2020 In Review & Plans for 2021
Tags: review, plans, dazn, ryounus
Published: 2021-01-18 20:17:54

_This is a mirror of a blog post originally posted on my [personal blog](https://ryounus.dev/blog/2020-in-review-and-plans-for-2021/)_

### 2020 - The year it all went wrong

2020 was a very difficult year for everyone, I was fortunate enough along with my family to not have been affected by the adverse effects of the pandemic. I am aware that there are many unfortunate individuals that lost their loved ones, and their livelihoods due to the conditions brought about by the virus. My heartfelt condolences go out to all those who have been affected. 😰

<video width="100%" style="margin: 0 auto;display: block;" autoplay loop>
  <source src="https://ryounus.dev/634fd8a0752be75ceecb29edec1a6ff4/2020-bin.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
<figcaption class="gatsby-resp-image-figcaption">2020 elegantly visualised for what it was</figcaption>

I am lucky enough to have kept my job at [DAZN](https://engineering.dazn.com/). It was a good year for us at the company as we had our [global launch](https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/news/boxing/dazn-goes-global-streaming-service-launches-in-over-200-countries/qjveuh55ayyw1d0eal9yjtb03) towards the back end of the year. A lot of work that me and my colleagues had been working on for a while, had gone _live_ to customers in over _200 countries_. At work I put myself forward for a secondment to work alongside an Amsterdam based team who were working on the checkout services. These services were a vital part required for the global launch. The greater part of last year was spent working with that team, I really enjoyed my time there and noticed a lot of nuances in the way geographical dev centres differ. The remainder of the year was spent back with my original team based in Leeds. I had been gone a while and therefore missed a sizeable amount of work that was done. Thankfully I have managed to pick up on the changes that were made, and I am fully back to speed with the team.

On a more personal note, the year was quite exhausting. I did not manage to make the most of the year like I had planned. I had made many big plans for the year that unfortunately never came to fruition. I wanted to try make the most of the year by traveling, sight-seeing, thrill seeking and making memories to look back on. Looking back at 2020, it just seems like a huge blur. Nothing of significance that I could point back to in the year. It is however not all doom and gloom; the most important thing is that we made it through to the new year and here's to a brighter 2021. 🎉🥂

### 2021 - The bounce back 🤞

I'm sure we are all hoping for a better year in 2021. I hope with the introduction of the vaccine and the vaccination programmes now being rolled out, that things will soon return back to normal. One thing that 2020 has taught me is to not have big plans for the year, as they might not happen 🤣. However, I still want to set some goals for myself to look back on.

- Try to blog monthly, even if it's something very short. I want to aim for at least 12 new articles in the new year. 🙏
- Get my AWS certification - This is one of my targets from last year that I have been putting off because of the exhaustion brought about by the pandemic. However, this year things will be different, and I will aim to complete at least 1 certification. 🎖
- Host public facing tools/hacks - I build a lot of stuff when experimenting with new technology but have not got many pieces of work that are publicly accessible. This is something I want to change, I want host more of my silly work and show it off to others. 👷🏼
- Look after myself better. Due to the lockdown and spending a lot of time at home, I have neglected my physical and mental health. I want to make sure that this will be a priority in the new year. ✨

2021 isn't just magically going to be better year, but I do think we are all now better prepared than we were for the last year.

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For more blogs checkout my __dev.to__ account and my __personal blog__ post found [here](https://ryounus.dev)