This is not a year-end review as such but a look-back on my year as a family man and a developer in 2018.

The Kick-Off

I kicked off my year with a job switch and started working from home full-time, along with shifting house (a couple of them actually) from one part of Karachi to another as my wife also started her university. It was a crazy time because shifting homes is no fun!

The Experiment Year

2018 was a experiment year for me as I was trying to learn and do new things and failing in most of them sadly. I will skip the details as I did some pretty lame stuff to be honest :D

The Work From Home

I used to believe in work-life balance bull-crap but in 2018 as I was working from home and doing pretty well. I believe I had a good "work-life" balance as I was working one moment and having family time another. It really didn't bother me when I was working or when I was siting with family. I always had time for work and I had always time for family.

The Drawback

There have been drawbacks to working alone and at home for me, after years and years commuting to work, interacting with colleagues and peers. These drawbacks were not a great deal but they did affect the speed of my productivity. I struggled when I wanted an opinion from someone I trusted. When you have an office to go to then you have many co-workers you can interact and exchange ideas with. But in my case I'd either summon the old friend pen and paper and jolt down ideas and if that didn't work I'd give one of my developer friends from university class or old company a call and share ideas. It always worked for me. Thanks guys for picking up my call!

The Loss

We all know and understand the fact that ups and downs are a part of our life. If life gives us joy, it can give us sorrow too. 2018 was the year, after years of marriage we got the best possible news. Before we knew it, it was the worst possible news. We were shattered by the sad news of a missing heart-beat. Nonetheless, we are still hopeful to experience parenthood.

The Exodus

Almost, nearly, approximately, a few months short may be, of a decade! I lived and thrived in a city far away from home, felt just like home. Karachi made me what I'm today. I'm thankful to the city and the people who came into my life, for giving me quality education, amazing friends, opportunity to work and grow as a person and as a professional developer.

The Journey Ahead

In the year 2019 I will be working as a Government officer and giving my services to my hometown university and giving back to my community's youth in form of free knowledge-sharing sessions, paid offline web development trainings during week-ends.

Thank you for your time reading this post. Comment below and tell me about three important things happened in your life in 2018 and what are your plans in 2019.

Wish you a very Happy New Year!