Back to Basics 2025: Progress Check Up

When 2025 started, I wrote the post Back to Basics 2025. As the mess of 2024 was finally coming to an end, I began looking forward to the new year. I wanted to start the new year the best way I could so I had a much better year than 2024. I began writing Back to Basics 2025. This post outlined everything that I wanted to do for the first half of the year. It described what I wanted to focus on to get back to the woman I wanted to be. It is now June, and that means that 2025 is halfway done. So it is time to reflect on how the first half of the year has gone and start planning for the last half of the year. If you would like to learn more about the goals I set for the first half of the year, you can read Back to Basics 2025 below. Back to Basics 2025 Sarah Bartley-Dye ・ Jan 5 #devchallenge #newyearchallenge #career First, let’s review the last 6 months. The first half of the year began in a promising way. I was working on many of the things that I wrote about in Back to Basics 2025. Things were looking good. Then the momentum started to slow down. Eventually, I stopped doing some of the things I wanted to do. As May rolled around, I was starting to get back on track. One of the biggest achievements from the first half of 2025 is the Code & Coffee conference in April. I was selected as one of the speakers for the conference. It has been a long time since I did a talk, so I wanted to make sure my talk delivered what I proposed in my CFP as much as I could. To make sure my talk was the best it possibly could be, I put a few things on the back burner as I was working on my talk and getting it ready for the conference. Code More I’ve been using the SoloLearn app a lot on my phone. I managed to get 2 certificates for two Python courses. I am currently revisiting old WordPress sites I’ve created and have updated some of them. One site is giving me a little bit of trouble right now so I’m reading more documentation. I updated my portfolio site. I updated the Bootstrap version I'm using and redid some of the styles on the page. Writing More I had written a bunch of posts over the winter break, so I started publishing a post every Sunday. I took a hiatus from writing when I was chosen for Code & Coffee. I wrote and edited my talk for Code & Coffee. I put together a CFP to see if it was chosen. Once my talk was picked, I wrote several different outlines before I began practicing for my talk. I wrote a post for the annual WeCoded celebration on DEV. I was writing a post for the DEV’s Future Writing Challenge, but it wasn’t working the way I wanted so I took a break from it. Build More No new projects have been built. I have some ideas in mind of what I want to make, but nothing has reached the coding stage. I updated my portfolio site. I’m currently updating WordPress sites I’ve already made. I started planning out an idea for an open-source project, but it was also put on hiatus due to the Code & Coffee conference. Professional Development I still need to finish some of the podcasts I’ve started and never finished. I got really into audiobooks instead and am working my way through two. I haven't read any new programming articles or blog posts. I haven’t attended any other Virtual Coffee events other than ones related to speaker prep for the Code & Coffee conference. I updated my LinkedIn profile and resume. I also updated my social media accounts and the GitHub readme on my profile. I’m still trying to be better at using LinkedIn, but there’s room to be better. Coding with Kids After Back to Basics 2025 was published, my doctor gave me the green light to get back to work. A few months later, I was assigned a private class about Python class and set up an office hours assignment. A new session started in May. I have no classes at the time of this post. I’m currently working on getting another class for the new session. Mental Health I started looking at therapists at the beginning of the year. But by the time Code & Coffee was announced, I put the search on hold. I am easing back into working out. I completed a bunch of 30-day challenges where I did exercises like sit-ups, squats, and planks every day. I reset my Ring Fit game so I could start over from the beginning. I’ve added breathing exercises and meditation as part of my daily routine. I have a breathing app on my phone so I do exercises at the end of the night. I started working on a tree skirt and have made some progress on the skirt. However, I got frustrated trying to thread the needles, so I stopped doing embroidery for a while. I started learning Korean on the app Drops. Next, let’s create a plan for the second half of 2025. Now it is June, and it is time to look ahead to the rest of 2025. I will review these goals in December for another progress che

Jun 2, 2025 - 00:20

When 2025 started, I wrote the post Back to Basics 2025. As the mess of 2024 was finally coming to an end, I began looking forward to the new year. I wanted to start the new year the best way I could so I had a much better year than 2024.

I began writing Back to Basics 2025. This post outlined everything that I wanted to do for the first half of the year. It described what I wanted to focus on to get back to the woman I wanted to be.

It is now June, and that means that 2025 is halfway done. So it is time to reflect on how the first half of the year has gone and start planning for the last half of the year. If you would like to learn more about the goals I set for the first half of the year, you can read Back to Basics 2025 below.

