With the awesome release of AdonisJS v7, I've been busy working on producing my Let's Learn AdonisJS 7 series. I hope everyone has enjoyed what's out thus far! My goal is to get this series completed by the end of May, knowing that I still have eleven lessons needing fully planned/written along with most others needing recorded and edited.
I want to just take a brief moment to talk about what will follow. Once I've got my Let's Learn AdonisJS 7 series fully completed and released, I'll be taking at least a 90 day seasonal break. And, just to be very clear, this is just a break, I'm not quitting Adocasts! I've actually been kind of hesitant to post this, but here we go.
Why the Break? (Part One: It's Me)
Building Adocasts alongside a full-time career has been a rewarding journey, and I'm thankful for each and every one of you who've supported me and watched my lessons along the way. I've spent a lot of time these past couple of months reflecting on something new I've realized about myself. I've also been reflecting on the time commitment Adocasts takes, how that time impacts my life, and the trajectory of learning in the face of AI.
Over the past couple of months I've become aware that I strongly fit the profile of someone with Aspergers Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I'm currently debating whether I want to go through the process of an official diagnosis, but from what I've read it's a time consuming and expensive process without a whole lot of benefits (beyond the certainty of knowing). Regardless of a diagnosis or not, I'm hoping some of the frameworks found to help those with a diagnosis can help me as well. It also helps answer some long standing questions I've always had about myself too.
Among other things, I've always:
Felt different from everyone else and always felt like I was acting my way through social situations. Following procedures and expectations while others seem to naturally flow through dialog.
Been a super quiet person who prefers being alone.
Get extremely drained from any social gathering - any!
Get stressed if rules or social norms are being deviated
Felt like there is a layer of encryption between my mind and body
Had a tendency to give short one or two word answers to questions in conversation.
Rehearsed for the smallest of things... My low-stakes weekly standup at work, yep! Gotta script that out and say it til it's smooth.
Lived by both large and small routines and when they're broken it drastically upsets my day and mood
Swayed back and forth while standing, shaked my knees when sitting, and cracked my fingers when distressed, etc
I could go on, but I already feel like I'm sharing too much. Most applicable here is that I realized coding is my special interest. Unlike most things in life, it came naturally to me and sunk me in immediately. I've always hated the fact that it's my job because it's something I have fun doing. It being a job sucks that fun away leaving just the time after work when I'm already tired. I have found that working with things I don't get to use at work brings that joy and experimentation back though.
Adocasts started as a branch of that joy I found in my post-work time. However, over the past couple of years I've inadvertently slowly turned this fun hobby portion of my special interest into a second job. That shift, started sneakily depleting me because now my special interest is all work and no play. I just haven't had the energy to work on or explore new things outside of work and the requirements needed to push new content for Adocasts. I have had quiet periods where I haven't posted lessons, but trust me, preparing them takes a lot of time, especially on a tired mind.
So, I've decided forcing myself to take a break is the best path forward. I need to do a hard reset on my routine as it relates to Adocasts and figure out what works for me and what I would like to do to "spark joy" back into my interest so it isn't all work.
Why the Break? (Part Two: It's AI)
There's another edge to this sword, called AI. We all know AI is making waves through our industry and siphoning eyes from sites to boot. Adocasts traffic is down*, revenue is down, and more and more people mention they're only reaching out for help after AI let them down. No judgement here, It makes sense! AI is quick, mostly free, and easily accessible plus you don't need to dig through site after site to find what you're after.
I, personally, am not at a point where I trust AI in unsupervised situations. It's just too unpredictable for me: often misunderstanding scope, referencing outdated information, and obfuscating it's sources. It's great for certain tasks, but I don't think learning is one of them at this time. If anything, it can sew more confusion than help in the context of learning. Obviously though, my take there is biased because it directly impacts Adocasts.
Regardless, even without AI, long-form ways of learning like I provide are on a downward trajectory. So, I want to take a portion of this time away to think about forward looking possibilities here. I don't know if there's an answer to be had, but I think stepping away for a brief bit will help bring clarity with envisioning a pathway forward.
If you have any thoughts, ideas, or know of anyone doing different things in this regard, I would absolutely love to hear them below in the comments!
What This Means
First, I again want to reiterate I'll be completing the Let's Learn AdonisJS 7 series before I take this break. Once that is done, I'll be going on at least a 90 day break. During this break I won't be releasing or planning any new content. I'll also be on light duty with social media and support, so responses may be slower than usual. I'll be using this time to reset myself and think about future possibilities to bring into Adocasts.
Effective today, I will be removing the "Forever" plan as an Adocasts Plus purchase option. If you are a current Forever member, fear not, nothing is changing for you! I'm simply closing this tier to new members until after my break to try and remove the mental load of having a "forever" commitment. I'm still committed, merely just doing some mental jiu-jitsu for myself there.
If you're an annual subscriber, I get that this is a deviation from my traditional release pattern and want to be as fair as possible. If this upcoming change in release frequency doesn't work for you, please reach out to me (tom@adocasts.com) and I'd be happy to assist with a pro-rated refund for your remaining time.
Again this isn't an end, just a break to reboot my system, find joy again in Adocasts, and find a pathway forward with the state of AI in mind. Thank you so much for being a part of this community and for your understanding as I take this step towards a healthier life balance. If you have any thoughts for Adocasts you'd like for me to mull over during my break, please do leave them below!
*Traffic is down - Of late, China alone accounts for 2x the traffic of everywhere else combined, I presume it's bots and have been trying to target it without flagging all of China. So, this is stated with the context of China omitted from traffic.
