Making a living and a life while traveling the world
After 80 hours of development on Puffin, a work planning/tracking app for IOS, the buzzer has sounded and it’s time to look at what I accomplished. The purpose for this MVP was to replace the spreadsheet that I had been using to track my work session. What I managed to accomplish at the end of … Continue reading Puffin: An 80 Hours to MVP Retrospective
Mom: “Ray, the least you could do is...” Dad: “The least I could do is nothing.” I often heard this dialogue between my parents when I was young. My mother would express displeasure about something that my father did/didn’t do. She would express a desire for a little more effort (usually in the form of … Continue reading The Least You Can Do
"Begin with the end in mind" - Stephen Covey The first step in our 80 Hours to MVP requires us to make a jump forward in time. For this, we’ll take a cue from author Stephen Covey and “Begin with the End in Mind”. It is the 2nd habit covered in his bestseller The 7 … Continue reading 80 Hours to MVP: Kickoff!
I started 2018 with a grand plan of having 10 apps in the App Store by year’s end. I would split my time between developing apps and embarking on a new career in voice over. I had broken the plan down into four 13-week segments, each with a one week retrospective/break at the end. By … Continue reading 80 Hours to MVP
Without a struggle, there can be no progress — Frederick Douglass I've been struggling but I'm finally seeing progress! With each iteration, I'm streamlining the process. The biggest obstacle for me is in keeping things simple and focusing on the essential needs. The reality is that there will always be something "wrong", so I have to … Continue reading Retrospective Feb 25 – Mar 10
A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. — Steve Jobs Last week was … Continue reading Retrospective Feb 11 – 24
I don’t know what to tell you. I’m happy for the first time in my life and I’m not gonna feel bad about it. It takes a long time to realize how truly miserable you are and even longer to see it doesn’t have to be that way. Only after you give up everything can … Continue reading Retrospective Feb 4 – 10/ Planning Feb 11 – 17
"Always forward" - Henry 'Pop' Hunter (Luke Cage) I felt like I was spinning my wheels this past week. When I look back, I realize that I made progress but it didn't feel like it when I was "in the weeds". Learning Cocoa (iOS/macOS): This week I completed the Beginning CloudKit on iOS course on … Continue reading Retrospective Jan 28 – Feb 3/ Planning Feb 4 – Feb 10
Every day it gets a little easier. But you have to do it every day. That's the hard part. But it does get easier. - Jogging Baboon (BoJack Horseman) The biggest lesson for me this past week was consistency. It's not the goals that I set but the habits I build that will drive … Continue reading Retrospective Jan 21 – 27/ Planning: Jan 28 – Feb 3
This week was fairly productive despite a few setbacks. An overall workflow is becoming clearer for me and I'm confident that I'll still be able to meet my delivery date of end of February. Learning Cocoa (iOS/macOS): Work load didn't allow me to move forward with CloudKit and In-App Purchase (which will get pushed back … Continue reading Retrospective Jan 14 – 20/ Planning: Jan 21 – 27
The Cocoa Nomad 