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My 2021 in data

A review of everything I've done in 2021. With data, insights and rambling.

Life

2021 brought the Jones family to a total of 4 with the addition of Toby Cooper Jones. It's been a difficult time to have a kid. I wasn't allowed into the hospital until the actual birth, having to wear a mask when holding my son for the first time. Relatives didn't get to meet him until he was nearly 2 months old.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Jones family size over time

So it's been hard to find time to work on side projects with a new baby and a 3 year old. You can even see the drop in productivity in my Todoist completions. See if you can guess which month Toby was born in...

Articles

One of my goals for 2021 was to "write more", and looking at the stats I've completely failed at that. Last year I wrote 3 articles, and this year I have written 4. Technically an increase, but not really what I had in mind.

103 Page Views
4 New Articles
0 Unpublished

I feel like the articles I've written this year are more thorough than last year's though, and are more in line with the kind of things I want to write more of. I've written about a new side project and my goals for 2021, which are less technical and more about me personally.

I do enjoy the technical articles as well, but good technical articles are hard to do right, and I end up getting sidetracked by other things. That's even how I came up with the idea for this almanac, I'm supposed to be writing an article on my move from Styled Components to Tailwind right now! I did finish it in the end, though.

Chronolists

I “launched” Chronolists (opens in new tab) in February, as a way to create chronological playlists for the MCU on a Plex server. After that I realised the same logic could be applied to other series and cinematic universes, so I expanded it to cover Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buffy and others.

49 users created at least 1 playlist since September

In September I decided to make it more official, bought a proper domain name and launched on IndieHackers (opens in new tab). The site is still technically in beta, but i've heard from several people from all over the world that have used the site, and that's a nice feeling.

33 MCU
11 Star Trek
9 Star Wars
7 Harry Potter
The most popular playlists on Chronolists in 2021

The prototype was built with Gatsby, but build times got a bit unmanageable as I added more series to the site. The new version is built with Next.js, which lets me make use of serverless API endpoints.

Github Contributions

This was the first year I've been using Github as my main code repo, so it's a good set of data to look back on.

Jan

Friday

01 Jan 2021

19 contributions

Saturday

02 Jan 2021

7 contributions

Sunday

03 Jan 2021

8 contributions

 

Monday

04 Jan 2021

3 contributions

Tuesday

05 Jan 2021

8 contributions

Wednesday

06 Jan 2021

14 contributions

Thursday

07 Jan 2021

6 contributions

Friday

08 Jan 2021

9 contributions

Saturday

09 Jan 2021

4 contributions

Sunday

10 Jan 2021

3 contributions

 

Monday

11 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

12 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

13 Jan 2021

11 contributions

Thursday

14 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Friday

15 Jan 2021

3 contributions

Saturday

16 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

17 Jan 2021

1 contribution

 

Monday

18 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

19 Jan 2021

6 contributions

Wednesday

20 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

21 Jan 2021

5 contributions

Friday

22 Jan 2021

5 contributions

Saturday

23 Jan 2021

3 contributions

Sunday

24 Jan 2021

8 contributions

 

Monday

25 Jan 2021

3 contributions

Tuesday

26 Jan 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

27 Jan 2021

7 contributions

Thursday

28 Jan 2021

8 contributions

Friday

29 Jan 2021

6 contributions

Saturday

30 Jan 2021

8 contributions

Sunday

31 Jan 2021

13 contributions

Feb

Monday

01 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

02 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

03 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

04 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Friday

05 Feb 2021

8 contributions

Saturday

06 Feb 2021

6 contributions

Sunday

07 Feb 2021

6 contributions

 

Monday

08 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

09 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

10 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

11 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Friday

12 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

13 Feb 2021

6 contributions

Sunday

14 Feb 2021

3 contributions

 

Monday

15 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

16 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

17 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

18 Feb 2021

6 contributions

Friday

19 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

20 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

21 Feb 2021

2 contributions

 

Monday

22 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

23 Feb 2021

3 contributions

Wednesday

24 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

25 Feb 2021

1 contribution

Friday

26 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

27 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

28 Feb 2021

0 contributions

Mar

Monday

01 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

02 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

03 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

04 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Friday

05 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

06 Mar 2021

6 contributions

Sunday

07 Mar 2021

7 contributions

 

