Hey everyone. So sorry for being away for really long. I just realized that my last update was in November of last year. That said, I am not sorry for taking the long break because as it turns out, it was precisely what I needed. It was a time for me to consolidate, take stock and reflect on the year that I had. More importantly, it was also a chance for me to also look ahead. Since my very last entry here, quite a number of things have changed in my life. For those of you that remember, earlier last year, I had a wish (also something that I had been trying to positively manifest for some time), I wanted to be able to afford and own my own laptop. A machine that I could take with me on-the-go. That way, I could work anywhere as both a freelancer as well as a technical writer (well, writing in general).

Before and After (Positive Manifestation)

For those that aren’t aware, the above photo of my former setup on-the-go was quite humbly indeed. I remember feeling restricted in what I could do back then. But instead of allowing that limitation to discourage me, I felt I owe it to myself to find ways to make the most of it. And so, through over two years of hardships, I did everything I could to make the most of what I had. Even my phone’s camera wasn’t that good back then too. Frankly, whenever I think back to that period in my life, it still feels like it was yesterday. I’m actually glad that it feels that way because it means I still remember the pain and lessons from that period of time in my life.

In recent weeks, every single time I sit down to work on my laptop, I couldn’t help but to feel a sense of contentment. Sure, I do have things I still wish for. Things that are always nice to have. But because I already have everything that I needed, I no longer feel like I need anything else.

Decluttering My Headspace

After my recent decision to start using The Bullet Journal Method to help me better manage my focus and time, I have started experiencing some of its benefits. One of those benefits has to do with the decluttering of my headspace. But writing my thoughts down and organizing my tasks and thoughts, I’ve been able to filter out a large portion of “other stuff” that would’ve eaten up precious time and energy in my life. Now that I’ve managed to filter out a lot of those un-necessary stuff from my mind, it has provided me with greater clarity of what I want to focus on, and what areas of my life I should devote more time and energy to.

So, as we begin this new year, I wanted to apply the very same thing with my own personal website. After a recent interaction with Nick Healy from espresso Displays, I am now looking at another potentially long-term brand partnership & collaboration. The likes of which includes brands like Progress Telerik, UXPin, GitKraken and even former collaborations that I had before, like TechSmith and JetBrains. If you ask me, I believe after a decade of being a brand influencer, I’m ready to focus my energy and time on much longer-term collaborations as opposed to the short-term, transactional type of partnerships.

Ideas & Inspirations: A Tech Lifestyle Blog Series with a Theme/Focus

Thanks to my recent conversations with Nick, it also helped to spark a new idea/inspiration. Just for proper context, I am not new to blogging about tech lifestyle and gadgets. In fact, I used to write a lot about that going all the way back to the 2000s when blogging first began. As a matter of fact, my entry into technical writing began around 2008, 2009, a few years after I started blogging on a casual basis. The biggest difference between then and now, is that now I have a central theme and focus. I did propose the initial idea of using the hashtag, “#whatsinthebag”, as in “what’s in the bag”. The idea for this series of blogs is to cover the most essential items and gadgets that I would carry in my bag as a digital nomad and remote worker. But such articles are probably published quarterly, or half-yearly. Think of it seasonally, for example, “10 Things You Must Have in Your Bag | A Digital Nomad series”. Something along those lines.

What happens to the in-between periods? Well, I did think about the occasional writing, perhaps to cover a few different gadgets, tools and stuff that might be useful for a digital nomad. Stuff that you might want to consider including in your own bag. Maybe I’ll even consider looking at different backpacks and tote bags and so on. After all, for any digital nomad out there, the most basic essential before we even consider the gadgets is having a really good bag.

Ideas & Inspiration: Re-establishing a Long-Term Partnership with JetBrains

The other goal that I have set for myself in 2025, is to work on re-establishing my long-term collaboration with JetBrains. I had collaborated with the company in the past, but that stopped for a while in recent years. When I consider everything that I am also doing for my other website – https://www.dev-to-design.pro, I believe that re-establishing that partnership can be very helpful. Having the brand’s official recognition and endorsement could go a long way for my long-term professional goals too.

Minimalistic Design for this Website

As I’ve mentioned at the top of this section, by applying the same decluttering thought-process to my website, I’ve realized that it is the perfect time to remove everything that I believe isn’t important or relevant to what I hope to achieve (make the best of) with this personal website. Short of making this a professional website, I do want to focus on producing quality content over having lots of stuff littered all over my website. While some people might argue that it is good to have more on my site, I am someone who believes in being lean. And when I say lean, I mean minimalistic.

One very clear difference between my current website versus the former one is the main navigation. Instead of using the traditional top-down layout like so many websites, I have decided to follow my own style and flow. I’ve always loved the idea of having a left sticky menu.

Why?

Because for many years, most modern day machines and monitors today are already 1080p capable. At the very minimum, majority of the smaller laptops and devices already support a width of at least 1600 pixels. So, taking all of that into consideration, I’ve decided to expand my content space. For the full width, I’ve decided to use 1440 pixels, and for the content width, I’ve decided to use 1100 pixels. And for more advanced users that have monitors and laptops that support screens larger than 1080p (e.g. 1440p, 3K or 4K), the new dimensions should fit nicely onto the screens. For many monitors that have a higher resolution, the default magnification is usually somewhere between 150% to 175%. So, instead of setting the body font size at 16px, I’ve decided to use 20px (better readability). 16px is so…2010s, if you catch my drift. Oh yes, my line height is 2x as well.

When it comes to the content and subject matters that I want to focus on, I’ve decided on a few key topics that I feel most passionate about. While I do enjoy discussing about many other topics, taking a minimalistic approach to my website meant that I had to pick and choose that I really want to share. So here are the things I will be focusing on from now:

• Blogging & IRL – this is for general stuff, including daily and weekly journaling, sharing my favourite quotes, or new quotes that I come across.
• Tech Gadgets & Lifestyle – this will follow the “what’s in the bag” theme.
• Personal Development – I love self-improvement stuff. But rather than focus on reading X number of books, I want to focus on applying what I have read. So, you can expect “Book Reports” that I will publish after I have finished a book. As a part of each Book Report, I will try to share 3-4 things in my life where I had been able to apply what I’ve read and made it a part of my daily living.
• Mental Health – as someone that has struggled with mental health challenges since young, this is without an essential topic for my personal website. It’s basically a space where I can be totally authentic about myself and what I am going through and feeling. Think me, but #unfiltered.
• Productivity & ADHD – With my recent adoption of the BuJo in my daily life, I felt that it has been really helpful for someone like me. Because individuals with ADHD don’t all experience it at the same intensity (we often call it a “spectrum”), some of us might experience it more intensely and others (like me) will be on the milder side of the spectrum. But regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, I know how challenge it can be still. Part of the reason why I am such a productivity junkie (not necessarily a good thing) is also because I want to feel like I’m getting more things done (hence, less distracted). But that is not what true productivity means. As I have recently learned, there is a huge difference between having a meaningful time versus being busy for the sake of being productivity. I will be sharing my personal experiences under this section.

My Closing Thoughts

Before I leave, I do want to say that I am feeling excited about this renewed focus and clarity. For the first time since I’ve created this site (I believe this is the second round of rebranding myself), I could feel that sense of quiet confidence, knowing that what I have laid out for myself is not just interesting, but also achievable. I think what really excites me the most is the possibilities that this renewed focus could bring.

Curious, how is your new year looking so far? Have you created any goals for yourself? Maybe even performed your own decluttering? If you are also looking at a new beginning like me, what are you most excited for? What motivates you most? Share with me in the comments section.