- Describe one of your strengths
- What is something you have learned to do well (list a skill)?
I've learned to work within teams well.
- What is something you know about (list some knowledge/expertise you have)?
Good communication habits.
- What is something you have a natural ability to do well (list a talent)?
I can adapt and learn quickly.
- How do those combine to create a specific strength?
I think Adaptability is a big stength of mine, from these traits.
- Read through your Top 4 results from Pairin
- In your own words, what do these top 4 qualities tell you about yourself?
These results tell me that I have a lot of self control, and that I'm a relationship oriented person. They also remind me that conflict is definitely not the greatest strength of mine - my dominant qualities all deference, self restraint and moderation.
- Do they resonate with you? Why/why not?
These absolutely do resonate with me, but I want to change them. So much of myself growing up was invested in making others happy - my friends, parents, siblings. If that doesn't speak to my dominant qualities, I don't know what else does. And while to an extent I want to maintain that empathy, I also want to create more space for myself and pay attention to my own needs.
- How do they relate to the strength you wrote about in Prompt #1?
I think adaptibility fits perfectly with my four dominant qualities. I'm very proficient at finding my niche in team and social environments, and conforming to the role that the team needs.
- Challenges with strengths
- What can make it challenging to recognize your strengths? How can you work through those challenges?
I'm a very other oriented person. So much so, that I can often lose sight of myself and my own strengths in the process of working with others. I'd say the best way for me to work through that struggle is making a more intentional effort to be mindful of myself and my needs. I think learning to be there for myself more will help me come to know myself better, and ultimately learn how to recognize my strengths better, as well.
- Do you ever see yourself overusing certain strengths? In what circumstances would you want to use them less and amplify other strengths? How could you adjust your approach in those instances?
I'm very empathetic, often to a fault, and it often manifests in a desire to please others to keep the peace. I want to learn to tone that intuition down a bit. While empathy is a great strength to have, I know I'll face situations in the future that will require me to act in the best interest that doesn't please everyone, and may even make others unhappy. I'm not completely sure what other strengths I'd amplify yet, but I'm going to learn.
- Strengths in action
- Write 1-2 sentences describing how you like to work (i.e., Do you pre-plan? Do you talk through your ideas first? Do you work better with deadlines? How do you stay organized?)
I'm a very task oriented person. I like to use lists and schedules to stay organized.
- How could you talk about these working preferences with your project teammates? Your mentor? Your instructors?
In meetings I often like to recap with the exact things I'll plan on having done with deadlines. With my mentor, I'm working on developing a consistent schedule with regular check ins. With instructors, if things are ambiguous about assignments, I'll ask for clarity so I know exactly what I have to have done and when I need to have it done by. Really, it's just about keeping things as plain and laid out as possible, as well as developing consistency with scheduling and expectations.
- What would you need to be aware of when working with people who have different strengths from you?
I would need to be aware of what others like to prioritize. It gives a lot of insight on how they work, as well as what I can do best in my role to help facilitate others' working styles.
- How could your Pairin results help you better understand your everyday working preferences?
As someone who's currently more of an objective-analytical thinker, its helped me be more aware of the habits I need to develop to maintain a healthy working environment for myself (in this case, a relatively consistent schedule and task lists). Before I got my results I often found myself getting more anxious and losing focus in my studies, without knowing why. With my results in mind I'm becoming more mindful of how I currently prefer to work, and am taking productive steps becoming a better worker.
- Continued growth
- Is there any particular strength you'd like to sharpen while you're at Turing? Any area you consider a weakness that you'd like to strengthen?
I'd like to strengthen my self awareness so that I become more cognizant of when I'm committing too much of myself to something. I consider my self awareness a strength to an extent, but when it comes to looking out for my own needs I could definitely be better.
- What are some steps you could take here?
The immediate action I could take it start practicing more mindfulness - namely meditation and making more time for myself to reflect on how I feel about my days. I could also start journaling.
- How could you be aware of progress you're making?
I think journaling would kill two birds with one stone. It's a very visible habit that would help accomplish my goal of being more mindful. I could also keep track of the habit of meditation within a journal, as well.
- What is challenging about self-reflection?
