Podcast Summary
Navigating the Challenges of New Parenthood and Industry Trends: Scott and Wes experienced significant personal changes in 2017 with the arrival of their children, leading to productivity losses and adjustments in their professional lives. Despite the challenges, they remain excited about the experiences and look forward to a productive 2018.
Personal and professional growth often come with challenges, and the birth of new children brought significant changes and productivity losses for both Scott and Wes in 2017. However, they remain excited about the experiences and the momentum they've gained, looking forward to an even better 2018. During the podcast episode, they discussed their personal experiences in 2017, including the arrival of their children, and how it affected their professional lives. Scott became a father in May, and the experience was described as life-changing. Wes welcomed his youngest in September, and both agreed that the lack of sleep caused by their children impacted their productivity and ability to focus on their professional projects. Despite the challenges, they expressed their eagerness to move forward and make the most of the upcoming year. The podcast also touched on the broader industry trends in 2017, with mentions of JavaScript, CSS, and various tools like BlizX, FreshBooks, and Snipcart. Overall, the episode provided a personal and professional reflection on the past year and an optimistic outlook on the future.
Reflecting on Personal Growth and Professional Development: Both individuals have made significant improvements in their personal lives and careers, acknowledging the importance of email marketing for business success but expressing anxiety about managing emails.
Both individuals in this conversation have had successful years in terms of personal growth and professional development. They have made significant improvements in their respective fields, whether it be dancing or business, and have entered the new year feeling better than ever. The speaker has seen improvements in his dancing abilities and health, while the other has focused on getting into shape and taking his professional career seriously. Despite missing some personal goals, he has seen impressive revenue growth and made important upgrades to his course platform. They both acknowledge the importance of email marketing for business success but express anxiety about dealing with emails. Overall, they are content with their progress and look forward to the year ahead.
Focusing on email marketing and personal development in 2017 led to success for the speaker: Investing time and resources into email marketing and personal development resulted in significant improvements for the speaker's business and personal growth.
Email marketing and personal development were the focus areas for the speaker in 2017, leading to great sales responses and personal growth. He cut ties with a previous startup project to fully invest in LevelUpTuts, resulting in significant improvements such as faster loading times, server side rendering, and simplified offerings. Additionally, he recorded over 400 tutorial videos and launched a podcast, Syntax, which has received positive feedback and consistent sponsors. Looking ahead to 2018, he is excited to continue growing LevelUpTuts and Syntax, with the belief that his tutorials and podcast will only get better over time.
Improved teaching skills and course launches: The speaker saw significant progress in their teaching abilities, successfully launched new courses, and made strides towards new projects, emphasizing the importance of setting achievable goals.
Consistent practice and teaching experience have significantly improved the speaker's ability to explain complex topics and reduce errors in their tutorials. Additionally, the speaker had successful launches of their Node course and updates to their JavaScript 30 course, which received a large amount of traction this year. They also made progress on new courses, including a React course and a Grid course, and even ventured into selling physical stickers, which was a new challenge. Looking ahead to 2018, the speaker plans to release major updates to their platform and continue creating tutorials. They emphasized the importance of setting smart goals, which are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
Setting Clear, Measurable Goals for Personal and Business Success: Set specific, monetary goals for personal and business growth in 2018, prioritize personal life, and let go of immediate email responses.
Setting clear, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals is essential for personal growth and business success. The speaker in this discussion emphasized the importance of having specific, monetary goals for the upcoming year. For instance, instead of aiming for "better production" or "improvement," they suggested setting a goal like "losing £15" or "getting 30,000 more subscribers." The speaker also shared their personal goals for 2018, which include releasing a new series every month, hiring help to focus on recording tutorials, improving site features, and spending less time working overtime to prioritize family time. They expressed the importance of letting go of the need to immediately respond to emails and focusing on weekends and evenings for personal life. Overall, the discussion highlighted the significance of setting clear, measurable goals and prioritizing personal growth and work-life balance.
Creating beginner-friendly courses and enhancing checkout experience: Speaker focuses on delivering high-quality, beginner-friendly courses for JavaScript and CSS, while also improving website's checkout process and delegating tasks to assistants for efficiency.
The speaker is focused on creating high-quality, beginner-friendly courses for JavaScript and CSS, while also improving the checkout experience on his website and delegating tasks to assistants for efficiency. He emphasizes the importance of providing value to new learners and creating engaging, effective courses. Additionally, he aims to get faster at recording content and continues to explore ways to automate and delegate tasks to enhance productivity. Overall, his goals revolve around creating valuable content, optimizing experiences, and delegating responsibilities.
