Chillstep it up:
As I sit and listen to a new and exciting music genre called "chillstep", I contemplate everything I've done so far with Dev Bootcamp. The beat moves slow and the bass rumbles through the house. I've got a good deal of work ahead of me and time is running. There I sit and realize that this particular rabbit hole I've climbed down is very much in line with my thinking style.
Abstract Random
According to a quiz I took recently as part of the DBC curriculum, I have what's called an Abstract Random thinking style. I pretty much fully expected my quiz results to be insignificant because how often have I taken an online quiz and ended up in Hufflepuff? Too many damn times that's how many. It wasn't until the list described my personality extremely accurately that I gave any pause. Abstract Random thinkers tend to go off in a ton of directions at once. They work better when there isn't tight restrictions. They also have a hard time concentrating on one thing at a time. Sounds like me. Man this chillstep song is good.
Thus far in phase zero I feel like I've been managing pretty well. But there are definitely things I've been doing that I feel need to be dealt with. For example, I go down rabbit holes way more often than I mean too. I'll find something interesting and end up researching it for an hour. Then I'll look at the clock and be like..."No way that was a whole hour". It's times like these, deep into a chillstep bass drop, that I think about implementing some new strategies.
Now I've already started to timebox more effectively but I feel like I could be even more strict with myself. Tomorrow (and the start of each week here on) I'll be writing up a personal itinerary including everything I need to have turned in at the end of the week and what days/times I plan to complete each portion. I feel like having a calendar that I need to follow will help me to focus on the task at hand. Also, I've found I work more diligently when I'm able to cross something off a list once accomplished.
Though it's only been three weeks and all of the work has been done from my parents house surrounded by fields and farm in Western New York, I can't help but already feel like I've entered small community. It's really great to be able to put questions or hangups to the group at any time. However, I'll admit that an online "work on your own" setting is not my ideal situation. I long for the upcoming in person portion of DBC. I look forward to making friends in the office around me and not having to deal with all the emailing. Though, yes I understand there will still be emailing, I just work better when I'm surrounded by other people working just as hard. But that's still EIGHT WEEKS AWAY?!?!
I guess there's nothing to be done in the meantime but to optimize my learning capabilities when I'm on my own. I've commited myself to maintaining a growth mindset throughout this process and dagnabbit I'm gonna grow! After all, I won't always be working with others and I have been noticing how frustrated I can get after spending a long time stumped on a challenge. So let's fix that shall we? Let's learn from my failures and grow...like a chillstep pre chorus!
So what's the deal? Why did I get so frustrated? Well, I hadn't eaten much yet so let's start with that. A good breakfast is the key to success or so my pediatrician tells me. But that's not all. I've noticed that the times I get really frustrated are happening whenever I feel like something is taking me too long. When the frustration kicks in, productivity drops. I end up working myself up and stop breaking the problem down.
Oh no. Is it? I think it is… time for a
Sweeping Declaration!
Henceforth whenever I feel myself getting frustrated I will consider the following:
- Take fifteen. Go stare at the sky and breathe. In and out. You can do it.
- What's the problem? Write it out.
- Break down the problem? Which part don't I understand?
- Why don't I understand?
- Is this something I should set aside for an office hours session?
- If no progress is made within 15 minutes of taking a break, set the problem aside.
- Come back later or get help.
I'm really hoping that this approach will cut back on unnecessary time spent researching questions that very well may not even be important questions to ask. Whatever may come, I'll maintain the growth mindset. Or you know I could always go into chillstep.
As always thanks for reading,
- Ricky