My 2025 indie dev journey review
Hi, it’s Takuya.
Happy new year! It’s already mid-January, but I want to look back at my activities in 2025. If I had to sum up last year in one word, it was the year I got the full "unlucky year (Yakudoshi / 厄年)" experience.
In Japan, Yakudoshi is the age where, traditionally, you are more likely to face health issues or bad luck. At 42, I truly realized that I can no longer rely on youthful energy alone. (Btw, do you have such a year in your culture?)
Experienced burnout, down for 3 months
Around the time spring arrived and the pollen started flying, I experienced a severe burnout. It hit me so hard that I was essentially down for three months—literally lying on the floor, unable to move or live a normal life.
This burnout manifested as a massive flare-up of my chronic atopic dermatitis. The severity was right back to where I was during my steroid withdrawal in 2019. Having successfully overcome that hell once, I genuinely thought I’d never have to face it again. I never expected to be back in the thick of it seven years later.
Unlike my single days, I now have a wife and children. Being completely sidelined meant I caused a lot of trouble for my family. Looking back, I have almost no memories of spending the summer with my kid, which is so sad :(
My QoL has mostly recovered now, fortunately. I tried restricting foods and other various methods — but it turns out walking was the most effective medicine for me. Since then, I’ve been walking 10,000 steps every day as much as possible. I’m glad I managed to recover in time for the birth of our second daughter.
I’m a bit nervous when spring comes again this year. This time, if I feel the symptoms of burnout creeping in, I’m going to be proactive about resting.
Welcoming our second child
We've successfully released our new baby!🥰🎉 Now I'm a dad 2.0😉 pic.twitter.com/G1J9491cGk
— Takuya 🐾 devaslife (@inkdrop_app) November 4, 2025
In November, our second daughter was born. Our first daughter cried a lot and was quite a handful, but this baby is surprisingly calm. It’s usually clear why she’s crying, which makes her much easier to care for. She’s so peaceful I sometimes wonder if such babies actually exist. When we lock eyes, she gives me a big smile. I finally have the mental margin to really enjoy her cuteness.
However, we did experience something called "postpartum crisis" — my wife suddenly got super mad and blamed me. The reality is that taking care of a newborn 24/7 without a break would make anyone feel like exploding. Fortunately, she realized she was going through it and told me about it the next morning.
Inkdrop
Next up is about my app, Inkdrop. While my body was struggling, the project also had a year of quiet endurance.
In 2025, I focused on developing v6 rather than marketing. I've already shipped the first Canary build of v6 to allow users to test it. Also, I’ve finally cleared most of the massive technical debt inherited from the Atom Editor era. This is starting to speed up new feature development. I’ve completed about 70% of the features on the roadmap, though I’ve also taken some detours to add things I personally wanted. For example, it now supports pasting GitHub code snippets directly from links.
Revenue has decreased compared to 2024 because new customer growth has slowed. Since I didn't have big announcements last year, I’ll focus on officially releasing v6 this year to reach new users.
The Discord community is stabilizing. Having regular, casual interactions with familiar faces is refreshing for me, as I’ve always worked alone. It’s slowly becoming the place I envisioned: "a community that motivates you just by being there."
YouTube
devaslife (Main Channel)
- Subscribers: 208k → 212k
I only posted one short video late last year. I felt the audience there didn't quite match Inkdrop's target, so I held back. Also, the pressure to meet expectations made it less fun. For example, just tweeting about my Neovim config got nearly 700 likes. That level of attention made me feel like pulling away — probably Imposter Syndrome. I now understand why popular channels can suddenly stop updating.
This year, if I post to this channel, the content will be purely for my own satisfaction. I won't worry about algorithm, numbers, or traffic to my product. I want to work without caring about others' evaluations. I believe that there would be a new possibility beyond that.
Devlog (Second channel)
- Subscribers: 14k → 19k
I updated my second channel more actively. On this channel, I focus on giving talks about coding and solo dev rather than showing off techniques silently. I also use this channel to practice speaking English. As you can see in the chart above, the channel had been growing well until my burnout. I plan to keep posting here consistently.
The theme is sharing the "ups and downs" of my indie development journey transparently. It’s an experiment to see what happens when I release v6 after building momentum with fans. Honestly, it’s a miracle people watch me even with my broken English. Some folks say it's because it’s rare to see Japanese developers share their stories and thoughts in English. I agree.
Blog Growth
- Subscribers: 2.1k → 2.4k
I wrote about my burnout on this blog. The number of subscribers is significantly small compared to my YouTube channels. However, the engagement here is different from YouTube — My blog doesn't depend on any platforms. People come to read actively, instead of passively playing a video via a feed. I love blogging because I can focus on the content without worrying about video production, such as compositions, audio quality, and speaking English. My only issue is the cost of Ghost (the hosting service), which costs $480/year at the moment. I might move to a custom static site eventually.
Wallpaper Sales
I sell photo packs of pictures I take as a hobby. They sell surprisingly much better than I expected.
I’ve realized that taking photos with the intent to sell changes your perspective. I set a theme and then go out to find and capture beautiful shots that fit that vision. It’s a great exercise to sharpen your senses. Kyoto is an easy theme to understand, and it sells particularly well.
I’d like to go out and shoot again once I have more time.
Summary
2025 was a battle against falling revenue, technical debt, low motivation for YouTube, and health issues. But looking back, it was a good chance to rethink how I work and regain a long-term view.
It was a year for realigning my health, my product, and my content.
Inkdrop is entering its 10th year. Keeping a service alive that long in tech is such a miracle. People often ask, "What's next?" when meeting in person, which can be kind of frustrating, but I’m fully committed to Inkdrop in 2026.
Resolution: Don't care what others think
Whether you are just starting out or you’ve been at it for years, the moment you worry about your reputation, you lose your freedom and can't move as you want. As your audience grows, people will give you opinions, suggestions, criticisms, and questions. The key is that you can still ignore them and genuinely follow your instinct. Don't be afraid of being yourself. You started from zero in the first place.
I'm too serious by nature, so I need to aim for a "just ignore everyone" attitude.
I tend to overwork, so muttering "I don't feel like doing anything" every day would actually help adjust the balance.
So, here is my goal for 2026: "Do what I want, regardless of others."
