The end of a 666 days streak

A while ago I have decided to do a 666 days streak of contributions on GitHub.

It was mostly for fun, but also to have a call-to-action for contributions.

At the time I was CTO and for various reasons (administrative tasks, meetings, big feature development) I was not pushing code every week-days. I needed a motivation to have faster feedbacks (and feedbacks starts with pushing code to users, everything else is just noise).

Note: 666 is my touch of hard rock fan

On another I have, as an engineer, to do some technology intelligence regularly, that's why I have started this web logs site (as a way to force myself to articulate things I have learned/experimented).

Over this period I have experienced few events which impacted my challenge:

• I had to face a loss in my life
• I switch job (stepping down from my CTO role), my new job requiring a dedicated GitHub account
• I have joined the Haskell Response Team

To sustain the effort necessary to this challenge I had to set up a routine for my commits:

• On Sundays, I was writing logs to be published on Sunday and Wednesday
• I had to plan and prepare (thanks to a Kanban board) my weeks commits

Here are the accomplishments I have made through this challenge:

• 56 [FOSS contributions][@/pages/foss.md] (outside my HSRT and other groups)
• 145 logs published (which allowed me to have serious thoughts on Haskell/Nix(OS)/Software Engineering)

I pretty glad of that as it full-filled it's role of call-to-action.

On the flip side it has some drawbacks:

• Many contributions have been delayed in order to fit my calendar
• My logs have a poor quality (I had many feedbacks which look like "I have opened on of your article, it was fun, but I didn't understand a thing")
• A constant stress to find my next contribution
• I had to delay tackling some issues in my life (it was not preventing me to address it, but it was a good excuse not to do it)
• A small bore-out (while I was expecting a burnout)

What's next:

• Publish all the buffered commits (few dozens)
• Do most of the remaining work on hsec-tools (part of my work in the HSRT)
• End my work on bloodhound and publish a release
• Take a break

My long-term will include:

• Restart my Yoga practice
• Learn a new natural language: I have started German for ZuriHac since few weeks, I'll try to pick an eight one by the end of the year
• Learn new programming languages: this year I have learned Lua and Rust (with a strong emphasis as I plan to change focus), I plan to learn Verse and Unison
• Refocus my career: I think my career is currently good, but I aim to reach the next level (few years ago I had rejected an offer from a Big Tech, I have some remorse, being part of a Big Tech is still on my bucket list), that's why I will:
  • Regularly do leetcode challenges (I have done 3 exercises every week since the beginning of the year), in Rust
  • Regularly train on system design on article and mock interview per week
  • Work on my leadership skills (I have filled my RSS subscription with this topic, I still have to find an efficient way to train)
  • Attempt Coding challenges in Rust

While the job market may not be the best at the moment, I will be ready when it'll be better.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity

-- Seneca

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