I had set myself two goals for the month of December:

• Write an ebook on how to create a developer blog using Gatsby (a static-site generation web framework)
• And write at least 20 blog posts

I did not write the e-book. And I managed to write only 10 blog posts. The poor outcome was not due to the lack of discipline; it was due to the scarcity of time.

I started my new job at Ritu Kumar on 1st December. Ritu Kumar’s office is at Gurgaon, and I was staying at Noida. So, I had to spend close to 4 hours everyday just for the commute to and from work. And it was exhausting. I used to leave Noida at 7 o'clock in the morning and by the time I used to return from work somewhere around 9 o’clock in the night, I did not have an ounce of energy to work on anything else. AlI I used to do was to have my dinner and crash out, only to wake up in the morning and do it all over again. The time that I had during the weekends was spent running errands and on house-hunting trips to Gurgaon.

I managed to find a fully-furnished 1BHK @ 18k per month in Palam Vihar, Gurgaon. I moved in on 25th and have been setting up my kitchen, so that I can start cooking again. I can survive on take-out food up to a point. It should be a few more days before I settle in completely. Then, my learning and blogging routines will get back on track.

I bought an annual pro membership of Codecademy. I am especially excited to start digging into the data science and machine learning track.

Overall, December was hectic. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time on daily commute to work in my entire career. Usually, I rent a place which is close to the office, so that I don’t spend more than half an hour commuting to work. Now that I have shifted to Gurgaon, it just takes me 20 minutes to reach the office. 1 hour of total commute time is still manageable.

My plan for January is to start working on the data science and machine learning track on Codecademy. The goal is to write 10 posts in total. I am not setting any ambitious targets because my priority is to settle in as soon as possible, so that I can start being productive again.

What’s your plan for January? Let me know in the comments.

Hope you had a great 2021. Wishing you folks a great new year ahead.

As an aside, Omicron cases are rising swiftly. So, if you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated asap and stay safe.

See you in February. Adios until then.