2020 Year in Review
Tags: review, retro, reflection
Published: 2021-01-05 21:30:41

---
title: 2020 Year in Review
published: true
date: 2020-12-31 00:00:00 UTC
tags: review, retro, reflection
canonical_url: https://amberwilson.co.uk/blog/2020-year-in-review/
---

I got the idea to write a my first ever retrospective for the year from [Monica Lent](https://monicalent.com/). 🙏

What a year it has been. Back in February I had no idea what the rest of the year was going to look like. I even attended a comedy night in Berlin where one of the comedians joked that she had coronavirus, and the audience actually found it genuinely funny!

I didn't get to fly and visit any of my family or international friends this year, which has honestly sucked. I also don't see much of my local friends and family. I really miss everyone and it feels like a piece of me is missing. The pandemic has also delayed several of my important appointments.

However, despite the pandemic and its effects on me this year, I am under no illusion of my privilege:

> I am happy. I am loved. I have a roof over my head. I am fed. I have disposable income. I enjoy my job. I am warm. I am healthy. I am educated. I have prospects. I have time. I can pursue hobbies. I am safe. I feel included.  
>   
> Have you checked your privilege today?
> 
> — Amber Wilson (@ambrwlsn90) [November 10, 2020](https://twitter.com/ambrwlsn90/status/1326196231371182083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Anyway, in this post I want to try and focus on **what I learned and achieved as a web engineer** this year.

## What I set out to do in 2020

For 2020, I did not set out with a particular goal in mind. I was happy to go with the flow, work hard at my job, and maybe write a couple of blog posts on the side.

One reason I may not have set goals for myself this year is because I had been working towards getting promoted to a mid-level web engineer since October 2019. I got promoted in March. I was pleased with this and did not make any more solid professional goals.

For 2021, this is going to change. I've definitely got some [plans for 2021](#plans-for-2021). 😎

## Top 5 Articles Released in 2020

My posts on accessibilty and owning your own data did well this year!

1. [Are Your Anchor Links Accessible?](https://dev.to/ambrwlsn/are-your-anchor-links-accessible-37ak)
2. [From Gatsby to Eleventy](https://dev.to/ambrwlsn/from-gatsby-to-eleventy-2fk6)
3. [Grow the IndieWeb with Webmentions](https://amberwilson.co.uk/blog/grow-the-indieweb-with-webmentions/)
4. [How and when to use React useCallback()](http://localhost:8080/blog/how-and-when-to-use-react-usecallback/)
5. [Caches are for Copies](https://dev.to/ambrwlsn/caches-are-for-copies-4i4d)

I've been using [Plausible Analytics](https://plausible.io/) since mid-November and the above list is based on page views from there.

## Achievements in 2020

It felt really good to remember things I achieved this year:

- Got promoted to **mid-level frontend engineer**.

- Wrote **16 blog posts** (averaging 1 post every ~23 days).

- Read **12 books** (I wanted to read more than twice this - oops! I'll do better next year).

- Spoke on my first [web podcast](https://aquestionofcode.com/62-what-is-it-like-to-have-a-mentor-amber-wilson/).

- Set up my own **home office space** that I'm quite pleased with.

- Coached remotely at [codebar Berlin](https://codebar.io/berlin).

- Re-designed and re-wrote my site with a static site generator called [Eleventy](https://www.11ty.dev/), which turned out to be the **most fun I've had coding all year**.

- Began a [CS50 course](https://cs50.harvard.edu/college/2020/fall/) with some nice people, so I can dive into some fundamental computer science topics.

- Cooked a lot of new meals and made a recipe book so I can remember them.

- Got around 40 new plants, ¾three quarters of which I managed to keep alive.

## Thanks I want to give

I want to thank a few people this year:

- My partner for being amazing as always. You know why you're awesome!

- [Jeremy Keith](https://adactio.com/) for his support, mentorship, and being my most fave person ever to debate the web with.

- [Kitty](https://hugogiraudel.com/) for their support, mentorship, and enviable ability to make pretty much anything.

- [Eva](https://includejs.dev/) for being a bright light in the murkiness of this year, and getting people motivated to socialise and learn together.

- [Kristian](https://twitter.com/khamiltonuk) for keeping codebar Berlin alive and kicking while staying as cool, calm, and collected as ever.

The whole of the web community this year has, as usual, been my rock. I can always count on my web friends to lift me up, support me, and motivate me to be the best I can be. I'm looking forward to being a part of this amazing community again next year. Huge love to everyone who is a part of it. ♥

## Plans for 2021

- Create a [Career Management Document](https://alistapart.com/article/the-career-management-document/). In short, this involves writing down personal and professional achievements at least once a week. It helps you remember what you've done and learned, and helps you show this off to employers!

- Write 3 to 4 blog posts a month. By the end of the year, this means I would have written at least 36 blog posts. That's more than twice the amount I wrote this year! I want to write this many because there is so much I want to learn.

- If I don't understand something, research it and write about it.

- Be aware of the "curse of knowledge" and continue to write posts that developers of all levels can follow along with.

- Read 30 books!

- Do more [codewars](https://www.codewars.com/) challenges.

- Write at least one codewars challenge.

- Coach at least 5 times in a virtual [codebar](https://codebar.io/) workshop.

- Record a video post and/or hold a live stream to teach something about web development.

- Make an Eleventy plugin (e.g. for [Webmentions](https://indieweb.org/Webmention)).

- Make more cute things, because the web is a place of expression where you can let your creativity roam free. ✨

**Happy New Year!**