Self reflection is difficult because it forces us to confront the objective reality of ourselves. In practicing self reflection we inevitably face our weaknesses - which can be really hard.
- How can you continue to build the habit of self-reflection at Turing?
I'm going to set a goal for myself to journal even a few minutes each day, with the goal of making it a habit.
- Social identity mapping First, create you own social identity map on a piece of paper (or print this out):
- Outer ring: write words that describe your given identity
- Middle ring: list aspects of your chosen identity
- Center: write your core attributes—traits, behaviors, beliefs, values, characteristics, and skills that you think make you unique as an individual. Select things that are enduring and key to who you are.
After you complete your map:
- Underline the items that are important to you
- Put a + beside the items that you believe clearly demonstrate that you fit into the tech industry
- Put a - beside the items that you believe do not demonstrate that you fit into the tech industry
- Put a ? beside the items that you're unsure how they could show your ability to contribute to the tech industry
Reflect:
- What does your social identity tell you about what you already bring to the tech industry?
As a straight, able bodied, cishet male from a privileged background, a lot of my given and chosen self is already well represented within the tech industry.
- What would it look like for some of your minuses or question marks to turn into pluses? In other words, how could some of these traits be assets for the tech industry?
I honestly don't have a lot of minuses on my self identity map. My hope is that this means I can help be an advocate for people who may have more minuses on theirs.
- Values mapping Pull out 5 values for each bullet below from this list:
- Always valued: Genuineness, Impacting People, Performance, Fulfillment, Balance
- Often valued: Growth, Well-Being, Accountability, Communicating, Being a role model
- Sometimes valued: Making money, Persistence, Affiliation, Change & Variety, Experiencing pleasure
- Seldom valued: Frugality, Location, Status, Grace, Pride
Reflect:
- What do these values tell you about yourself
I didn't realize until I looked back at the list that I had 3 different synonyms for genuineness in it. I feel a personal sense of genuineness is the foundation that you build everything else in your life on. It leads to more growth, and more impact. Impact is also incredibly important to me - it's a big part of why I wanted to make a career shift.
Looking at the values at the bottom, too - I guess to sum it all up, I'm more invested in meaningful things. My work and sense of self is tied to how much meaning and impact I can bring in my work.
- Workview & Lifeview
- Summarize what good, worthwhile work means to you (Tip: this is NOT about what work you want to do but about why work matters to you):
In line with what I discovered above, for me, it's all about the impact I'm having. and how well I'm doing. Is my work helping change things for the better? Am I doing that work well? That's what matters to me.
- Lifeview: summarize what you value in life; what matters to you?
This one's hard to sum up. I want to live a life that's fulfilling for myself, too. I really enjoy finding things that are challenging that I can push myself to be good at. That's why performance is pretty high up on my value list - I want to try to be good at anything I do. I guess that's more important to me than I'd like to admit.
That carries through in my relationships, too. I want to be the best brother, son, partner and friend that I can be.
- Where do your views on work and life complement each other?
I think this answer and my answer to the last question will be pretty similar - I put a lot of value in my performance, how good I can be at things - and I think that will definitely feed into my performance at work, as well.
- Where do they clash?
I think the clash lies in how scarily close my work view and life view might be to each other. How do I separate the two?
- Does one drive the other? How?
My drive for performance and impact definitely drives my life view and work view, on equal planes.
Ideas here are adapted from Atomic Habits by James Clear
Habits of a Software Developer
- What do you think are the traits of a good software developer? What are they like in the workplace? What would you as a co-worker think of this person?
Good software developers are collaborative - and not afraid to admit when they don't know something. They're respected colleagues and teammates, and above all, I'd see a good software developer as someone that's consistent and reliable.
- What are the habits that this person demonstrates to embody the identity of a software developer?
I believe the reliability stems from daily habits that the developer may form. The developer wouldn't just be reliable at work - they'd be a reliable friend, family member, and partner. This would manifest in the habit of following through when they say they'll do something, and being honest about when they can't. To be even more specific, their daily routine may be something consistent that they use to build up that identity - they always make their bed, and follow a consistent schedule.
