2024 - A Year In Review (special mid-life crisis edition)

It's my birthday! Therefore it marks the end of another year of me hurtling around Earth's yellow sun. So, as is customary, here's my year in review.

I'm not really sure what happened to the last year. As the philosophers once said, "the years start coming and they don't stop coming".

The biggest personal item was snapping a tooth and the long journey to getting implants. I've had my head drilled, and now I'm just awaiting for the crowns.

I haven't read as many books as I wanted - fewer than 50. I'm finding that if I'm not enjoying a book I end up simply not reading rather than dropping it.

OpenUK, OggCamp, EMFCamp, and BarCampLondon have filled my volunteering time. Some have been as simple as heralding people on stage, others setting up conferences. I've discovered that I hate organising stuff. If you want me to fix a thing, or do a specific task, or present - I'll jump at the chance. Ask me to organise speakers, work with suppliers, or herd cats and I'll run away.

I tried to stop publishing a new blog every day and, well, turns out there are still a lot of words in my head fighting to get out.

Aside from a relaxing winter break in Cape Verde, and a brief visit to Brussels, I've not been on any glamorous international jaunts. That feels a bit odd. But I've had a few nice trips to Manchester, Birmingham, and Brighton.

Oh, and I appeared on the BBC's Points of View to talk briefly about The Cleaner. My life continues to be a little surreal.

A minor health scare (I'm fine) got me a CT Scan which I could view in 3D. So now I know what my brains look like!

Signed up to some cheap theatre ticket sites and saw loads of shows for not much cash.

But, overall, it feels like a year without much achievement.

OKRs KPIs, Retrospectives, and Reflective Behaviour

I set myself a few challenges last year. How did I do against them?

How do I reconcile working less with taking on more work? Answers in the comments box, please.

This has been pretty good. I've had a few clients that I'm managed to fit in to my Fridays. I've mostly kept it low key, and it seems to have worked.

With the upcoming General Election, perhaps I will get a bit more involved in politics - both local and national.

I did some volunteering for the Labour Party, helping phone-bank for the General Election. It looks like they didn't need my help though! I haven't had much time to dedicate to political work though.

We've hit over 30,000 submissions to OpenBenches. Have we hit the limit? Is it worth promoting it more?

Now on over 34k!. I've done a few talks about it, and it seems to be going strong.

I am terrible at playing with all the toys I have. I want to spend a bit more time playing the games I have on the Oculus and Switch.

Urgh. I managed a few Oculus games and completely wimped out of Obra Dinn on the Switch. I always want to play more, but it always feels like there's something else which needs my attention.

After several years of intensity, I think I want to throttle back a bit.

Achieved! I spoke at fewer conferences, attended fewer events, and wrote less.

Goals for 2025

I only have one goal. Stop.

A few weeks ago, Liz and I both quit our jobs. By the end of 2024, our careers will be on hiatus.

I want to have a big mental clean-out⁰. Sort out what I enjoy doing and what I just do out of habit. Work out who I am when I'm not working.

I don't want to burn down my life or have an extensive / expensive mid-life crisis, but I do want to have a little bit of a reset.

If you've done something similar and have any advice - please do let me know.

And that's a wrap!

Thanks for reading. If you'd like to see how I've grown as a person (or not), you can read previous years' reviews at 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014¹ 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.