Back to Basics 2025

Sarah Bartley-Dye ・ Jan 5

#devchallenge #newyearchallenge #career

First, let’s review the last 6 months.

The first half of the year began in a promising way. I was working on many of the things that I wrote about in Back to Basics 2025. Things were looking good.

Then the momentum started to slow down. Eventually, I stopped doing some of the things I wanted to do. As May rolled around, I was starting to get back on track.

One of the biggest achievements from the first half of 2025 is the Code & Coffee conference in April. I was selected as one of the speakers for the conference. It has been a long time since I did a talk, so I wanted to make sure my talk delivered what I proposed in my CFP as much as I could. To make sure my talk was the best it possibly could be, I put a few things on the back burner as I was working on my talk and getting it ready for the conference.

Code More

I’ve been using the SoloLearn app a lot on my phone. I managed to get 2 certificates for two Python courses.
I am currently revisiting old WordPress sites I’ve created and have updated some of them. One site is giving me a little bit of trouble right now so I’m reading more documentation.
I updated my portfolio site. I updated the Bootstrap version I'm using and redid some of the styles on the page.

Writing More

I had written a bunch of posts over the winter break, so I started publishing a post every Sunday. I took a hiatus from writing when I was chosen for Code & Coffee.
I wrote and edited my talk for Code & Coffee. I put together a CFP to see if it was chosen. Once my talk was picked, I wrote several different outlines before I began practicing for my talk.
I wrote a post for the annual WeCoded celebration on DEV. I was writing a post for the DEV’s Future Writing Challenge, but it wasn’t working the way I wanted so I took a break from it.

Build More

No new projects have been built. I have some ideas in mind of what I want to make, but nothing has reached the coding stage.
I updated my portfolio site.
I’m currently updating WordPress sites I’ve already made.
I started planning out an idea for an open-source project, but it was also put on hiatus due to the Code & Coffee conference.

Professional Development

I still need to finish some of the podcasts I’ve started and never finished. I got really into audiobooks instead and am working my way through two.
I haven't read any new programming articles or blog posts.
I haven’t attended any other Virtual Coffee events other than ones related to speaker prep for the Code & Coffee conference.
I updated my LinkedIn profile and resume. I also updated my social media accounts and the GitHub readme on my profile. I’m still trying to be better at using LinkedIn, but there’s room to be better.

Coding with Kids

After Back to Basics 2025 was published, my doctor gave me the green light to get back to work. A few months later, I was assigned a private class about Python class and set up an office hours assignment.
A new session started in May. I have no classes at the time of this post. I’m currently working on getting another class for the new session.

Mental Health

I started looking at therapists at the beginning of the year. But by the time Code & Coffee was announced, I put the search on hold.
I am easing back into working out. I completed a bunch of 30-day challenges where I did exercises like sit-ups, squats, and planks every day. I reset my Ring Fit game so I could start over from the beginning.
I’ve added breathing exercises and meditation as part of my daily routine. I have a breathing app on my phone so I do exercises at the end of the night.
I started working on a tree skirt and have made some progress on the skirt. However, I got frustrated trying to thread the needles, so I stopped doing embroidery for a while.
I started learning Korean on the app Drops.

Next, let’s create a plan for the second half of 2025.

Now it is June, and it is time to look ahead to the rest of 2025. I will review these goals in December for another progress check to see how things went. Then I’ll be setting brand new goals for 2026.

I’m going to start with the goals that I didn’t accomplish in the last half of the year and what I want to focus on again for this second portion of the year.

I need to get back to building a writing habit again. I am hoping to write at least for 30 minutes a day or do something related to writing.
I will try to listen to one podcast episode or read one technical post per day.
I will try to do one networking event per month. This can be anything for Virtual Coffee, FGB webinars, or more.
I will finish that tree skirt. I need to set aside an hour a day to work on it.
I need to update my resume, LinkedIn, and portfolio again.

I don’t just want to keep working on goals I’ve already made. Since it is a brand new half of the year, it means brand new goals. So here are two new goals I want to add for this portion of the year.

Since things went well with coding more, I’m ready to learn a new language. I will stick with SoloLearn, so I’m going to see what courses they have available. I will do some research on job postings to see what employers are looking for. That will determine what language I learn next.
I am putting myself back on the job market. I’ll see what the job landscape is like and possibly apply for jobs.

These are the official goals for the second half of 2025. I’ll be posting these on my GitHub profile to help me stay accountable. If you are setting up your goals for this time of the year, don’t be afraid to post them on GitHub.