of new year's resolutions since I never end up completing or even following one for a long time. However, I do like to introspect on the year passing by 😬.

## How the year was? 🎢

The thing is, just like the Earth’s revolution, this year, I feel like I have also gone around a circle and completed one or two revolutions myself. When the year started I had plans. I wanted to write code (as usual), learn some new things, and travel. The way it turned out to be is quite different from where it started.

I am glad and feel lucky that I did not lose my source of income from my day job and was fortunate enough to get a few opportunities. I am glad I did not lose touch with my network and made new connections.

Things I am not glad about this year include anxiety attacks and getting burned out. I have never felt how or what burning out looks like but only after going through it, I did realize what is happening with me. For me, in life in general, curiosity is one of the most important things in life. Without being curious, I won’t be writing this post, and you won’t be reading it. However, when I lost the ability to be curious about things around me both in the personal and professional world, onwards started a downward spiral.

I did not pursue anything else other than spending my time on a laptop that could help me take my mind off things or be a fruitful distraction. I wanted to do too many things but without planning on how to accomplish them and divide them into doable modular tasks. I lost interest in reading books for a while (an activity that I value most in my life and have been practicing for the last decade) and am still trying to cope or find a way to get back to my usual routine.

After this kind of experience, something did not feel right. And no, it did not get better after that. Not until I started to accept the fact that what I have gone through is the actual burn out. No, the lockdown or the pandemic wasn’t the major cause of it. They sure did contribute but I think if they were not part of the equation, I might still have gone through a similar phase. One thing lockdown or the pandemic brought out for me is to spend time together with my parents.

The safe way I have found is to make small changes and stick to them and then decide whether the things are working out for good or not. The lesson I would like to learn from this is to be organized with one's routine, being consistent while one can is better than anything out there, don’t try to change everything all at once, rather, make small changes and stick to them. Take breaks, mental health is an important aspect of being human, and right now is the perfect time to start talking about it and embrace it and experience the things that are not in my control even though they try to entwine with the stuff that is in my control.

## I wrote 75 articles 📝

I believe to get better at something is to do it regularly and especially, if one enjoys it. I do enjoy writing blog posts and being able to do it consistently helps me learn new things, update my existing spectrum of knowledge, and share what I know. It also keeps my life engaging.

There is also the other side that says “quality over quantity”. For me, it does not work that way. Writing, just like any other thing, is something one has to practice to write a “quality” post. How about practicing it in public?

Most of the posts I wrote are in the long form of tutorials to accomplish one thing by using a multitude of things. I am always surprised by the things that happened after I publish a post. Usually, the post I am expecting a lot from is never read by more than 100 people. The feedback sometimes I get on a post I wrote months ago is absolutely wonderful.

Here are some of the posts that I wrote this year:

- [Styling the React Native Way](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/styling-the-react-native-way/). I revamped this post, which I originally published in 2019. React Native has changed quite a bit since this year started and I thought it was the right time to update one of my most-read posts.
- [React Native and Firebase Chat app series](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/chat-app-with-react-native-part-2/). With an introduction to React Hooks last year, and the react-navigation library being updated to `v5`, I wanted to cover both of them in some detail. Thus, I ended up writing a series of six blog posts.
- Writing and taking steps in the Animation side of React Native is fun. There is a lot to do and a lot is happening when it comes to animations but I did a fair job on the usage of React Native's Animated API from a beginner's point of view in these two posts:
  - [How to create a custom scrollbar with React Native Animated API](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/custom-scroll-bar-indicator-with-react-native-animated-api/)
  - [How to Animate a Header View on Scroll With React Native Animated](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/animate-header-view-on-scroll-with-react-native-animated-api/)
- Serverless databases or tech stacks excite me. Don't get me wrong here. I am not against the idea of writing an API from scratch. In fact, I started my career on the backend side of JavaScript. But seeing the line of serverless architectures getting advance and trying to fulfill most of our needs is exciting. Thus, I was introduced to HarperDB this year. A database service that supports both SQL and NoSQL queries for CRUD operations. I ended up writing two posts, covering [the API part with Node.js](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/build-rest-api-with-nodejs-harperdb/) and using it with a frontend [library like React](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/harperdb-with-react-hooks/).
- I am not using React Hooks that much at work, but I did try to explore hooks from my own perspective. I wrote two posts, one on explaining how [`useState` hook works](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/react-app-with-localstorage-api-and-hooks/) and another on [managing state in React apps with `useReducer` and `useContext` hooks](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/manage-state-with-usecontext-usereducer-in-react-apps/).
- Expo came out with ease of [using fonts as hook](https://github.com/byCedric/use-expo/blob/main/packages/font/docs/use-fonts.md). I shared using it in [Creating "Quarantine Pro" — A Fun Learning Experiment in React Native](https://amanhimself.dev/blog/quarantine-pro-app/).

