This year, I am writing a bunch of year-end reviews.

1. The first one’s a recap of 2024 — Books read, key moments, number of blogs written, different acitivities and all that stuff. I’ll publish this later because compiling a detailed one takes time and I don’t want to rush it.

2. The second one is deep reflection and priority setting for the year ahead. Here I write about people, friends, priorities, things, joy, and goals. This is the most useful one and I always keep it private. 

3. The third one is this blog post. This also happens to be the 93rd and the last blog post I publish in 2024! 

This May, I was admitted in the ICU for an incident that was just bad luck (and bad city weather, bad temperature and a bunch of things). Anyway, this was my third ICU admission in life! Now, when you’ve been in such bad situation for three times, you gain some different perspective.

For me, it was valuing time more than I was already. I’m already mindful about who I’m spending time with, how I’m spending it, what I’m spending it on. My core operating principles around time didn’t change; they just became stronger. 

Now, I protect my time aggressively:

1. I don’t meet new people from the same domain of work (digital product design). I try to meet and learn from hardware product builders (given I’m doing that for the last few years).

2. I don’t meet people in-person to just “network” or be in the “community”. In most cases, if I appreciate something or someone’s work or resource, I drop them a comment or note on IG/Twitter and such. I’ve built better connections this way.

3. I avoid or skip most meetings. Most meetings are useless anyway.

4. I don’t celebrate or attend any birthday parties. My wife’s is the only exception. :)

5. I don’t spend time with people who drain me

6. I’m good at saying no; even to relatives who invite me for different family events.

7. I don’t party; my definition of rest and fun are different.

8. and a bunch of other things!

To prioritise and spend time on what’s important for me in 2025:

1. Build new & amazing Native products

2. Write more to document more

3. Read more to apply at work and personal life

4. Travel to local districts to learn about our people, culture, and try amazing food.

5. Spend time with parents and wife

6. Design more (physical products)

7. Upskill in a few tools and new domains of work

8. And some more.

Happy new year!