I wanted to take a moment and reflect on 2018, it was an incredibly successful year for me and I want to thank everyone who has helped make that possible. The SQL community is always responsive and helpful, my co-workers are wonderful, and of course; my family and friends are always supportive and understanding. So thank you everyone for helping me hit my goals!
So what happened in 2018? Let’s start with the easiest thing to visualize, people reading my content!
So what happened here? Really, there are three primary changes.
- I’m generating more content and putting a lot of effort into making it quality.
- I’m advertising my blog. I post my articles on Reddit and Twitter primarily.
- Other people are advertising my blog, there’s been three articles featured from my website on SQL Server Central’s newsletter and it is routinely picked up by CuratedSQL.com.
So what were the featured articles?
- What is the average day of a DBA?
- How to learn and implement Change Tracking in SQL Server
- How to stop the SQL Scheduler with T-SQL
What else happened in 2018?
- I earned my MCSA in T-SQL Development for SQL Server Databases 2016.
- Appeared in the top 200 contributors of all time to DBA Stack Exchange.
- One of my stack exchange answers was part of a Brent Ozar newsletter feature.
- I was promoted to Team Lead at Xpanxion.
- Volunteered at two SQL Saturdays.
- Attended four SQL meetups.
- Finished reading six SQL books.
- Published a total of 33 articles on my website.
With those highlights in mind, it both feels like I’ve accomplished a lot but not nearly as much as I wanted. I was hoping to attend more meetups, more SQL Saturdays, have my MCSE, and begin presenting.
In addition to my promotion, I took up the task of being the local IT guy for the Fort Collins office. So on average, I work 40 hours for my contract, 5 hours doing team lead work, and 5 hours doing IT work. This puts my typical work week at 50 hours to start and it only goes up from there.
This influx of responsibility has been really testing my ability to stay productive and energized while focusing on prioritization. These are definitely skills I am working to improve daily. (A few of the non-SQL books I read this year were related to this actually. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and How to Win Friends and Influence People.)
So what’s in store for 2019?
I’m looking to do a lot of the same that worked for me in 2018 but this time I’m focusing on realistic expectations. I don’t expect to blog more than twice a month, I will achieve my MCSE and hopefully begin my next MCSA, and I will have finished at least one presentation to present at a local meetup group or SQL Saturday. I will also continue to volunteer at meetups and SQL Saturdays, but I am also planning on making time to volunteer to help in my local community!