- How have you seen yourself become more aware of your habits? Have you tried implementing anything new? What have the results been? Start Where You Are (Empathize with the user – you)
Because time management and intentionality are so important to meeting the demands of Turing, I have closely examined my habits and routines. My daily morning routine, which is on a three day exercise rotation, is something that I implemented at the start of Turing to make sure that was still getting the mental and physical health boost from exercise. I have also started taking a short walk, even just around my block, during any break that is 10 minutes or longer.
- Health: how you answer “how are you”; intersection of physical, mental, and emotional health. How would you rate your overall health on a scale of 1-5? How do you currently make time for activities associated with your health? What is a small change you could make here to readjust your health ratings?
*My physical health is doing well. I put a lot of energy into daily exercise, buying healthy food, and eating well. My mental/emotional health is ok. I do feel a strong sense of stress related to keeping up with Turing, meeting deadlines, and developing my skills at an adequate pace. I don't always sleep as well as I would like due to anxiety.
- Work: what you do. Make a short list of all the ways you work right now; How much value do each of those things bring to your life? How are those activities purposeful for you?
- Daily exercise (essential to mental/physical well being)
- Turing classes Monday-Friday (very valuable for my future career growth)
- Project work at night M-F, and during the day on the weekends (also valuable, albeit very stressful)
- Household chores (also stressful, but important for enjoyment of life)
- Yard and garden work (I really enjoy the time I spend in my yard and garden, and I wish I had more time here)
- Play: what brings you joy? Think about joy just for the pure sake of doing it; everyone benefits from this kind of play What activities do you do that bring you joy throughout an average week? In what ways could you make a small change to bring more joy into your life?
All the time I spend with my partner (cooking, eating in/out, watching tv/movies, traveling, hiking, walking to go get ice cream). I also love to read, hike, or have drinks with friends and catch up with them. I also play Pickle Ball, a great way to see friends and get exercise outside. I am trying to make more time for these by structuring my work schedule and being on top of deadlines so I can enjoy the time after work is over.
- Love: sense of connection; who are the people who matter in your life and how is love flowing to and from you and them? How does love currently show up in your life? How do you show love to others right now? What adjustments would you like to make in this area?
My partner is the most important person here. Her love and support make the challenges manageable, and the time I spend with her is the best part of my day. I also love my Denver friend group, and the 1-2 activities a week I get to do with them "fill my cup". Finally, my family is very important to me. I talk to my mom and stepdad several times a week, and my brothers a bit less than that. I wish I had more time spend with all of these people. The lack of time I can spend with them due to my other responsibilities is difficult to accept at times.
- Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for? Define your needs, problem, and insights:
I need the time and flexibility to do the things that bring me joy. I need time with loved ones, and the freedom to enjoy that time without constantly stressing out. I also need time to cultivate myself, whether that means exerciseing, tending my garden, or reading a book. My problem is trying to balance those needs against my many responsibiliities and the constant anxiety/stress that comes with them.
- Based on what you wrote about above and your group conversation, what problems have you identified that you’d like to design solutions for? What do you already about what you want for your career? What do you still need to find out? Who or what do you want to grow into by the end of the Turing program?
I need a job that will allow for a proper work/life balance. I am going to work hard at my job and always do the best work possible, but I would like to work under a reasonable schedule of time commitment, and under circumstances that don't involve constant stress following me "home" after work. I want to be a valued profressional who is compensated accordingly for the value of my contributions. I need the freedom, in terms of income and time, to fully enjoy my non-working hours with the people of love, while still being able to care for my own immediate needs. In a perfect world, I would also have a job that allowed me to feel good about the work I am doing. I would love to meet my own needs while also contributing to my community/society.
- Ideate – challenge assumptions. When you discussed software developers with your small group on Monday, what assumptions came up about what software developers actually do? What steps could you take to challenge those assumptions and find more facts to answer the question of what developers do? In addition to what a typical software developer life could look like, what do you want yours to include?
No one in my group, myself included, had a very clear answer to this prompt. We all admitted to being too new and too overwhelmed to have developed much of an idea yet. However, I have been having conversations about this with my mentor and trying to get an idea of what his job is like. He described a typical day as going from about 9 to 4:30 or so, and that it was typically a combination of team meetings to plan/discuss projects, followed by individual work time for contributing to projects. I would like to have time to hear from working industry professionals so that I can get more first hand exposure to "a day in the life".
- Prototype – start creating solutions What is the basic threshold that your new career must meet after Turing? What would you hope WILL NOT happen in your future after Turing? What is your absolute, no-holds-barred, ideal dream for your future after Turing?
Basic Threshold - Must earn more than my previous job in education, must have a more flexible schedule, and must not have stress that follows me home every night. I must be treated respectfully as a professional. I would hate it if I had a long commute (like my previous job) that ate up the precious hours of my life.
My dream would be to have everything I just described, as well as the opportunity to do work that I am proud of. I want work that gives back to my community in a meaningful way. If I could work for an organization that contributed to addressing education, food scarcity, social justice, etc, I would find that very fulfilling.
- Test –- solutions Based on this week of reflections, write out your initial vision statement for your career:
Must earn more than my previous job in education, must have a more flexible schedule, and must not have stress that follows me home every night. I must be treated respectfully as a professional. I will have a short commute and earn enough that my partner and I (and our future children) can live comfortably, but not extravegantly, in a home reasonably near my work. Perhaps I even work from home a few days each week. I am able to be home by five each day to spend time with my family or friends. I want work that gives back to my community in a meaningful way. If I could work for an organization that contributed to addressing education, food scarcity, social justice, etc, I would find that very fulfilling.