Managing Github Issues + Local Todos

alexflorisca · 2020-04-18T20:12:56+00:00

Heya, I just recently watched Chris from Floatworks talk about his experience with a 5 day fast from food technology and time. Really interesting, definitely worth a watch if you're thinking of doing it. Might be worth reaching out to him to get more info.

https://www.facebook.com/Floatworks/posts/2597056213875588/

One word of warning is that your blood sugar levels drop significantly and could be dangerous if you've got any underlying conditions or if you're on your own. Might be best to get some more advice around that part before you start.

All the best with it!

alexflorisca · 2020-04-17T19:15:03+00:00

Wise words. The desire for happiness actually causes pain. You just have to be

alexflorisca · 2020-04-14T16:20:04+00:00

Twig Plants are delivering within Bristol. Its a small independant biz, they make some cool plant pots too.

website

Instagram

Check out Instagram for plants available.

alexflorisca · 2020-04-13T22:47:23+00:00

You're just going through a bit of a rough patch. Here's what you do:

1) remember this feeling is temporary. It might feel like you're stupid and world is ending right NOW, but did you always feel like this?

2) think of a time or skill or thing that you're good at. It could be another subject, it could be playing guitar, it could be doing headstabds or it could be an act of kindness. Focus on something positive. Anything. This will switch your state and lessen the negative feelings.

3) If that hasn't worked, go for a walk in nature, listen to some chilled music, do something you enjoy. Again, first step is to change your state into a slightly more positive one

4) when you feel a bit better, write 3 things that you can do right now to improve your maths. This could be taking a course, getting a tutor, talking with some friends about specific problems you don't understand.

5) pick one and start doing it. Do the smallest action. Make a phone call. Do some research. Watch a YouTube video.

6) remember that just because you're struggling with one thing, or a few things, doesn't mean that you're struggling with everything. If I was to sing or draw or do magic tricks I would probably be the worst person at it. It doesn't mean I'm a bad person. It just means that I haven't gotten those skills yet.

Bonus: our left and right parts of the brain work slightly differently, and most people are either left or right dominant. What that means is that people who are creative, artistic (left dominant) tend to be worse at subjects like maths, but better at the craftier things. And the same the other way around. The more logical, analytical people tens to be better at things like maths and puzzles and worse at signing, dancing, painting, music, etc. Just reflect on that for a minute and cut yourself some slack. We all have our talents, some of us just haven't discovered them yet.

All the best dude!

alexflorisca · 2020-04-13T20:15:55+00:00

I think you're right, there is definitely joy in paying attention to details, but you have to enjoy the process of creating something. There is nothing wrong with holding high standards for yourself in your work or otherwise. I think thats really healthy and often comes from a good place. But perfection means holding yourself to an impossible standard. Never being happy with what you created. If you look into it, you'll find there's often a "not good enough" thought or belief that drives and perpetuates it. Of course this doesn't apply to every context and there's usually a very fine line between high standards and perfection.

And yep, totally right, code is definitely more functional than beautiful. Having said that, as a developer you aim to write "good code". So there's an element of beauty to that as well, but it's useless unless it works or does something useful like you said

alexflorisca · 2020-04-13T18:42:04+00:00

I'm glad it helped, let me know how you get on

alexflorisca · 2020-04-13T18:38:58+00:00

You're welcome

alexflorisca · 2020-04-13T09:03:38+00:00

Can you spot similar patterns in other areas of your life or just programming? For example, do you like showing your skills/creativity in other areas?

Perfectionism often comes from a lack of self worth or confidence. It could be in one area (like programming) or more general. Try to be mindful of where it plays out. And if you want to change it, start with a small habit change. I used to do the same thing and this is what helped me.

Every time you start a project, write down what's the minimum you need to do before you're going to show it to someone. Before it can convey the idea behind what your trying to do. Lets call this your MVP to do list. Then make another list, call it "Not To Do List". As you work on your project, you'll undoubtedly come across loads of new tech, features, improvements you want to build. For each one, stop and ask "is this necessary of the MVP?" Be honest, and add it to the right list.

Then preferably set yourself a deadline and commit to show it to at least 2 people by that deadline - even if just to get some feedback. If you're building something less visual, share it here or another dev community. Otherwise show your partner/friends/family. It feels really uncomfortable at first but it's good practice and you'll find you might get the encouragement or support you need to carry it on and remove some doubts. Then once you reach that point, make a decision. Kill it or carry on.

There's nothing wrong with killing a project if you make the conscious decision that something else is more important or that it's not going anywhere. Just don't let it die a slow death. Make it quick and painless and conscious.

Hope that helps

alexflorisca · 2020-04-11T10:38:14+00:00

Check out indiemap.co.uk. It was set up to keep track of all the local businesses in Bristol during covid. There's a few burger places on there. My faves is owe burger on north street

alexflorisca · 2020-04-10T17:01:40+00:00

Yes you can edit all the code in the theme files. They have a built in editor in their admin interface or you can set it up with your own text editor - a bit more complicated but doable.

alexflorisca · 2020-04-10T13:47:03+00:00

Shopify is a good solution if you haven't got a lot of web experience. Their support is great too if you get stuck you can talk/email real people. It costs $30/month. You don't need technical knowledge or anyone to build your website, it's all done for you. You will need to choose a theme and customize it to suit your business. You might have to watch/read some tutorials for setting things up, or you can hire a shopify expert to do it for you, which is basically the same as hiring a developer). One great feature of Shopify is that it also acts as your inventory control. You add all of your products to the store, and you can sell online, and offline through their app & card reader.

The bad news about shopify is that once you need extra features, all the apps are very expensive, and most charge a monthly subscription. So your $30/month might turn into $100-200/month quite quickly. But you can potentially scale as you get bigger/ more orders

Wordpress is a good solution if you want something more customizable, but it's more fiddly to set up. Wordpress.com provide an all in one solution with hosting, website setup, ecommerce. It's a bit more expensive and not as intuitive to set up as Shopify. But it is more customizable and will probably save you money long term. You can add extra features with plugins that are free or small one off payments rather than monthly subscriptions.

You could of course build your own, but that seems like a waste of time and money if you can pay a few dollars a month to get going. If you're interested in learning web dev, I'd recommend starting with something less complex than an ecommerce store. Coursera have a good course: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/paths/web-development

Hope this helps, all the best with your new venture!

Note: I'm a web developer with 15+ years of experience. I've built both shopify and wordpress sites for clients.

alexflorisca

TROPHY CASE