2021 has only been a few moments. I think of this article as a kaleidoscope of what happened to me to help me remember the things I’ve done in 2020, so that I can be more grateful. We all know that 2020 is a difficult year for everyone. But if we will, there must be things for which we can be grateful.
Since 2019, I started to get used to writing topics like this. The goal is that I am more sensitive to the blessings that have been given. Specifically in 2020, it turns out that to be grateful for something in this crazy year, you don’t need any achievements. There are many small and simple things to be grateful for.
Start regularly writing on the blog
The first thing that pleases me in 2020 is that I can force myself to start writing again. Initially I wrote through the Medium platform. But because I already have my own site, all the posts are moved here.
My first post in 2020 is about my experience working in a tech start-up. I talked about the rhythm of working at a start-up, how to adapt to the work culture, and a little experience in the context of working at Bukalapak. If you want to read his writing, click here.
In addition to sharing experiences, I write so that I can always learn. My learning process is easier to understand if rewritten. So instead of my learning results are nothing, I might as well make a blog.
Company outing with office mates
I was lucky to still be able to travel right before covid came to Indonesia. In February, my office team and I went to a villa in Lembang for a staycation.
We do staycation at Villa Aloka, Lembang. We were there for two days and one night. The event is very exciting and can strengthen our relationship as a team.
Work from home
When covid came in Indonesia and WHO determined that we were in a pandemic situation, Bukalapak immediately decided to WFH. For us, WFH is nothing new. We are also quite often and are allowed to work from home (the term is remote-working).
It’s just that in this WFH phase, Bukalapak has its own regulations and rules. The regulation was quickly made so that all of us could work efficiently even though we didn’t meet face to face.
The thing that I really learned during this WFH is the way I communicate. Unlike when we meet face to face, we communicate more often by talking. While WFH, most of us communicate through writing, either via chat, email, or documents. I learned how to write efficient chats and how beneficial it is for us (as engineers) to be diligent in writing documents on what we are working on.
Until the end of 2020, we are still WFH. I don’t think there have been any major problems so far. Luckily we use SCRUM, so we have enough time for online meetings. I personally hope that in the future, Bukalapak will continue to be full of WFH, even if there is a pandemic or not.
Release Kartu Prakerja product
This is the first product that my team and I have developed during the WFH. I still remember how hectic we developed this product. Starting from unclear requirements, immature designs, and my adaptation process to the newly implemented WFH regulations. The deadline for this project is quite tight. I understand that because this project involves the government.
What makes me proud is that we can release this product on time when compared to other competitors. Users can make transactions using pre-employment cards at Bukalapak first compared to applications that partner with this pre-employment card.
Release BukaRumah product
One of the products that my team and I managed to work on during this WFH period is the BukaRumah product. For your information, BukaRumah is a form of collaboration between Bukalapak and Bank Mandiri. Bukalapak has developed a feature for online mortgage applications, while the property list is provided by Bank Mandiri.
We worked on this feature throughout Q2 2020, right after covid in Indonesia. Even though we worked on this product not face to face, we were able to release BukaRumah on time.
Curious what the product is like? Check it out on this page.
Become a speaker for webinars
It started when I was invited by a college friend to fill out a FGD forum held by an IT lecturer on campus. The purpose of the forum is to update information about the technology used in industry and its relationship to the curriculum on campus.
Starting from that event, many opportunities came to me.
I was given the opportunity by Anak Teknik Academy to share about the Vue framework.
I was given the opportunity by POLTEKBA as a guest lecturer.
I was given the opportunity by the Master of Applied PENS to share about asynchronous javascript.
The last time I became a speaker was when I was a student. Didn’t expect the opportunity would come again.
Not infected with covid
I am grateful that our family did not get covid.
I am very grateful to my office for allowing me to WFH. That is the biggest factor because I minimize interacting with people.
I hope that in 2021 until the end of the pandemic, no one in one family will get COVID. Not only because the pain is excruciating, but also has an impact on society.
I hope you guys stay healthy too.
Still investing regularly
As I wrote in my previous post, in 2019 I started investing in stocks and government securities. This year I am still consistent in investing in these two products.
Especially stocks. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the IHSG has fallen drastically. I used that moment to invest as much as possible into issuers with good fundamentals.
For SBN, in 2020 I will invest in SR012 and ORI018. I understand that the interest in SBN is decreasing every year. However, because I understand my financial goals, it’s not a problem.
For mutual funds, I am also still consistent for regular investments.
Still running
It never crossed my mind that I could run, even every evening routine.
The beginning was from one of the office mates who asked to run. We set the target ourselves, and must be exceeded at the end of the month.
In the first month, I set a target of running 10km for a month.
The second month I raised the target to 15km.
The third month as well.
I can’t believe it’s been four months, I’ve already run 100KM! It’s something that was never imagined.
Contribute to #hacktoberfest
Hacktoberfest is a movement to contribute to open source projects. As the name implies, this event takes place during the month of October all over the world.
Actually, I’ve been in this event for a long time. It’s just that I can’t afford to take the time to participate.
Because most of the time I am at home, this year I can join.
Hacktoberfest is not just about developing a system, framework, or plugin. We can also contribute in other ways.
The rules is simple, we just need to open PR or issue it in a legitimate public repo. If our PR is merged by the author, then our task is done. This year, there are only four PRs that need to be opened. Don’t know what it was like in the previous year.
From hacktoberfest, I generated this site.
In addition, I contributed to the translation project for the Indonesian-language Nuxt documentation. The homework can be seen at here.
Consistently record personal finances
Since the end of November 2019 I have started to consistently record my income and expenses. I use the Wallet.
So far I have had no problems using the application. The application is quite user friendly. The reporting feature is also very complete. What I like about this application is the very detailed budgeting feature.
An interesting feature of this app is that I can input all my accounts into the application. It’s make me easier to track records from each of these accounts. Interestingly, Wallet can be integrated with our account. So that when there is money in and out of the account, it will be automatically recorded in the Wallet application.
The benefit from consistently recording cashflow is that I know what category my biggest expenses are, and even know what my daily expenses should be.
From a psychological point of view, I can also put the brakes on spending if the application already has a red color (which is a sign that it will be over-budget).
Can eat together with family
This sounds weird, but I almost never get to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family.
Sometimes I have breakfast at home, but lunch at the office, then dinner at home again.
Because of this condition, I have a lot of time at home. So that I can have the luxury of having breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. Can spend more time with family.
Hopefully the pandemic gets better, but hopefully I can also get the luxury of eating with my family.
Those are some of the things that I am grateful for in 2020. Some of them may happen to you, and they are very worthy of our gratitude.
Hopefully whoever is reading this will also always be grateful for what happened, for the disguised luxuries that we get in 2020. And hopefully in 2021 we will be even better.