- Who do you want to be as a software developer? What kind of behaviors do you already have in place to be that person? What behaviors would you need to put into place? How will you do that?
I want to fit the description I listed out above - I want to be a reliable person. To help achieve this, I want to cultivate a identity as a more organized person. This will mean more written schedules and reflections. The more I externalize my scheduling and thoughts, the more I can use the extra mental overhead to focus on bettering myself.
As a developer, I want to maximize my proficiency within collaborative workflows. This means becoming proficient on github, learning how to write effective PRs and commit messages, and overall becoming a more thorough communicator. I feel fairly proficient with this already, but I feel with communication there's always room for improvement.
Working on the 1st Law of Behavior Change: Make it Obvious
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Bring self-awareness to your current habits by making a Habits Scorecard. Make a list of your daily habits (examples: wake up, turn off alarm, check phone, etc.) as a way to bring awareness to what you do. Then, decide how effective that habit is for you and your goal of becoming a software developer. Put a + next to habits that are effective; put a - next to habits that are not effective; put a = next to habits that are neutral.
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Pick 1 new habit you'd like to build and create an implementation intention following this template: "I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]." Then, stack the habit onto something you already do: "After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]." (Hint: make this highly specific and immediately actionable)
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Design your environment for success: what changes could you make in your space to better implement your habit? How could you remove any triggers for bad habits? How will you implement these changes?
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Respond after a few days of this implementation: What are your results? How do you feel about this method? How will you move forward with this habit?
Additional Optional Reading: The Five Triggers That Make New Habits Stick
- Habits Reflection:
- How have you seen yourself become more aware of your habits? Have you tried implementing anything new? What have the results been?
This last week, I'll admit I kind of let a lot of habits that I had slip through the cracks. And I did see results come out of that - more negative ones. This applies to my sleep schedule, specifically. And now I'm feeling the difference that comes about when you don't maintain a healthy sleep schedule.
- Start Where You Are (Empathize with the user -- you)
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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?
I'd rate it at a 3 right now. I'm cognizant of the changes I need to make, I'm just not committing to making them yet. Currently, I'm adjusting to what a more intense work environment would feel like and how I should structure my habits around that, so a lot of the habits I had in place to help maintain my physical health have fallen to the wayside. I'd start with my sleep schedule, getting that back on track.
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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?
Primarily, I'm a student. The work I do brings a lot of value to my life, as through this work, I'm nourishing myself and my career by learning a new valuable skillset.
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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?
The things that bring my joy include playing video games, working out, and getting back into drumming. I think the small change that I could make going forward is reimplementing a structure around when I should work and when I don't expect myself to.
- 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?
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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?
Love is manifesting right now in all sorts of different ways. I haven't been able to participate yet, but where I am it's amazing seeing all of the love pouring out in these protests to counteract so much hate. I've tried to contribute where I can with donations, spreading awareness, etc. but I always feel like I could do more.
In other ways, I drove down with my partner to visit our families, and that filled me with SO much love. It's hard with everything else going on, but it's there. -
Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for?
Mainly, not letting the habits I put in place to maintain my physical health. I recognized that those overlapped with what brings me joy, too, so I can't forget those habits.
- Define your needs, problem, and insights:
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 want to make an impact. It's something that's been brought to my attention at Turing - that the tech industry is a HUGE part of the problem in its complicitness with the corrupt systems that are in place. I want to take the skillset I'm learning right now to go out and challenge the norms in the industry and help make tech a place where everyone has a voice. In turn, I'm hoping that we can build things together that make an impact on the current status quo.
- Ideate -- challenge assumptions
When you discussed software developers with your small group, 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?
A lot of assumptions came up about work habits and typical work relationships. Working at your computer all the time, working late nights to meet specs, etc. I'm beginning to learn that there's so much more to it than that, though. I want to get to know more professionals better, and get to know their experiences. What their daily interactions might look like. What their work culture is like. I could go on and on, I think I'm just going to start asking my mentor a lot more questions that aren't necessarily tech related to gain a better understanding of things.
- 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?
I'm not going to let myself get comfortable with the status quo. I'm going to have an impact. I'm going to have a great work-life balance. I'm going to help give others a voice.
- Test –- solutions
Based on this week of reflections, write out your initial vision statement for your career:
With strong leadership skills and an emphasis on intersectionality, I'm going to take my technical skills and build products that help others.
- Habits Reflection:
- How have you seen yourself become more aware of your habits? Have you tried implementing anything new? What have the results been?
I've become more mindful of how my habits affect my physical and mental health - lately with the trip back home and with everything going on I've found it more difficult to maintain healthier habits. I'm going to keep being mindful and seeing what small actionable changes I can make to nudge myself back in the right direction.
- Design Thinking Reflection: Cultivating Beginner's Mind
- How can beginner's mind be helpful when it comes to thinking about your career and job search? What are some habits you could put into place to cultivate beginner's mind regularly?
I felt really excited thinking about how it would help me positively reframe challenges I might face. The element of the beginners' mindset that I feel is the weakest is my ability to move slow. I have to really resist the urge to to want to fly through something - as I mentioned in one of the earlier career journal prompts, I'm very achievement oriented, and I need to reframe that to see gaining understanding is an achievement as well. I'm going to start by teaching myself that it's okay to move slow.
Optional additional reading: How to Cultivate Beginner's Mind to Become a True Expert
- Go through the Flower Exercise brainstorming worksheets linked here. Then complete your Flower Exercise final worksheet here (go to File > Make a copy) and link that finished worksheet here.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10k58kAcqKG-3JinCOR22SwE6jvIYWGuidaXyFLQul-w/edit
- Write out your top 5 strengths that you've seen in action this module; then write out the strengths of a software developer. Where do you see these lists overlapping? Where are they different?
Project planning, task delegation, problem solving, critical thinking, tenacity.
I see software developers as highly collaborative critical thinkers that don't shy away from solving big problems, and I see a lot of my strengths starting to line up. The main difference is I noticed in my group dynamics I found myself taking the lead for planning more often than not, so I'm wondering if eventually that might carry into my career too.
- Write a refined vision statement here (what new things have you discovered this week to incorporate into your vision statement?):
With strong leadership skills and an emphasis on intersectionality, I'm going to take my technical skills and build products and teams that work to help others.
Mod 2 Week 1: Building Habits to Become a Software Developer, Part II Ideas here are adapted from Atomic Habits by James Clear
Reflect on your habits from last module. What behaviors and activities were helpful for you? What activities and behaviors could be more effective for you? What processes would you like to try differently this module to become more effective at your work and as a software developer?
I found having a regular exercise schedule to be beneficial to me - although I also found it really hard to maintain. Overall, just considering about habits that balance out the amount of time I'm going to spend in front of the computer - cooking regularly, getting outside for a while everyday, staying active, drinking enough water and maintaining a regular sleep schedule will all benefit me in some way.
I think cultivating that balance will be a big priority for me this module. Figuring out what that balance means and how I can develop the systems to achieve that balance will be my priority.
Setting intentions for this module: who do I want to be this module? What specific habits would help me get there? How are those habits tied to the identity of a software developer?
I want to be a more active person - starting with just getting outside and doing things for a little while each day. I'd say that making the effort to be outside would probably make a big difference in my ability to learn as a developer. The better I feel physically, the better I'll be able to learn, and therefore the better developer I'll be able to become.
Incorporate temptation bundling to create a new habit by using this template:
After making my breakfast, I will go over my notes and schedule for the day. After going over my notes and schedule for the day, I will roll and stretch.
How to enjoy “hard” habits: Reframe your habits to consider their benefits rather than their drawbacks; name 3 habits that you have to do and explain the benefits of them. How do they further your goals longterm? How will they add to your processes as a successful developer? At the end of the day, how do they add to your life?
Making my breakfast - I think this one's pretty self explanatory, but the mornings that I make the time to make my breakfast, the better my day goes. I'm able to focus better, and ultimately learn more. Making my breakfast also just helps me ease into my day a bit better.
Making my bed - I believe this habit started when I was in university - if my bed looks nice, I'm able to focus better, and the process of making it helps me wake up and get into a good headspace.
Journaling before bed - This one's newer, but the amount of clarity I recieve from dumping all of my feelings onto a piece of paper is amazing. I keep it really open, really with whatever's on my mind that night. It's a nice way of wrapping up the day, and sets me up for even better success the following day.
Environment design (optional 5-min. additional reading: Motivation is Overvalued. Environment Often Matters More): how does your environment set-up currently help you with your habits? How could it be improved to make it easier for you to follow through on your habits?
I think keeping my work to just my desk helps me separate work and play better. Having my hangboard already set up helps me get a few quick pull ups in between breaks - same idea with having my roller on the floor in my room to roll out on breaks as well. My gaming setup is a little too visible, and at the same desk as my laptop - I need to figure out how to separate the two better. Maybe I'll keep my switch in the living room instead.
“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” Read this 4-min article on how to stop procrastinating. Apply the 2-minute rule to reframe 2-3 of your habits by scaling them down into the 2-minute version. How does this reframing help you think about shaping your new identity as a software developer?
Journal before bed - open my journal, write one word. Get outside more often - put my running shoes on. Hangboard - chalk my hands up. I think this way of reframing things really helps me with the most difficult part (personally) of developing habits - starting them out. If I apply this way of thinking to everything I do, I think I'll be able to pick up new habits much faster.
- Assess your habits from week 1: how did you spend your time this past week? What was effective in your habits? What could be more effective? What steps will you take to make that happen?
I got outside and went camping over the long weekend, and it helped me realize how much better I feel the more time I spend active and outside. I let some old habits come back as this week started, but I'm making an effort to remind myself how it felt coming home from that trip, and to see how I can more atomically recreate that feeling. I'm setting a goal to spend at least 5-10 minutes outside, even if it's just on my patio.
- Write a draft of your professional story here as 1-2 paragraphs. Focus on answering the questions who are you, why are you here, and what's next? Consider how to talk about your motives and values, the turning points that led to your career change, and what you envision for yourself going forward.
Hi! My name's Nick Hart. I've always had a passion for the arts and design, and I see the intersection of the two as a more fun approach to problem solving. Following this passion, I graduated from Texas State with a degree in production design. There, I discovered another passion - storytelling.
As I took my first steps into a career as a production designer, I felt like something was missing. While production work was very enriching and rewarding, I felt like I wasn't contributing enough. That's what led me on a new career search - I wanted to find something that kept the elements of storytelling and creativity, while also giving me the opportunity to create more visible, usable products. One thing led to another, and then I found Turing.
Going forward, I want to be the developer that maintains and inspires that creative and playful mindset - because I believe that mindset produces amazing results.
- Update your LinkedIn profile with the following: updated photo/headshot, headline, summary statement using your story, and Turing added to your experience and education sections. Include a link to your profile here in the journal. Remember the guidelines and tips from the lesson here.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hartdesigns/
- What other steps will you take this week to update your branding or practice your story?
I'm going to take a step back and think about how I can better draw on my previous career experience - I'm realizing I have more experience with similar work than I thought. The more I come to recognize the trends within my career, what I enjoy about them, am inherently good at, etc. the better I can tell my story and build my brand.
Assess your habits from week 2: how did you spend your time this past week? What was effective in your habits? What could be more effective? What steps will you take to make that happen?
To be completely honest, I felt a new level of overwhelmed this week, and found it hard to work towards developing good habits. I've grown out of that struggle now, though, and feel like I'm much more capable of focusing on my goals when things get hard. I made time to make and eat lunch, and cleaned up a bit today, so I'm gonna keep that momentum going.
Reflect on how you’ve spent your time so far at Turing to gauge your engagement and energy:
- When have you been excited, focused, and enjoyed your work?
When I feel empowered - there's no more exciting or satisfying feeling than solving that one problem you've been stuck on. I've found myself to be in a place where that happens more often when I'm taking care of business outside of coding. - When have you felt bored, restless, or unhappy?
When I don't make an effort to maintain a regular healthy schedule around coding - enough sleep, good food, clean working space. - When do you feel energized in your work?
When I feel like I'm gaining momentum, and work is moving at a faster, more productive pace. - When is your energy drained? When work slows down, and my team feels stuck. My energy level is driven a lot by the pace of the work environment - the faster and more efficient, the better.
Setting up habits and routines to make time for the job search this module:
- Block out time on your calendar this week to work on your job search. When will you make this happen? How will you hold yourself accountable to this? What activities will you focus on during this time this week? What outcomes do you hope to reach by the end of this week because of these activities?
I'm doing it right now, actually - starting by outlining my goals here, and then moving on to a little more research. My goal is to identify the qualities in companies I find exciting, and then I'll list them here. Specifically, in a list just under this paragraph.
Right off the bat, in a listing on builtIn in Austin (where I'm from), I see a listing for a company called Iodine Software. Things that stand out:
- a highly diverse leadership team
- sounds very mission oriented - talking about leading a healthcare revolution with their product. I'm about that.
- Again, something about a company with a goal of making an impact like this is really exciting
- their benefits package is definitely a nice bonus
Same idea with a company I found off { key: value } - it's called Honor, and is all about helping older adults live in their own homes as they age. Again, something about such a mission driven business is really compelling. I'd keep going here but I think should start keeping a better record of this somewhere else
Applying wayfinding to using job search resources
- Go through the resources listed here and explore 2-3 tools. List what you looked at here:
- builtIn, specifically for ATX
- { key: values }
- more builtIn, looking at listings at CO though
- Apply wayfinding: of what you looked at, what did you discover that aligns with your vision? If it didn't align with your vision, what will you try next? In general, mission/impact driven businesses are the ones that appeal to me the most. There's the other things that stand out, like programs that emphasize a culture of growth, and mentorship programs, but the mission is what really comes first for me. And it's not really a mission that associated with any specific market, either - in general a company that is founded on the basis of trying to make a change (at first glance) feels like the kind of place that I would want to be.
- Find a job posting that aligns with your vision. What's the posting? How does it align with what you're looking for? Add it to your Huntr.
Iodine Software, on builtIn ATX. The very first sentence talks about their mission to make healthcare better - that was the first thing that stood out. - What next steps will you take to explore that opportunity and find contacts? Add that information to your Huntr card. I'm going to start within the Turing network and reach out to Texas alumni - and see if they have any info on connections in Austin.
Ideas here are adapted from Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Assess your habits from week 3: how did you spend your time this past week? What was effective in your habits? What could be more effective? What steps will you take to make that happen?
This past week had been rough - I recieved the news that I was going to have to go into a full quarantine because of my roommate's coworker. The psychological effect of not even being able to go outside kind of took its toll, and I let myself regress into some pretty unhealthy habits. I'm out of that now, though, and I better understand how to counteract those thoughts and urges. I'm using mindfulness to help my steps going forward, and trying to remind myself how I felt when I was in the midst of those unhealthy habits - and using those reminders as motivation to not let myself slip back into the state that I was in.
- Implement a reiforcement strategy: to make one of your habits more satisfying, what is a reward you can give yourself immediately after completing the habit? How will this reward encourage you to continue completing that habit?
I'm still figuring out how to directly implement this - I've actually found the feeling of accomplishment alone to be enough to reinforce some of the habits I'm trying to implement. For example, I'm making a point to do at least one challenge on codewars a day. I've found that most of the time the excitement from figuring out one challenge was enough for me to want to keep going, and as a result I'm more often than not doing at least a few a day.
In general though, the first idea that comes to mind as a reward would be time to watch some of my favorite shows. So I work for a bit, watch some of the show on a break, and then rinse and repeat.
- "Don't Break the Chain": Use a habit tracker
- What is a habit that you want to make sure to do every day? How could you visually cue yourself to complete it (i.e., moving a paper clip)? How can you visually track it each time you've completed it? Could you automate the tracking? How will you do that?
As I mentioned above, one of my newest goals has been to complete at least one code challenge a day. I have a calendar hung up on my wall now, and each day that I complete a challenge, I mark it with an X on the calendar.
- Need help? Check out one of these habit tracking apps
- How to get back on track when missing a habit: if you miss a day or two of completing your habit, how will you get yourself going again?
I like using the 15 minute rule - set a 15 minute timer and tell yourself to use that time to just get started. Most of the time, you'll want to keep going after that. The trick is getting yourself to get started.
