Everything about this performance was top-notch. The artists, the dancers, the graphics. It already got me goosebumps in the first minute.

But there was something else that triggered me. On a deeper level. You know, I’m a very ambitious person. Aiming for the moon and stuff. For a world-class performance, every single aspect of it needs to be of that high standard. One broken or missing piece in the chain and it all falls apart.

If a top athlete breaks an arm during their finals, they’ll lose. If the director of a company doesn’t understand their target audience, the company will go bankrupt due to them being irrelevant. If a singer gets COVID just a few days before the Grand Final, they’re out (feeling so sorry for you, Duncan ). Every action matters. A misstep (or external factor) can be fatal.

That’s exactly what makes it so inspiring to see people perform at the top of their potential. They have so much to lose, yet they go for it and give it their all. While the whole world is watching! But, let’s be real here:

• The dancers
• The musicians
• The way that tram hit the stop and lightened up the whole Erasmusbrug
• The high notes that Glennis Grace is able to produce (DAMN!! I literally jumped off my chair)
• The way they got the Erasmusbrug projected in the venue
• The fireworks

… it all came together beautifully here.

Let this be an inspiration to us all. If you haven’t watched it yet, then be ready to be blown away and press that play button below:

The post Afrojack, Wulf and Glennis Grace at Eurovision 2021: goosebumps and learnings appeared first on Dennis Ameling.

However, things got a bit out of hand with my contributions to open source. In 2020, I spent 300+ hours on it in my free time. While I learned a lot, got to meet awesome people, and really got things moving in several open source projects, I struggled. Working full-time and doing things like this on the side is challenging to say the least. While burnout is common in open source, I still felt good because I’m passionate about it and “it doesn’t feel like work”. I mean, look at this chart

However, I do need to admit that I’m most productive and happy when I get proper rest as well. Now, I hardly ever sacrifice my sleep, because those 8 hours help a LOT to clear up and refresh my mind. But I also started to notice that I should spend more time off-screen and off-work to clear my head properly. That basically means no computer, no phone, no notifications. Like going for a walk (not listening to podcasts at the same time ), going to the gym, kite surfing, etc.

My game plan moving forward

I think it’s obvious by now that I do want to stay active contributing to open source projects. However, it shouldn’t occupy such a large part of my personal life anymore. That’s why I’m now hard-limiting the time I spend on open source to 2 hours per week (details below).

In those hours, I will be doing the following:

• Replying to questions/comments in issues I reported or Pull Requests I created;
• Interacting with open source maintainers/contributors through other channels;
• Working on new/updated code through Pull Requests (with a transparent planning in this GSheet).

This means that my pace of open source contributions will slow down significantly, but become more consistent and reliable over time.

2 hours: the details

So, those 2 hours result in 8 hours per month to open source. I currently can’t commit to more, as I’m working on a new business plan and need to add “offline days” (more on that below) to my schedule to remain happy and productive.

If you want me to spend more time on open source software, please consider donating through GitHub Sponsors. Every $50 in monthly donations will allow me to spend 1 extra hour per month on open source. If there’s a specific open source project you want me to work on, we can certainly discuss that. Feel free to drop me a message so we can talk about the options.

Final words

I’m confident that with these measures, I can get more of a hold on my open source contributions and be more reliable towards others. My public planning document should also be a major help in terms of transparency.

Apart from my open source planning, I’m also introducing the following measures to my personal Quarterly Objectives:

• Every week, spend at least one day “offline”, no screens involved.
• Every quarter, spend at least 3 days in a row “resetting my head”. I noticed that this really helps me to zoom out and look at the bigger picture of my personal and business goals.

… this will ensure that I remain focused on my top priorities, both in private life and in business.

Once again, in case you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out!

The post My struggle with making time for open source contributions appeared first on Dennis Ameling.