Monday

08 Mar 2021

5 contributions

Tuesday

09 Mar 2021

2 contributions

Wednesday

10 Mar 2021

4 contributions

Thursday

11 Mar 2021

2 contributions

Friday

12 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

13 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

14 Mar 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

15 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

16 Mar 2021

14 contributions

Wednesday

17 Mar 2021

4 contributions

Thursday

18 Mar 2021

2 contributions

Friday

19 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

20 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

21 Mar 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

22 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

23 Mar 2021

16 contributions

Wednesday

24 Mar 2021

7 contributions

Thursday

25 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Friday

26 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

27 Mar 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

28 Mar 2021

2 contributions

Apr

Monday

29 Mar 2021

7 contributions

Tuesday

30 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

31 Mar 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

01 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Friday

02 Apr 2021

3 contributions

Saturday

03 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

04 Apr 2021

2 contributions

 

Monday

05 Apr 2021

2 contributions

Tuesday

06 Apr 2021

21 contributions

Wednesday

07 Apr 2021

5 contributions

Thursday

08 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Friday

09 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

10 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

11 Apr 2021

2 contributions

 

Monday

12 Apr 2021

7 contributions

Tuesday

13 Apr 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

14 Apr 2021

4 contributions

Thursday

15 Apr 2021

2 contributions

Friday

16 Apr 2021

2 contributions

Saturday

17 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

18 Apr 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

19 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

20 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

21 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

22 Apr 2021

4 contributions

Friday

23 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

24 Apr 2021

6 contributions

Sunday

25 Apr 2021

0 contributions

May

Monday

26 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

27 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

28 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

29 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Friday

30 Apr 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

01 May 2021

2 contributions

Sunday

02 May 2021

2 contributions

 

Monday

03 May 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

04 May 2021

4 contributions

Wednesday

05 May 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

06 May 2021

0 contributions

Friday

07 May 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

08 May 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

09 May 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

10 May 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

11 May 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

12 May 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

13 May 2021

0 contributions

Friday

14 May 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

15 May 2021

8 contributions

Sunday

16 May 2021

1 contribution

 

Monday

17 May 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

18 May 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

19 May 2021

5 contributions

Thursday

20 May 2021

2 contributions

Friday

21 May 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

22 May 2021

12 contributions

Sunday

23 May 2021

1 contribution

 

Monday

24 May 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

25 May 2021

7 contributions

Wednesday

26 May 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

27 May 2021

0 contributions

Friday

28 May 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

29 May 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

30 May 2021

9 contributions

Jun

Monday

31 May 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

01 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

02 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

03 Jun 2021

1 contribution

Friday

04 Jun 2021

4 contributions

Saturday

05 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

06 Jun 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

07 Jun 2021

6 contributions

Tuesday

08 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

09 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

10 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Friday

11 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

12 Jun 2021

3 contributions

Sunday

13 Jun 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

14 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

15 Jun 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

16 Jun 2021

10 contributions

Thursday

17 Jun 2021

50 contributions

Friday

18 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

19 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

20 Jun 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

21 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

22 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

23 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

24 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Friday

25 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

26 Jun 2021

3 contributions

Sunday

27 Jun 2021

6 contributions

Jul

Monday

28 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

29 Jun 2021

5 contributions

Wednesday

30 Jun 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

01 Jul 2021

3 contributions

Friday

02 Jul 2021

3 contributions

Saturday

03 Jul 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

04 Jul 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

05 Jul 2021

8 contributions

Tuesday

06 Jul 2021

3 contributions

Wednesday

07 Jul 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

08 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Friday

09 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

10 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

11 Jul 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

12 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

13 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

14 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

15 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Friday

16 Jul 2021

2 contributions

Saturday

17 Jul 2021

5 contributions

Sunday

18 Jul 2021

2 contributions

 

Monday

19 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

20 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

21 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

22 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Friday

23 Jul 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

24 Jul 2021

2 contributions

Sunday

25 Jul 2021

1 contribution

Aug

Monday

26 Jul 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

27 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

28 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

29 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Friday

30 Jul 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

31 Jul 2021

3 contributions

Sunday

01 Aug 2021

5 contributions

 

Monday

02 Aug 2021

4 contributions

Tuesday

03 Aug 2021

9 contributions

Wednesday

04 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

05 Aug 2021

4 contributions

Friday

06 Aug 2021

11 contributions

Saturday

07 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

08 Aug 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

09 Aug 2021

4 contributions

Tuesday

10 Aug 2021

3 contributions

Wednesday

11 Aug 2021

2 contributions

Thursday

12 Aug 2021

4 contributions

Friday

13 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

14 Aug 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

15 Aug 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

16 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

17 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

18 Aug 2021

1 contribution

Thursday

19 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Friday

20 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

21 Aug 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

22 Aug 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

23 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

24 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

25 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

26 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Friday

27 Aug 2021

2 contributions

Saturday

28 Aug 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

29 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Sep

Monday

30 Aug 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

31 Aug 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

01 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

02 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Friday

03 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

04 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

05 Sept 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

06 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

07 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

08 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Thursday

09 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Friday

10 Sept 2021

7 contributions

Saturday

11 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

12 Sept 2021

8 contributions

 

