What to focus on for the new year

As 2019 draws to a close it's time to think about where to focus energy in the coming year.

Looking back at 2019

It has been a year of exploration — dipping into various technologies and methodologies, getting back into blogging (intermittently at least), and continuing to build on the themes that this site is all about: never stop learning.

What I'll be focusing on in 2020

Docker & Kubernetes

I will continue my investigation into Docker and Kubernetes. Containerisation has become a core skill in modern development and operations, and I want to move from surface-level understanding to genuine practical competence.

The plan is to work through hands-on projects — not just tutorials, but actually building and running things — and to get comfortable with the ecosystem around these tools.

DevOps principles

Alongside containers, I want to deepen my understanding of DevOps as a discipline. Not just the tooling, but the culture and practices that make it work.

I have recently been reading The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim and it has been illuminating — particularly the Five Ideals, which provide a useful framework for thinking about what good looks like in modern software delivery:

1. Locality and simplicity
2. Focus, flow, and joy
3. Improvement of daily work
4. Psychological safety
5. Customer focus

These resonate strongly and I want to apply them not just as abstract concepts but as practical lenses for evaluating the work I do.

A note on consistency

One of my goals for 2020 is simply to write here more regularly. The posts don't need to be long — they just need to be consistent. Documenting learning as it happens is valuable both for reflection and for accountability.

Here's to a productive new year. Never stop learning.