profile

🥷🏽 Notes From an Imposter Programmer

Using Obsidian as a Programming Journal

Published 5 months ago • 1 min read

In my last note I mentioned that I put my precious Bullet Journal on the shelf (which really does make me sad) and switched to Obsidian as my full time journal. I wrote about this process in The Imposter's Roadmap as well.

I did this for these reasons:

  • I like to review what I've done for a given month, and often need to find a specific reference. That's difficult with a paper-based book.
  • I like saving code snippets.
  • I like using tags so I can roll up my notes and entries based on who or what.
  • Searching is a massive time saver!
  • I love adding photos and screenshots. This is especially useful with Obsidian's canvas feature.

I tried it for a month to see if it would make a difference and yes, without a doubt, it has changed everything for me.

As Requested: A Video

There is so much to explain as to the how and why, so I made a video for y'all which you can watch right here.

Hope this is helpful! Bullet Journaling is a wonderful process that keeps you focused on what matters and allows you to forget what doesn't. Something that can help all of us.

Talk to you soon!

Rob

🥷🏽 Notes From an Imposter Programmer

Hi! I'm Rob Conery and I help self-taught programmers like me overcome doubt and build their career. Join me and over 15,000 other programmers who are learning new things, every day.

I taught myself to code in 1998 and within 7 years had a client list that included Google, Microsoft, Starbucks, Ameritech, KLA-Tencor, PayPal, and Visa. In 2014 I decided that I really needed to understand core Computer Science concepts, so I dove in, using the free resources from MIT and Stanford. In 2016 I shared what I learned with The Imposter's Handbook.

Read more from 🥷🏽 Notes From an Imposter Programmer

Full disclosure: I work at Microsoft but what you're about to read is 100% my personal opinion. Don't @ me with "dude from Microsoft claims..." please... I've been deep in a rewrite of the AI chapter in The Imposter's Roadmap, and I'm trying to discuss the role of AI in a senior programmer's life... and I noticed something interesting as the AI discussions heat up in our industry: we both fear and want to protect junior developers. What a weird straw man argument! Note: this article addresses...

22 days ago • 5 min read

I learned to play ice hockey when I was 11 and, as a kid from Southern California, it wasn't easy. I learned how to skate and how to play the game at the same time, all while going through a massive growth spurt. My sister once called me a "baby giraffe on a frozen lake". Nice. One of the hardest things to learn when it comes to skating is the "hockey turn", which looks something like this: Photo Credit: Tim Bates/OJHL Images This is hard. Very hard. If you master it, you can change direction...

about 1 month ago • 6 min read

I make videos for a living and I swear: each one is an adventure. You would think I would have a system down by now but, as it turns out, each video is a unique thing that demands it's own type of story telling. For instance: here's the latest video I did for the VS Code team. It's on Remote Development with VS Code, which is wild stuff! Many call it the "killer feature", but that brings up an interesting problem: how do you make a video about an 'interesting feature'? We discussed this...

3 months ago • 6 min read