The start of a new year is always a perfect place for planning and reflection. I improved in many ways this past year but also fell short on a few aspects of my life. Instead of focusing on specific events and achievements, I’m going to look at some lifestyle changes as well as personal insights that I was able to make this year.
First of all, the biggest change is that I started working at Ubisoft in May, which is a very new experience for me. I have never really worked in a professional setting before, and to be honest I was quite terrified in the beginning. After working here for eight months, I have learned so many new skills, between soft skills like better communication and time management as well as technical skills like game engine architecture and debugging multithreaded applications.
Additionally, I have learned a lot about what I personally need to improve on, the biggest one being staying focused when I work. I’ve found myself getting easily distracted, and while I always knew this was an issue, it wasn’t very apparent until I started working. One of the biggest ways to fix this is to stop going on Reddit every ten minutes, and that will be my starting point into improving my ability to focus.
Another good habit I managed to cultivate last year was exercise. I started running three to four times a week, and brought my average distance per workout from four kilometers up to eight. I even managed to run the Toronto Scotiabank half marathon and finished under two hours; I’m quite proud of myself not just for finishing the half marathon but being able to maintain consistent exercise despite how busy life can get.
Lastly, I was very happy to be able to draw more this year. I was also able to try a few other mediums, particularly gouache painting and inking with a calligraphy pen. I also started a lunchtime sketching club at work, so I’ve been doing some consistent drawing every day. This is a habit that I hope to continue for a long time!
I drew my soulbeast from @GuildWars2!
— Ian (@quichi_art) September 21, 2019
Follow me on artstation :)https://t.co/COv5ggf8AI#characterart #painting #art #GuildWars2 pic.twitter.com/woWHnOPgWA
Exploring some concepts for my newest game!#art #conceptart #gamedev #sketches pic.twitter.com/VFHR2Rz2OM
— Ian (@quichi_art) December 11, 2019
My year wasn’t all nice and rosy though. There are a lot of issues I struggled with, like a mild addiction to social media, a very screwed up sleep schedule, and wasting time in general. I’ve come to realize that this isn’t something that I can just fix on a whim, so I’m going to try to come up with little steps I can take to work towards wasting less time.
2020
Just like last year, I don’t really have a clear plan going into the year. With work and school at the same time, there’s just not enough time to really do more things that I want to do. With that in mind, I want to really learn how to manage my time better this year. That means waking up consistently in the morning, doing useful things during my commute, and going on Reddit less. Most importantly though, I’m going to have fun in 2020, here’s to another great year :)