Something I have always wanted to have a go at is writing a blog. I guess if you are reading this, I have made it past first hurdle. My thought pattern generally goes like this... I should write a blog? ooh that’s a great idea! About what? Good point maybe another time.
There have been a couple of times I have had some good ideas. I even started writing a few, but then never quite had the drive or energy to finish and publish them. I had an idea, why not write a blog about how you can’t write a blog 🤯.
That's not quite what this post is about, but it seemed like a good starting point to get me writing.
Something else that I have been wanting to do for some time is start a side project. My thought pattern generally goes like this... I should build an application? ooh that’s a great idea! To do what? Good point maybe another time.
I often see people online talking about how many domains they have purchased for project ideas (and probably never started/finished). As you can see from my internal monologue above ideas are not free flowing from my brain.
Let’s touch on why I want to do both of these things. Ultimately, it’s all about getting myself out there as a developer, showing the world what I am about, sharing knowledge and ideas. I also have a few new technologies I want to try out and a few skills I want improve on (writing included). It will also give me kick up the backside to get my website sorted!
I often see decent looking developer jobs and think yeh I have those skills; I can bring something to that role. I dust of my CV and then the imposter syndrome kicks in!
I think about all the developers with open source contributions and a catalogue of work to show off with. My main issues come from just not having anything public I can share that truly represents my coding skills and ethos as a developer. I know I have produced some great work ( and if you know Luke from about 6 years ago, some questionable work as well!) but as this is all client work it’s not really something I can show off. I know this is not going to completely rule me out of the running for a position, at least at any company that I would want to work at. But I am pretty sure having that extra is going to make it easier to get my foot in the door.
Here I am, writing my first blog post. What is different this time around? I am not waiting for the perfect idea for an app, I am just going to build one. I am not going to wait for the perfect idea for a blog, I am just going to write one.
The idea
In our house we have to be organised with what we are going to eat throughout the week, we don’t have time to be thinking about what to cook each day. We generally sit down at the weekend and come up with a meal plan. This process has been through a few iterations, we started with a shared google sheet but have actually moved onto just a whiteboard on the fridge. I will through both of these solutions in a future blog post.
I want the solution to make this process as easy as possible and add as much convenience as it can, think generating shopping lists etc
iven my history of not being able to actually build a side project I need to be organised, time is a commodity in our household (If you live with a toddler you will understand)
What’s next
I am setting myself some initial tasks:
- Look at the current solutions to the problem, included other similar apps
- Define a high-level wish list
- From that Wishlist determine an MVP
This should give me an idea of what I need to be building first once I start coding the app.
Let’s also not forget the blogging, If I am going to keep up that part of this project, I need to have a good idea of future blog posts. The current plan is to do the following:
- The planning
- Deciding on the tools
- Building the back end
- Building the front end
- Styling