## I moved my blog from Gatsby to Next.js and back to Gatsby again 🤪

My personal blog has been the most consistent thing over course of these 12 months in my life. It deserves more credit than I give it. Also, I never planned to have a self-hosted blog until a friend of mine, [Valentin](https://twitter.com/RadValentin), casually suggested its importance. I started writing on [Medium](https://medium.com/@amanhimself) when I was getting into web development back in late 2016 and early 2017. At that time, I did not think much about pursuing writing posts or the importance of sharing via creating content. It was all new to me. I was just exploring horizons and wanted to document the good things about it.

![ss4](https://i.imgur.com/Yf8jr0o.png)

Three years forward, in 2020, I did not give much emphasis on Medium this year as my primary blog publishing platform. Even though I did reach an exploding [2 million views](https://twitter.com/amanhimself/status/1285554115464982528), I do not like how some publications (that I think have an impact in terms of audience) are forcing down to have a payment wall associated with a post published under their publication. I am not against getting the original author paid for their work but as a popular publication with a significant audience, it should not force a contributing writer and be open about it. That said, some publications are not forcing down and are still enjoyable to write for.

This gave me an opportunity to continue to build and maintain my own blog which was initially created using [Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.com/). However, in the desire to explore things, I migrated my blog to [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/) in the middle of the year. I wanted to continue using it. As a framework built over React, I think Next.js is more flexible than Gatsby but in the month of November, I decided to migrate back to Gatsby since I feel more comfortable using it since I have been closely following its development for quite some years, and I was able to cut down the 10 minutes of build time that was happening with Next.js by 70% with Gatsby. I am sure that it was my fault that the build time was around 10 minutes with Next.js and I was too lazy and uninterested to actually debug it. Nonetheless, I am glad for the opportunity to try out Next.js for the first time and will try to use it in some other projects next year.

I also realized that Markdown is definitely one of the best things to happen in the dev world. I cannot imagine any other way to write. I did try MDX with Next.js but the maintenance and time spent on converting an MDX post to a normal markdown to cross-post on popular blogging platforms is too much for me.

Not focusing on Medium enough, also gave me the opportunity to explore two awesome blogging platforms that are meant for developers:

- [Dev.to](https://dev.to/amanhimself)
- [Hashnode](https://hashnode.com/@amanhimself)

I started cross-posting on Dev.to [last year](https://dev.to/amanhimself/getting-started-with-react-native-in-2019-build-your-first-app-542d) and in this year I have managed to get around 100k+ views.

![ss1](https://i.imgur.com/3PmkutV.png)

I am excited to publish more on Hashnode. Only in the month of December, I started publishing there. I think it is different from a usual blogging platform and one thing that excites me is how community-driven it is. Developers and the whole at Hashnode are always closely listening to the wants and needs of their users and this is something I have not seen much of. It's like building in public. The ability to have a hosted newsletter and use your own domain is somewhat unusual for a platform. I like where they are going with it and would be love to see how it happens. It's a high time we need a consistent platform that could be the "YouTube" for technical writers and publications (it might sound ambitious but it is not!).

## A Big Thank You to all the editors 🙏

Writing a blog post and publishing is just one aspect. Since the year 2018, I have worked with quite a few awesome editors and content managers at different publications.

Thus, I'd like to thank from the bottom of my heart, these awesome human beings for always listening to my ideas and not taking my mistakes too seriously, and sharing their insight and unique perspective which has helped me not only write but grow as a person.

- [Filipe Lima](https://twitter.com/filipeslima) at Jscrambler
- [Kate Trahan](https://twitter.com/Katerade4) at Logrocket
- [Austin Kodra](https://twitter.com/austin_kodra) at Fritz AI & Heartbeat
- [Nick Selman](https://twitter.com/nickselman) at Draftbit
- [Margo McCabe](https://twitter.com/margo_hdb) at HarperDB

Without their feedback and honest review, their perspective on what works and what doesn't, I would have never been able to improve in the skill of writing. Most blog posts that you get to read on this blog or on their publications would never have been in the readable format and would have never seen the light of getting published.

## I did one presentation 💬

This happened by just a Twitter DM. I never expected that I would be able to speak in front of an audience, even in an online, remote event. This year, I got the opportunity to speak about [How to write consistently](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIRxTUCY0NQ) at [Hashnode's Technical Writing Bootcamp](https://hashnode.com/bootcamp/batch-2), a free virtual Bootcamp to help developers who are getting started in technical writing.

## I made 1541 commits 👨‍💻

Personally, this statistic does not matter but the GitHub's commit graph is fun. It is also great to see that I have less green or empty blocks on weekends which is a good sign.

![ss2](https://i.imgur.com/CYOY8G8.png)

In 2019, I made 939 commits. What changed this year? I started using GitHub at my day job for some projects.

![ss3](https://i.imgur.com/nGRynbX.png)

### Highlights from my GitHub 🙀

I have also started maintaining [one single GitHub repo](https://github.com/amandeepmittal/react-native-examples) for all the demos and examples I write using React Native and Expo blog posts.

Continued to maintain the [expo-community project on integrating Firebase SDK in an Expo app](https://github.com/expo-community/expo-firebase-starter), thanks to my friend [Cedric](https://github.com/byCedric) and awesome people at Expo. I have seen it was helpful to some folks as they were getting started with Expo and Firebase. Will try continue maintaining it over the next and year include more Expo related stuff.

## Newsletter saga continues 💌

I run [a weekly newsletter](https://amanhimself.substack.com/) that is of late, has become a bi-weekly newsletter due to my inconsistency of publishing blog posts. I don't send out newsletters when I don't have anything to share in terms of blog articles or tutorials. I don't like getting spam and I don't want to spam anyone. I started taking sending out newsletters seriously in 2019 and at the end of that year, I had [845 subscribers](https://twitter.com/amanhimself/status/1201933182070874112). This year, it did manage to grow to 1201 subscribers. I did not count how many newsletters in total I send out and now it's too late.

I did move from [Tinyletter](http://tinyletter.com/) to [Substack](https://substack.com/). After using Tinyletter for 22 months, I was missing out on somethings, but importantly, I was not able to provide a good reading experience to my readers who open the email they receive and spend time reading it. Both are free, but I find Substack has a more modern UI and a pleasing to the eye approach. Thanks to my friend [Alex Kallaway](https://twitter.com/ka11away) for making me realize this and convincing me to make the move.

I also took a free seven day email course called [**Blogging for Devs**](https://bloggingfordevs.com/) created [Monica Lent](https://twitter.com/monicalent). Without giving too much away, I learned a great deal from it. She is an inspiration to me because, in 2019, her income from blogging enabled her to quit her day job and pursue her own journey of bootstrapping a SaaS company. Reading her emails made me realize what I was doing wrong and how can I improve on some of the things I do.

## Coffee ☕️

I have received a lifetime of **26** coffee donations on [**Ko-Fi**](https://ko-fi.com/amanhimself). Thank you so much 🙏 .

## Reading 📚

I think that if a book is able to offer at least one new idea from what I already know, is a good book.

I did manage to scrape through some good books this year. Here some of my picks that I enjoyed reading:

### The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim

I like to read about the world of technology whether it is written from a perspective of fiction narrative or non-fiction. The Unicorn Project is one of the first books I read this year and it definitely goes in-depth about the process of what goes into a tech company and the importance of communication. The narrative might not be too true but overall it resonates.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45293317-the-unicorn-project)

### The Developer's Guide to Content Creation by Stephanie Morillo

This book resonated with me a lot. It offers good insights and guidance for a developer who is interested in creating content.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50996057-the-developer-s-guide-to-content-creation)

### The Company of One by Paul Jarvis

This book is about the mindset of working for oneself and I would add that it's a semi-autobiography of Paul's own journey of what he did when he left the traditional corporate world and how scaling and growth from an individual's perspective or for small-scaled bootstrapped business are not what it seems or the perception I had.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38922272-company-of-one)

### Writing for Software Developers by Philip Kiely

This book goes in-depth about being a technical writer from a software developer's point of view. It offers great guidance on how to get started, managing one's workflow and where can one find publications to publish their own piece of posts and articles. It also discusses the business aspect of being a technical writer.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53466825-writing-for-software-developers)

### The Practice by Seth Godin

This book by Seth Godin is all about why practice is important and how quantity helps one sustain that quality of work in their own domain.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53479927-the-practice)

### The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My favorite fiction read of the year and why experiencing life matters.

- [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53568397-the-midnight-library)

## What I want to learn in 2021 🤔

Learning is one of the few constants in our lives. There are a few things that I've learned this year but I am going to share a list of new things that I want to learn next year:

- GraphQL and Amplify AppSync
- More of TypeScript
- Different UI and animation patterns in React Native apps
- More on React Hooks
- Delve more in [Expo](https://docs.expo.io/guides/) that is always improving and it's always helpful API.

## Conclusion

I am planning to write blog posts that are in short format next year or may be add another way to share content 👀. There is a lot of stuff that I miss out on sharing since I am always thinking of connecting things.

Thank you all for reading this post and reading any other post, opening and reading email newsletters, reading my tweets on Twitter, and listening to me 🙏 .

Have a great 2021!


🔥 3 Posts filtered by tag "year-review"

2022 - A year in review

2021 - A year in review

Year Rewind: 2020