Monday

13 Sept 2021

1 contribution

Tuesday

14 Sept 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

15 Sept 2021

5 contributions

Thursday

16 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Friday

17 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

18 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

19 Sept 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

20 Sept 2021

12 contributions

Tuesday

21 Sept 2021

3 contributions

Wednesday

22 Sept 2021

7 contributions

Thursday

23 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Friday

24 Sept 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

25 Sept 2021

6 contributions

Sunday

26 Sept 2021

8 contributions

Oct

Monday

27 Sept 2021

10 contributions

Tuesday

28 Sept 2021

4 contributions

Wednesday

29 Sept 2021

4 contributions

Thursday

30 Sept 2021

0 contributions

Friday

01 Oct 2021

10 contributions

Saturday

02 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

03 Oct 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

04 Oct 2021

13 contributions

Tuesday

05 Oct 2021

17 contributions

Wednesday

06 Oct 2021

11 contributions

Thursday

07 Oct 2021

21 contributions

Friday

08 Oct 2021

8 contributions

Saturday

09 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

10 Oct 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

11 Oct 2021

5 contributions

Tuesday

12 Oct 2021

8 contributions

Wednesday

13 Oct 2021

9 contributions

Thursday

14 Oct 2021

16 contributions

Friday

15 Oct 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

16 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

17 Oct 2021

3 contributions

 

Monday

18 Oct 2021

7 contributions

Tuesday

19 Oct 2021

4 contributions

Wednesday

20 Oct 2021

7 contributions

Thursday

21 Oct 2021

10 contributions

Friday

22 Oct 2021

1 contribution

Saturday

23 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

24 Oct 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

25 Oct 2021

9 contributions

Tuesday

26 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Wednesday

27 Oct 2021

31 contributions

Thursday

28 Oct 2021

11 contributions

Friday

29 Oct 2021

6 contributions

Saturday

30 Oct 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

31 Oct 2021

7 contributions

Nov

Monday

01 Nov 2021

9 contributions

Tuesday

02 Nov 2021

7 contributions

Wednesday

03 Nov 2021

27 contributions

Thursday

04 Nov 2021

20 contributions

Friday

05 Nov 2021

11 contributions

Saturday

06 Nov 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

07 Nov 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

08 Nov 2021

14 contributions

Tuesday

09 Nov 2021

17 contributions

Wednesday

10 Nov 2021

14 contributions

Thursday

11 Nov 2021

7 contributions

Friday

12 Nov 2021

14 contributions

Saturday

13 Nov 2021

0 contributions

Sunday

14 Nov 2021

9 contributions

 

Monday

15 Nov 2021

10 contributions

Tuesday

16 Nov 2021

11 contributions

Wednesday

17 Nov 2021

25 contributions

Thursday

18 Nov 2021

18 contributions

Friday

19 Nov 2021

46 contributions

Saturday

20 Nov 2021

4 contributions

Sunday

21 Nov 2021

10 contributions

 

Monday

22 Nov 2021

24 contributions

Tuesday

23 Nov 2021

22 contributions

Wednesday

24 Nov 2021

24 contributions

Thursday

25 Nov 2021

8 contributions

Friday

26 Nov 2021

25 contributions

Saturday

27 Nov 2021

15 contributions

Sunday

28 Nov 2021

6 contributions

Dec

Monday

29 Nov 2021

58 contributions

Tuesday

30 Nov 2021

26 contributions

Wednesday

01 Dec 2021

33 contributions

Thursday

02 Dec 2021

22 contributions

Friday

03 Dec 2021

20 contributions

Saturday

04 Dec 2021

1 contribution

Sunday

05 Dec 2021

1 contribution

 

Monday

06 Dec 2021

22 contributions

Tuesday

07 Dec 2021

20 contributions

Wednesday

08 Dec 2021

3 contributions

Thursday

09 Dec 2021

10 contributions

Friday

10 Dec 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

11 Dec 2021

3 contributions

Sunday

12 Dec 2021

1 contribution

 