Exploring tools for efficient content creation and enhancing shopping cart experiences: Tools like Snipcart simplify back-end shopping cart development, while JavaScript frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby make building client-side experiences more efficient. Explore these solutions to streamline your workflow.
Making content efficiently is crucial for those looking to improve their workflow. During a discussion, the speaker expressed admiration for another's ability to create content quickly and asked for advice on streamlining the process. The suggestion was to explore tools and methods that can help record content in shorter time frames. Another significant topic touched upon was the importance of enhancing online shopping cart experiences. Snipcart, a sponsor of the discussion, was introduced as a solution for simplifying the back-end shopping cart experience for website owners. Snipcart offers features such as reoccurring billing, discounts, handling various payment gateways, and calculating shipping costs, among others. By integrating Snipcart into a website, the need for extensive back-end development is eliminated, making the process of selling products online more efficient. Furthermore, the discussion highlighted the ease of building with JavaScript in 2017. Frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby emerged, making it simpler to create client-side experiences. The overall sentiment was that these tools made life easier for developers and reduced the feeling of being overwhelmed by the constant changes in the industry.
Simplification and Improvement in JavaScript Development: Static site generators like Nuxt.js, Gatsby.js, and Parcel made development easier by handling complex configurations and offering server-side rendering. GraphQL gained momentum, allowing developers to specify exact data needs in a single query for smaller responses and improved performance.
2017 was a year of simplification and improvement in JavaScript development. The release of static site generators like Nuxt.js, Gatsby.js, and even Parcel, made the process of building applications easier by handling complex webpack configurations and server-side rendering. These tools reduce the need for extensive configuration and make development more accessible to a wider audience. Additionally, GraphQL gained significant momentum, offering a more efficient way to handle data requests by allowing developers to specify exactly what data they need in a single query. This results in smaller responses and improved performance. Overall, these developments signify a trend towards easier, more efficient, and more flexible web development in JavaScript.
Shift towards typed languages and systems in JavaScript development: Popularity of Angular and React drives trend towards typed languages, WordPress adopts React, deeper JavaScript expertise required for WordPress devs
There has been a significant trend towards using typed languages and systems, such as TypeScript, Flow, and ReasonML, in JavaScript development, even when not required. This shift is driven by the increasing popularity of platforms like Angular and React, which have made typing and autocomplete features more accessible and desirable. Additionally, WordPress has recently adopted React for their post editor, Gutenberg, which will require more JavaScript expertise from WordPress developers. This trend towards typed languages and systems is a notable shift in the JavaScript development world and is expected to continue shaping the landscape in 2018. Furthermore, the adoption of React in WordPress will necessitate a deeper understanding of JavaScript for WordPress developers. Overall, the use of typed languages and systems, as well as the increasing prevalence of JavaScript in various platforms, is a significant development in the tech industry.
Node and React for CMS experiences: Node and React are gaining popularity for creating modern CMS experiences, GraphCMS is making strides, React dropped patent license leading to Vue.js growth, and tools like FreshBooks simplify business finance management
There's a growing trend towards using Node and React for creating CMS experiences that rival traditional platforms like WordPress and Drupal. Some projects, like GraphCMS, are already making strides in this area. The development of these tools is still in its early stages, and it remains to be seen how they will mature and impact the landscape in 2018 and beyond. Another notable development is the dropping of React's patent license, which had caused some developers to explore alternatives like Vue.js. Vue.js, which shares some similarities with Angular 1 but is more modern and component-based, saw a significant increase in popularity as a result. Overall, these developments represent exciting opportunities for developers looking to build dynamic, modern websites and applications. Additionally, tools like FreshBooks continue to make it easier for businesses to manage their finances, with features like automatic expense tracking and integration with bank accounts.
CSS Grid: A game-changer for CSS in 2018: CSS Grid simplifies responsive grid creation and enables complex layouts without JavaScript, making it a must-try for streamlining CSS writing and innovating in web development.
CSS Grid, a major advancement in CSS, made its way into production applications in 2017 and is set to change the way we write and approach CSS in 2018. The arrival of CSS Grid brought a simple and effective solution for creating excellent responsive grids, making complex layouts achievable without the need for JavaScript. This shift is expected to bring about numerous epiphanies and improvements throughout the year, similar to the discovery of more efficient ways to implement Clearfix in the past. For small businesses and individuals looking to streamline their CSS writing, the use of CSS Grid is a must-try. The simplicity and ease of use make it an excellent tool for creating responsive grids, and its versatility allows for the creation of layouts that were previously only possible with JavaScript. The community is excited for the possibilities that CSS Grid will bring, and the ripple effect of this major shift is expected to lead to new and innovative ways of doing all sorts of things in web development.
