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Month 12-Week 3: Year-2 plan + capstone v0.3 + year-in-review draft

Week summary

  • Goal: Sketch year-2 plan (sharpened, not pivoted). Push capstone to v0.3 with last polish. Draft year-in-review post.
  • Time: ~9 h over 3 sessions.
  • Output: YEAR_2_PLAN.md; capstone v0.3.0 release; year-in-review draft.

Why this week matters

Year 2 should compound year 1, not restart it. Sketching it now-while year-1 lessons are fresh-is what makes January 1 of year 2 a working day, not a planning day.

The year-in-review post is the year's bookend. It will be one of the most-shared.

Prerequisites

  • M12-W01 + W02 complete.
  • Session A-Tue/Wed evening (~3 h): year-2 plan
  • Session B-Sat morning (~3.5 h): capstone v0.3 + year-in-review draft start
  • Session C-Sun afternoon (~2.5 h): finish draft + community engagement

Session A-Year-2 plan

Goal: Sketch 4-quarter year-2 plan in same structure as year 1.

Part 1-Direction (45 min)

Honest answer: which direction is year 2? - Deepen the same specialty-go from "competent" to "recognized." - Combine with adjacent specialty-e.g., evals → eval+inference; agents → agents+training. - Climb research depth-start reproducing papers, contributing to research-grade OSS. - Pivot-only if year-1 conclusively showed your specialty hypothesis was wrong.

For most: deepen-or-combine, not pivot. Year 2 is the year you become known.

Part 2-Year-2 outline (90 min)

YEAR_2_PLAN.md: 

# Year 2 Plan

## Identity statement
Year 1: I became <X>.
Year 2: I become <Y>.

## Four quarters (sharpening, not restarting)

### Q1-Deepen specialty (months 1-3)
- 4 papers/month, deeper engagement (notes, reproductions).
- Substantial OSS contribution (target: become a regular contributor to one project).
- 2 blog posts.
- Anchor: <project that extends year-1 capstone>.

### Q2-Build for scale or impact (months 4-6)
- Take the capstone to v1.0 (with users beyond yourself).
- OR build a research-grade reproduction.
- 2 blog posts.

### Q3-External presence (months 7-9)
- Conference talk (not just CFP submitted-accepted and given).
- 1-2 podcasts / interviews.
- Become a "go-to" voice in your specialty's narrow niche.

### Q4-Synthesis + next chapter (months 10-12)
- A book chapter, paper, or major OSS milestone.
- Year-2 retrospective.
- Year-3 direction.

## KPIs (sharpened)
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 target |
|---|---|---|
| Public repos | 6 | 8 |
| Blog posts | 11 | 14 |
| OSS PRs merged | ? | 6+ |
| Talks given | 1 (internal) | 2-4 |
| Followers in specialty | <baseline> | <reasonable growth> |

## Topics I'll deepen
- ...
- ...
- ...

## Topics I'll skip
- ...
- ...

Part 3-Calendar block-out (45 min)

Block 3 weekly sessions in your calendar for the next 12 weeks. Year-2 starts the day after the year-1 retrospective.

Output of Session A

  • YEAR_2_PLAN.md.
  • Year-2 calendar blocked.

Session B-Capstone v0.3 + year-in-review start

Goal: Capstone v0.3 with final polish. Year-in-review post outline + start drafting.

Part 1-Capstone v0.3 (90 min)

Go through open issues. Pick 2-3 for v0.3. - Final docs polish. - Maybe one feature. - Test coverage in any thin areas.

Tag v0.3.0.

Part 2-Year-in-review outline (45 min)

1. Hook (300 w)
   "12 months ago I couldn't derive backprop. Today I shipped <X>. Here's the curriculum that did it."
2. Where I started (200 w)
   Skills, gaps, motivation.
3. The plan (300 w)
   The structure of the year. The resources used.
4. Q1: Foundations (500 w)
   What clicked, what didn't.
5. Q2: Applied AI (500 w)
6. Q3: Specialty (500 w)
7. Q4: Public (300 w)
8. The numbers (300 w)
   Total artifacts, posts, lines of code, hours invested. Honest.
9. What I'd do differently (400 w)
10. Year 2 (200 w)
11. Closing (200 w)

Part 3-Draft sections 1-4 (45 min)

~1500 words.

Output of Session B

  • v0.3.0 released.
  • Year-in-review post: ~1500 words drafted.

Session C-Finish draft + community engagement

Goal: Complete year-in-review draft. Engage with community.

Part 1-Finish draft (90 min)

Sections 5-11 (~2000 more words). Total ~3500.

Save for Sunday-evening edit; publish Monday of W04.

Part 2-Community engagement (60 min)

Spend an hour in the community: - Reply to 3-5 substantive posts in your specialty's space. - Share one tip / one lesson learned in a forum. - Note any open questions you might address in year 2.

Part 3-Reflection (30 min)

Write 200 words: "What I'm proud of and what I'm still bad at."

Honest. Don't pad. Don't humble-brag.

Output of Session C

  • Year-in-review draft complete.
  • One hour of community engagement.

End-of-week artifact

  • YEAR_2_PLAN.md
  • Capstone v0.3.0 released
  • Year-in-review draft (~3500 words)
  • Year-2 calendar blocked

End-of-week self-assessment

  • I have a clear year-2 direction.
  • My capstone is in a stable, reference-able state.
  • My year-in-review is something I'd want a peer to read.

Common failure modes for this week

  • Year-2 as restart. Sharpen, don't restart.
  • Capstone v0.3 with new features. Polish only.
  • Year-in-review as humble-brag. Honest > impressive.

What's next (preview of M12-W04-final week)

Publish the year-in-review. Run the year-end retrospective. Answer the honest question. Send thank-yous. Begin year 2.

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