Why I'm Starting This Journal

Awesome. You landed on a page where probably none of the people are interested in coming.

Or maybe you are here temporarily, just like me, trying to escape the addiction of social media or games.

Either way, welcome. :)

I’m going to start writing journal blogs where I’ll share my daily stories, what I did, what I learned, where I failed, and what I’m trying to improve.

My first goal is simple:

I want to do this consistently for at least 21 days. After that, I’ll continue if my brain still brains. :)

But before starting the actual daily journal, this is my Day 0 introduction.

A little bit about me

I’m Mayuresh Mule from Mumbai, and I’ve been working at a startup for a little over four years.

I completed my MCA (Master of Computer Applications) from NMIMS, and currently, my role is something that I still find difficult to explain in one sentence:

UX/UI Developer.

It sounds simple, but my journey to this role definitely wasn’t.

Back in December 2023, I started at the startup where I currently work as a Web Developer.

And from Day 1, I was given backend development work.

Now, this was... complicated.

At that time, I was comfortable with basically one programming language, and ironically, I had already failed in the same language that was suddenly becoming relevant to me:

Java.

I know some tech people might say, “Bro, .NET Core and Java syntax are similar.”

Maybe they are.

But dude, I hadn’t even tried Java once. 😂

So everything felt completely confusing.

I was honestly like Ishaan Awasthi from Taare Zameen Par, except instead of struggling with school, I was struggling with code and trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do.

I wasn’t confident about what to say, why to say it, what to do, and what not to do.

During that phase, I noticed that my startup was outsourcing some of its frontend development and UX design work.

So naturally, I started observing what those people were doing.

Then I started trying to understand their work.

And eventually, that became an opportunity.

Or maybe a mistake.

That’s a question I’m still asking myself.

From Backend to UX/UI

The frontend framework I started working with was Vue.js.

Honestly, I really like Vue.js. It’s relatively easy to learn and enjoyable to work with.

But there’s another reality.

The current job market seems to favour React and Next.js much more, while my experience is mainly with Vue.js, Nuxt, and Quasar.

So sometimes I feel like I accidentally narrowed my options.

Then came Figma.

I took a Udemy course and learned how to use Figma and understand UX design.

A few months later, I took another course because I wanted to learn more.

And that’s where I felt I made a pretty big mistake.

It was a Henry Harvin course where XYZ was teaching UX design.

The funny part?

By that point, I felt like I already knew more than the instructor.

That experience taught me something too:

Meanwhile, things at work were moving forward.

I went from being a Web Developer Intern to working as a UX/UI Developer.

And for a while, everything felt like it was finally coming together.

I led the development of our business website.

I worked with Webflow to create a new website as part of a migration from WordPress.

Then I worked on X number of projects.

Eventually, I also got the opportunity to lead an entire application built using Quasar Framework, something that can target web, desktop, and mobile applications from a common codebase.

Looking back, I’ve actually done quite a lot.

But here’s where things get interesting.

Then AI happened

While all of this was happening, AI started becoming a much bigger part of software development.

And now I’m questioning some of the choices I’ve made.

• Why should I spend months learning backend development?
• Why should I learn React?
• Why should I spend hundreds of hours doing DSA?
• Should I be worried about losing my job when AI can already do a huge amount of the work I used to do?

These questions have been sitting in my head for a while.

And instead of simply running away from technology, I’m thinking about pivoting.

I’m currently exploring Product Management.

Not simply because I’m afraid AI will replace my current role.

I actually think PM could be a natural direction for me because I already have experience sitting somewhere between technology, UX, and business.

I’ve worked with the technology.

I’ve worked on UX.

I’ve worked on products.

I’ve seen projects from the inside.

Maybe I can use all of that experience instead of starting completely from zero again.

I don’t know yet.

And that’s okay.

I’m still figuring it out.

So what’s the actual problem?

This entire story might make it sound like my biggest problem is AI.

It isn’t.

My bigger problem is me.

More specifically:

Scrolling and gaming.

I want to stay consistent with my work, learn how to use AI properly instead of becoming dependent on it, and prepare for MBA entrance exams.

But there’s a pretty big obstacle in front of all of that.

My phone.

And that’s probably one of the worst records I’ve created for myself.

I can lose hours scrolling.

I can lose hours gaming.

And sometimes I don’t even consciously decide to do it.

That’s the habit I want to change.

Why this journal?

So from tomorrow, I’m starting a series called:

Every night, I’ll sit down and write about my day.

• What did I do?
• What did I learn?
• What did I screw up?
• Did I waste time?
• Did I actually make progress?
• What can I do better tomorrow?

I don’t want this to become some fake motivational blog where every day I write:

“Wake up at 5 AM. Grind. Hustle. Become successful.”

No.

Some days might be productive.

Some days might be terrible.

Some days I might completely fail.

And I’m going to write about those days too.

Because the point isn’t to look disciplined.

The point is to become disciplined.

I also want to add three new English words every day and actually try to use them in my writing.

Maybe someone reading these short journals will learn something too.

And maybe, years from now, I’ll come back to this Day 0 post and laugh at how confused I was.

I hope I do.

Because that would mean I moved forward.

So...

This is Day 0.

Tomorrow, we start Day 1.

Let’s see how long my brain actually brains. :)

See you tomorrow.