Componentizing CSS and Using CSS Variables: Developers are writing CSS for specific components instead of entire apps using frameworks like Style Components or Scope CSS. CSS variables (custom properties) allow for efficient code and easier maintenance by defining and reusing variables throughout stylesheets.
Componentizing CSS has gained significant popularity in 2017. Instead of writing CSS for an entire application, developers are now writing it for specific components. This approach, used with frameworks like Style Components or Scope CSS, keeps styles contained within the component they're meant for, preventing collisions and eliminating the need for long class names. Another exciting development is the increasing use of CSS variables, also known as custom properties. This feature allows developers to define and reuse variables throughout their stylesheets, making the code more efficient and easier to maintain. Overall, these trends in CSS have the potential to streamline development processes and improve the overall quality of web design.
Exciting Year for CSS and JavaScript Developers with New Tools and Features: Visual Studio Code's popularity grows with live coding and pair programming, Hyper terminal's release, Twitter's switch to 280 character tweets, and rapid evolution of developer tools and technology landscape.
2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year for CSS and JavaScript developers, with new features and improvements coming at a faster pace than ever before. One standout tool is Visual Studio Code, which has gained widespread popularity due to its frequent updates and innovative features like live coding and pair programming. However, the closure of coding bootcamp IronYard was a disappointing development for the industry, leaving many students and instructors affected. Other notable developments include the release of Hyper terminal, a terminal based on Electron, and Twitter's switch to 280 character tweets. Overall, the tooling and technology landscape for developers continues to evolve rapidly, with new innovations and challenges emerging all the time.
Twitter character limit increase and Progressive Web Apps: The speaker is happy about Twitter's expanded character limit and looks forward to the advancements of Progressive Web Apps, including faster web browsing and container queries for more precise component styling.
The speaker is pleased with the recent change on Twitter that increased the character limit from 140 to 280, as it allows for more detailed explanations and has reduced the number of "well actuallys" in their tweets. They also express excitement about the growing trend of Progressive Web Apps, which offer a faster, more reliable, and offline-capable web browsing experience, and hope for the implementation of container queries in CSS for more precise control over component styling based on their container size. The speaker also mentions their anticipation for the official specification and approval of container queries in CSS, which they believe would be a more effective solution for handling component responsiveness compared to traditional media queries.
Exploring Advanced Web Design with CSS Variables and CSS Grid: Speakers shared their excitement for using CSS variables in media queries and enhancing transitions with CSS Grid, as well as their recent discoveries of affordable VR headsets and efficient email clients.
Both speakers expressed excitement about the potential of using CSS variables and CSS Grid for more advanced web design, and they shared their recent discoveries and purchases that have improved their workflow. The first speaker is looking forward to using CSS variables in media queries and exploring their capabilities in production. They also mentioned the possibility of enhancing transitions with CSS Grid, although no specific plans were mentioned. The second speaker shared their experience with the Google Daydream VR headset, which they found to be surprisingly affordable and effective for its price. They also talked about their new email client, Missive, which allows them to share their inbox with an assistant and manage emails more efficiently. The speaker was particularly impressed with Missive's desktop client and its fast processing speed, which has helped them manage their email more effectively. Overall, both speakers shared their enthusiasm for new technologies and tools that can make their work more productive and enjoyable.
Managing a team or sharing an email inbox? Consider a shared inbox solution for efficiency.: Using a shared inbox solution can help manage team tasks effectively and improve productivity. Wes shared his positive experience and upcoming CSS Grid series on Instagram, and a sponsor will help cover production costs.
If you're managing a team or sharing an email inbox for support, considering using a shared inbox solution could be beneficial for automating and delegating tasks effectively. Wes mentioned his positive experience with it, and it aligns well with the theme of productivity and efficiency discussed in this episode. As for Wes's shameless plugs, he mentioned his Instagram accounts @s.tolinski and @leveluptutorials. The former is where he shares personal photos, and the latter is for code-related content. He also announced the upcoming CSS Grid series on his channel, with a sponsor coming on board to help cover production costs. The series is expected to release in the first week of January. In summary, the key takeaway is the potential value of using a shared inbox solution for team productivity, and Wes's updates on his Instagram accounts and upcoming CSS Grid series.
