2024 Mid-Year Reflection
Time really flies faster than you'd expect. Half of 2024 is already gone, but I don't feel like my self-discipline has improved much. There's not a lot to show for it, but I'll jot down some notes anyway.
Company
At the end of 2023, the company where I had a remote position saw a decline in business and promptly laid off half the frontend department. Unfortunately, I was one of them, so I had to get back on the market and find my next paycheck.
I ended up at a company in Taipei. Yes, it didn't offer remote work, so I was back to commuting. That meant a huge jump in costs -- I had to bring my wife and son back to Taipei to rent a place and settle in for work.
A one-way commute of 30 to 60 minutes each day, nearly two hours round trip. Add in Taipei's rent and childcare expenses, and the quality of life compared to the remote work era was a massive downgrade. By the time I got home, I had almost no energy left for my own stuff -- most of my time went to taking care of the kid.
Technical Side
Even though I keep saying I haven't grown much, looking back, I did touch on a few things over these six months:
Live Streaming Admin System Refactor
I independently took over and refactored the live streaming backend management system, improving the workflow and page load performance. Added real-time preview functionality and streamer photo aspect ratio settings so on-site operations staff could work more smoothly. In the end, I improved page response speed by 40%.
Game Voice Integration Optimization
Refactored the game frontend's voice integration approach, switching from static file imports to dynamic filename fetching. Previously, adding a new set of voice files took 1-2 days of dev time; after the refactor, it was down to about 2 hours -- roughly a 90% efficiency improvement. I also set up a standardized process so future maintainers could handle it on their own.
Component Library Setup
Helped refactor the game backend system by building a shared component library and dev documentation with Storybook. It was my first time going through a relatively complete component library setup process.
Personal Brand
I signed up for a media and voice course, planning to force myself into recording video tutorials. But just like 2023, I procrastinated again. Two years in, this goal is still stuck at the starting line. Procrastination really is stubborn.
Life
Honestly, the biggest feeling of this half-year wasn't any technical breakthrough -- it was the exhaustion from parenting. The kid is growing up, needing more attention and time, and with the energy drained by commuting, my after-work hours were almost entirely taken up.
Going forward, I hope to prioritize remote or hybrid work, and eventually break free from being tied to a specific city.
Postscript
At the end of July, I left that company and landed a fully remote position with better pay. Half a year of commuting traded for a pretty decent outcome. Now I'm hoping to take advantage of the flexibility that remote work offers and actually start doing the things I've been putting off.