Monday

13 Dec 2021

3 contributions

Tuesday

14 Dec 2021

11 contributions

Wednesday

15 Dec 2021

10 contributions

Thursday

16 Dec 2021

25 contributions

Friday

17 Dec 2021

38 contributions

Saturday

18 Dec 2021

13 contributions

Sunday

19 Dec 2021

7 contributions

 

Monday

20 Dec 2021

37 contributions

Tuesday

21 Dec 2021

32 contributions

Wednesday

22 Dec 2021

7 contributions

Thursday

23 Dec 2021

0 contributions

Friday

24 Dec 2021

0 contributions

Saturday

25 Dec 2021

2 contributions

Sunday

26 Dec 2021

0 contributions

 

Monday

27 Dec 2021

0 contributions

Tuesday

28 Dec 2021

1 contribution

Wednesday

29 Dec 2021

5 contributions

Thursday

30 Dec 2021

3 contributions

Friday

31 Dec 2021

0 contributions

1709 Github contributions in 2021github.com/pjnes

You can see the beginning of the year I was keeping to my goal of working on some form of side project at least once a day. I kept that up for the whole of January.

In February my second son Toby was born, and pretty much straight away I started to slip slightly. The real drop came a few months later, which lines up pretty well with the relaxation of distancing restrictions. I spent some of my free time actually seeing other people, and they weren't willing to log it as a Github issue.

9 New Repos
918 Commits
37 Pull Requests
19 Repos Updated

It's really picked up again since September. Part of that is down to a project at work that is using Github, but I have also been more active on a few of my side projects. In the last few months I've been working on this site, a rebuild of Chronolists and another new top secret project.

Apparently the majority of my time this year has been spent on this site, which makes some sense. I rebuilt the whole thing, and have added just about every daft thing I can think of

The numbers may seem low, but my tasks are generally high level. For example, I have a task in my Chronolists project simply called "Complete rebuild in NextJS", and I had one for this site that was just "Move to Tailwind CSS" which took me about a week. I should really get better at breaking things down.

Site Visitors

You might spot a bit of a gap in this data... I gave Plausible a try in January, but at the time I couldn't justify paying for analytics. After 6 months of trying various free options I coughed up the cash, so take that as an endorsement.

14
39
38
116
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Visitors to pauljones.io in 2021plausible.io/pauljones.io

Gaming

For the past few years I've been trying to stick to 12-in-12 with my gaming, essentially setting out to complete 1 game from the huge number in my backlog each month. I think I've done OK, considering I chose 5 huge RPGs, 1 of which was the entire Mass Effect Trilogy.

That said, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is incredible, I'm so glad people will be able to play these games without having to buy Bioware points in order to get the DLCs.

16 Total Games
63% Completed
31% Abandoned
6% Not Started

One thing I learned last year is that forcing myself to complete games I'm just not enjoying is a good way to be miserable, so I don't really mind that I've bounced off a few of these games.

Cyberpunk 2077 finally came out, and it was... ok? I played on PC, so didn't see the massive issues that the consoles had, and I waited until a lot of the major bugs had been fixed (and until I got a new graphics card).

Twelve Minutes finally came out as well. This has been on my radar for years, and it was fun while it lasted. I do wish it was longer, or had some more replayability. I couldn't bring myself to go back for the other endings.

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

On it

January

38%

Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds

February

100%

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Mass Effect: Andromeda

March

100%

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Solas, why?!

April

100%

Tyranny

Tyranny

April

100%

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

I should go.

May

100%

Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Assassin's Creed Syndicate

All done, guv'nor

May

100%

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Objection!

June

80%

NITE Team 4

NITE Team 4

Upload complete

June

100%

Spore

Spore

Evolved

July

100%

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

July

45%

Twelve Minutes

Twelve Minutes

Took me longer than 12 minutes

August

100%

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077

Not totally disappointed

September

100%

Anno 2205

Anno 2205

To the moon?

October

85%

Control

Control

What?

November

70%

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

December

0%

A big theme with the games this year was games that I just couldn't run on my old PC. I had to stop playing Cyberpunk, Control and Assassin's Creed: Syndicate because I just couldn't run them. I ended up buying a new prebuilt PC, because a whole PC with a Geforce 3070 worked out cheaper than what graphics cards were going for earlier in the year.

One other game that I don't think anyone has ever heard of is NITE Team 4, a hacking simulation. I love these kinds of games. They're basically just puzzles with a terminal slapped in front of them, but I just can't stop playing them.

New for 2022

This year I'll be tracking a few extra things: