10 New Year's Resolution Ideas For iOS Developer
The new year has started already, but it’s never not too late to set ambitious goals. Here’s a list of 10 new year’s resolution ideas for iOS developers.
#1: Stay positive. Always. Period.
There’s always a lot of hope for the new year. And yes, I’m also quite confident that 2017 will be a much better year than 2016. However, there will be bad days in 2017 as well. That’s just how life works. Some things can’t be avoided, but we have an impact on how we react to them. So, no matter what happens, try to face it in a positive and optimistic way. Most things aren’t as bad as they seem and almost always there’s a solution for every problem.
#2: Start a blog
I can’t tell you enough how many benefits running a blog has. For me, the most important benefit is that you will become a better developer by doing so. If you are blogging on a regular basis, you will do a lot of research for your blog pots. So you will learn a lot. But I’ve made another very interesting observation: There are a lot of things I thought I knew. But when I’m writing a blog post about that topic, I am getting aware very often that there are a lot of things about that topic I don’t know. But after writing the blog post I know that I finally got it. That’s the reason why you say “The best way to learn something is to teach it.”
#3: Speak at a conference
Speaking in front of a lot of people is very intimidating for most people. However, like running a blog, it’s worth the effort. You will also learn a lot by preparing a conference talk. But more importantly, you will do something that will make you proud afterwards.
#4: Watch all WWDC 2017 sessions
Of course, the best thing is to attend the WWDC personally. However, that’s not so easy due to the restricted amount of tickets. But luckily you can watch all WWDC sessions afterwards online. I made the experience in the past that I’m just watching a small amount of the videos every year. But I do believe it does have a lot of benefits to watch as many videos as possible.
#5: Take care of yourself
Let’s face it: Some developers don’t have a very healthy lifestyle. They are sitting the whole day in front of the computer and aren’t doing a lot of sports. So 2017 is a good time to change that! Just running for 30 minutes three times a week will make you much fitter. I’ve also made the experience that this will increase both your concentration and productivity. And if your are working on a very difficult problem and you aren’t making any progress, you should immediately go for a run! I know that sounds strange, but in most cases you will get a great idea during your run.
#6: Start an iOS side project
iOS development is a wide field and very often you are not covering all aspects of it during your daily job. So then it’s probably a good idea to start an iOS side project. For example, you could create your own game using Sprite Kit or Scene Kit.
#7: Learn something new, that is programming related
I do believe that’s important to specialise into one area, but from time to time it’s good to look into other areas as well. So it’s for example a good idea to learn some basics of Android programming. You can start out by looking into my post “Android Development For iOS Developers”.
#8: Learn something new, that is not programming related
Developers have a lot of motivation to learn new things in their field, and that’s both very enjoyable and useful. However, from time to time it’s also very good for the mind to do something completely different. For example, you could look into photography. You will see that this is a very good way to relax.
#9: Drink less coffee
I know this point will be a little bit controversial, but I do believe that’s not healthy to drink a lot of coffee. And that’s exactly what some developers do. Sure, it can’t be so bad to drink one or two cups of coffee every day. But many people drink a lot more than that. So, if you are not able to restrict your coffee consumption to a healthy amount, better quit drinking coffee completely.
#10: Do something, that is completely outside of your comfort zone
It’s very important to leave your comfort zone from time to time, because that’s one of the best ways to grow as a person. In this list are already some points that may be outside of your comfort zone, like speaking at a conference for example. But it could also be something completely different. Take a look at one of my previous posts about that topic.
References
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