- Pick an accountability partner (your cohort accountabilibuddy, your mentor, a close friend, etc.) and create a habit contract with them. How often will you check in with each other? How will they hold you accountable?
My partner and I always go back and forth about our goals - she's pretty good about helping me stay on track.
Review your habit tracker: how did you monitor your habit(s)? What does this tell you about your overall progress becoming the person you want to be? In general, how satisfied are you with how you spent your time this module? What could be improved next module?
I've been keeping up with the concepts from the "don't break the chain" article. It's a really awesome tool for reflection on what a helpful habit looks like to me, as well as how I'm willing to structure my time around maintaining that habit. I definitely struggled a bit as far as time management has gone this module, but I'm starting to find a rhythm for myself. I'm definitely getting closer to becoming the person I want to be, so I'd consider how I've spent most of my time as a success. My goal is to just keep this momentum going into the rest of my Turing career.
Mind Maps:
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- Engagement. What did you reflect on before in regards to when you're engaged in your work at Turing? Pull out an idea that resonates with you most (e.g., "Talking through a problem with a partner," "The moment when I solve a problem that I previously didn't know how to do," "Setting up a successful project management process for my team") and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
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- Energy. What did you reflect on before in regards to when you feel most energized in your work at Turing? Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
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- Flow. When have you had an experience recently in which you were in a state of flow? You can also think about this as "joy" or "play." Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
Prototype your mind maps: what do these mind maps tell you about what's important to you as a software developer? What questions do they bring up about what you still want to learn about this career?
The first thing that comes to mind is the idea of being challenged - for example, I reflected on the experience of overcoming a challenge that I was previously unable to do for the first mind map, and I can say that the absence of something challenging would completely detract how engaged I am. Same thing with energy and flow - a lot of my energy and enjoyment comes from the excitement that is associated with facing and overcoming a challenge.
I guess from my previous point then, my question is - how do you keep things from becoming monotonous as a software developer?
Prototype your outreach: (Be prepared to share this in your small group discussion)
- Who comes to mind as a person you can reach out to? Why that person? What questions would you ask them? Come up with 2-3 people here to serve as prototypes
- someone at a company that I'm interested in, specifically not a Turing alum. Reaching out to them will be good practice for cold outreaches - and overall a beneficial experience as far as networking goes. I'd be asking them pretty general questions about their career path, just to gain a broader perspective on the routes into the tech world.
- a Turing alum in the texas alums channel, preferably someone working in the Austin area. As someone who wants to eventually move back home and build a career there, I'd love to get to know someone who accomplished a goal similar to mine. I'd probably ask more specifically about the tech scene in Austin, and how they got to where they are. Again, the more insight I can get into how I can get my foot in the door, the better.
- How would this outreach help you further your job search strategy?
My job search strategy is going to be based more in building connections than playing the numbers game. The more practice I can get with building connections, the better my odds will be. So, both of the initial ideas above will be great practice for exactly that.
Outreach & Networking Plan: Based on your reflections above, create a concrete plan for your outreach:
- Who is the right person for you to reach out to? Someone in the Texas Alumni channel.
- How will you find them? How do you know they’re the right person? I'm going to keep it simple and start with posting in the channel asking who's in Austin and willing to chat. This early on, my goal is to simply to warm up connections and get more comfortable with cold outreaches/putting myself out there.
- How will you reach out? My plan will be to introduce myself on slack and to offer a few time slots where we could maybe have a slack call.
- What questions do you need to ask them? I'd like to simply get to know them and how they got to Austin, as well as ask about any possible insights on the tech scene there that they'd have to offer.
- How will you use this information to further your solution? The information would help inform my next steps and help me get more specific with what companies I should look at.
- How will you follow up? I'll send them another message on slack with specific details and any other possible questions about their work I'd have. Possibly with the goal of having a second call.
Execute your plan:
- Reach out to your contact THIS WEEK. If possible, reach out to more than one person OR find a meetup to attend also. What happened? What other next steps should you take? If this is a person connected to a company you're interested in, be sure to add it to your Huntr card.
Just posted on the alumni channel! Going to give it some time and then reach out to someone more specifically - but wanted to see if anyone was going to respond first.