Things to do for 2009 – Richard Carter

James Inman inspired this post on things to do for 2009, so blame him!

Completed so far: 15/45

Web design in 2009

1. Play around with HTML 5 more.
2. Look in to more JavaScript, and use where appropriate. Done, and continuing to do.
3. Do something with intriguegames.com. On its way.
4. Polish this blog off – there are a few things I could do to tidy it up.
5. Learn to love Magento. Done.
6. Try an approach to design I haven’t tried before (style-wise), where appropriate.
7. Write a guest article for someone’s blog. Done – see Things to do in 2009 – April update.
8. Enter web design awards, like we’ve been meaning to do for years. We’ve entered a few choice entries in to the North East Digital Awards ’08 – any votes appreciated!.
9. Redesign (well, design!) Michael’s blog…
10. Keep Michael away from all CSS and design (see above). Failed.
11. Finish the current book I’m writing, taking in to account feedback from MediaWiki Skins Design.
12. And start another.

Business in 2009

1. Redesign the Peacock Carter website. In progress.
2. Attend at least one web conference, preferably in the north somewhere.
3. Launch learnr.
4. Get Business Link to describe in detail the process for NEESPR funding (North East England Service Provider Register). We’re on it, and quite a few of our clients have used it, but Business Link seem to change the process every 20 minutes. Done.
5. Find a charity for Peacock Carter to work with for 2009. We’re still looking for a charity web design project.
6. Find a way to get clients to pay on time, everytime.
7. Finish our CRM, and make sure it’s integrated with our invoicing system.
8. Improve Eagle Commerce, our online shop software.
9. Update the Eagle Commerce website to include screenshots and a demonstration of it.

Personal things in 2009

1. Record a day in photographs (thanks for that one, James). Have been meaning to do this for a while, but have not yet bothered!
2. Blog, once a month, on the NaBloPoMo theme (again, thanks to James). Failed. Oh well, can’t win them all..
3. Defragment my PC.Done, but only after it died.
4. Play with the new office Mac more. If Michael gets off it, that is. Have now played a little with the Mac (January 2009).
5. Get a hair cut more frequently. Stop putting it off.
6. Watch the rest of Heroes (currently most of the way through series 1).
7. Make contact with old friends again. Done!
8. Eat better – actually cook from scratch more often! (Good start, am cooking chicken casserole tonight). Going wellish, if you count going to Oldfields tonight…

Organisation in 2009

1. Wake up earlier. Have managed this better than last year, but that’s not saying much!
2. Reorganise the client work/web designs I have on the office computer.
3. Keep my desk tidy for at least 5 straight days in a row.
4. Blog more regularly.
5. Release a few good freebies (see above).
6. Spend a week without Twitter and see what happens to my productivity!
7. Ditto, for Facebook.

People in 2009

1. Meet Caius in person. Not yet, don’t’ think I’ll manage this one, somehow.
2. Find ever-creative ways to insult (in a jokey way. Probably) Michael in the office. This year featured ‘Facebook app’ and ‘fail whale’ among my favourites. Done.
3. Hang out with James Inman more.
4. Agree on somewhere to holiday with Danni. Before the end of the year.
5. Be more patient with Danni (excludes shopping trips!).
6. Find out what happened to John Oxton on Twitter. Done – I’ve found his new Twitter account.
7. Purge my following list on Twitter. Done, but it’s still growing!
8. Get better at keeping in touch with family members.

Weird stuff in 2009

1. Try a new activity. Like rockclimbing.
2. Go for a walk in the rain more often. Done, thanks to the ever-persistent rain
3. Watch every computer-animated children’s film I can find. Almost done – just need to see Ice Age 3 and other new releases!