I can't quite believe that it's the end of the year already! To keep my yearly tradition, I am sitting down to reflect on how 2025 went for me, and what are the things that I am planning to work on and improve next year.
Some things went great this year, while others not so much. In some ways this was the hardest year for me in a very long time, but more on that later.
Working on Timelines
In terms of work, I continued working on my indie time tracking app Timelines. I have released several major new versions, bringing features and improvements that users have been requesting for years, such as combined goals, easier tracking of subcategories, exporting to calendars, and more.
Revenue grew 33% year over year, which I am super excited about and grateful for. Because I was mostly focusing on improving the product, I was neglecting a bit working on other things that are necessary for growing the app. That's what I want to focus more on next year.
One huge blow during the summer was iOS 26 and the Liquid Glass redesign. I really hated it at first. It took quite a lot of work to support it properly. I'd say at this point I learned to accept it, but it's still refreshing to use apps that still have the iOS 18 look.
My main takeaways from this year in terms of work are:
- I need to focus more on monetization, marketing, online presence, and in general growing the app. I feel like there is still so much untapped potential. The app itself is in a really good place now, so it's time to focus on other things.
- For features that require a lot of focused effort, I need to carve out these long uninterrupted blocks of focused time, because otherwise things tend to drag on for a very long time.
- I need to avoid the temptation of implementing helper web services. This year I spent a lot of time on server-side purchase analytics and self-hosted newsletter, and in hindsight I am not sure if it was worth it.
Trips and conferences
I feel like in hindsight I could've been travelling more, but I am really glad for the trips and conferences that I attended.
In March I went for a week of cycling in Mallorca. Then in May I attended iOSKonf in Skopje (North Macedonia). This was definitely one of the best conferences I've ever been to. I was blown away by the care and effort the organizers put into it, and grateful for all the people that I met there.
A friend of mine was getting married, so in September I attended a wedding in Spain. I loved the atmosphere of it, and it was great to see again many of the friends that I met in Prague throughout the years, at the coworking space where I work.
Then in late September I attended MicroConf in Istanbul. This was my first time attending a business-focused conference, and I really enjoyed it! It was fascinating and inspiring to meet so many successful SaaS founders there, and the talks were also spot on, giving us lots of ideas what to work on. Also, it was great to meet in person many friends that I've known online for years.
Other updates and reflections
As is my tradition in these yearly review blog posts, I always try to also reflect on how I felt throughout the year. I must say that mentally, this year was one of the hardest for me in a long time. My parents' divorce and the related legal battles and custody battles for a family pet was making me really anxious, worried, frustrated, feeling helpless. I don't mean to go into more details, but I'm really disappointed with the outcome as well. At the end of the day though, there is only so much I can do, and some things I just need to let go because it is not in my power, nor it is my responsibility to somehow fix them (trust me, I tried).
In November and December I got sick several times, and that made it hard to keep some consistent habits. My overall regime suffered, I didn't really exercise regularly. Even now in the last few days I was sick yet again. Getting and staying healthy is my #1 priority now.
My main takeaways from this are:
- Travel somewhere during the fall. This year I stayed in Prague, and there were several waves of people getting sick. It really would've been a good idea to escape this environment for several weeks.
- Try to be more aware of my inner critic. I noticed at times that he was just running rampant.
- Work on accepting things that I cannot change, instead of internally fighting with them. Because that just drains me, and doesn't bring any benefit.
- Trying to always be productive is not sustainable. I suspect that doing this to an extreme can be a way how to avoid facing my uncomfortable feelings. Next year, I want to be better at just sitting with my feelings instead of rushing into the next task / next project / next YouTube video.
State of the world and AI advancements
I'll try not to be too political here, but I must say that I was shocked this year to be following what's going on in the US. And overall the geopolitical situation getting less safe. Also, it's disappointing to see how the sentiment regarding support for Ukraine among people in the Czech Republic is getting less and less supportive over time.
As for AI - while it's impressive how powerful the LLMs are and how much better they got during this year, I worry about the longterm implications.
I try to use it in my work where it makes sense, but so far I am definitely cautious and only use it for small specific tasks, where I can fully verify that the code it generated for me is working correctly.
If it keeps improving at the same velocity, I worry about the consequences it will have on the society as a whole. I think it makes sense to fully appreciate how things are now and that AI is not so extremely prevalent everywhere, because in a way this is the least AI that we will ever have in society. It will only go up from here.
My plans for 2026
With 2025 being quite a turbulent year, I want 2026 to be more calm (at least internally). In no particular order, here are the main things I'd like to work on and improve in 2026:
- Try to be less critical of myself. Recently I started reading a book about the internal family systems method (No Bad Parts) and it could be a game changer.
- Improve my daily discipline in terms of the basics: consistently getting up early, getting enough work done every day, exercising consistently, having a wind-down routine in the evening.
- Try to take better care of myself. Even in terms of improving how I dress. For the longest time I gave this a very low priority, but the upside of putting some effort into it could be big.
- More novelty. Especially the last three months this year were very monotonous for me. Taking more trips throughout the year (even shorter ones) would go a long way.
- Allow myself to take a break sometime and just be, without feeling like I always need to be productive.
- Do more reflection. Resume the weekly reviews that I used to do consistently.
- Be a better friend to people. When things get tough, I tend to isolate and distance myself from everybody. This needs to change.
- In terms of work: Focus more on non-programming tasks, even if some of them are way out of my comfort zone. And ideally also explore working on something new.
If you made it all the way here - thank you for reading! I hope it didn't come off as too pessimistic at times. I try to keep it honest. In spite of some of the challenges, I am super grateful for all the experiences that I got to have this year, and I feel blessed that I get to do what I love for work. I don't take it for granted at all, and if anything my work ethic should reflect the gratitude (but - I don't mean to get self-critical again! :D)
I hope you had a fantastic 2025, and I wish you all the best in the new year!