On to another year
As we look at the year ahead of us, it is usually a time to reflect on the past year and prepare ourselves for the new year ahead.
Many of us have looked back at the last 2 years and have felt the weight of navigating through the pandemic, adjusting to changes, and in the process learning more about ourselves and our limits.
So I wanted to take this moment to share some personal learnings and experiences with you, as we embark on new beginnings, and leave you with some things to ponder, as you reflect and look forward to the new year.
#1 — Rest
I’m someone who has been guilty of not taking enough downtime, and I tend to underestimate how much rest I actually need. 2021 was a year where I actively applied resting in various forms and being ok with doing so.
Growing up, I felt immense guilt taking any idle time during the holidays and would spend this time pouring over textbooks in preparation for the year ahead. That work ethic stayed with me into adulthood and I would feel immense guilt if I didn’t spend my time being productive.
Being in the Tech industry required constant study and I spent my free time learning, trying to keep up with best practises and trends and growing my knowledge, keen to learn “everything”. While learning is a good habit, I missed a trick — I overexerted myself and burnt out. The same applied to my work in the community, I felt a huge responsibility to keep going, and pressure to keep the momentum in giving back to others. Again I burnt out.
So, I took a step back and reflected on how I was spending my time, what I wanted to spend my time on, and not feel guilty about taking a break. I even said no to opportunities because I felt it would compromise how much energy I’d need to dedicate in order to deliver what I needed for an engagement (sometimes only a few days’ notice to prepare). With a demanding role and responsibilities, I realised I wasn’t being realistic in saying yes to every request to contribute to extracurricular activities.
What did I change?
Nothing groundbreaking, just tweaks that I needed to actively add as part of my routine
- I started taking lunch away from the computer. I’d use that time to go for a walk, cross stitch or even nap.
- I walk before and after work, using that time to defrag my mind, to mentally prepare or reflect on the day.
- I shut the world out. As an introvert, in my downtime, I need to be alone to recharge, which means not responding to others until I am ready. The unread SMS or email sitting in my inbox can wait a while if it’s not urgent. I turned off notifications a while ago so I don’t get distracted.
- I stopped learning for a while. I became overwhelmed with keeping up with my learning schedule, so I took a break. Learning should be enjoyable, and not a chore. So I now learn in smaller chunks and learnt to be ok with taking a break if it’s overwhelming.
- I took a break with commitments and also said no. Setting boundaries is important to preserve your energy and also allow you to prioritise what’s important or most valuable use of your time.
For the holidays, I’ve been spending more time doing things I enjoy and doing nothing at all, and not feeling guilty about resting. While I’m feeling more recharged now, I know it’s important to keep that going throughout the year and monitor energy levels.
If you’re interested in the types of rest you need, check out this TED article on The 7 types of rest that every person needs.
#2 — Ask for Help
Seems logical, when you need help, ask for help. Except, sometimes you don’t know you need help or you think you can apply a bit more energy to get through the challenge/task/goal you’re on.
I’m someone who does not ask for help often. I’m also someone who needs to rubber duck as a way of seeking help, with the act of talking out loud to defrag what’s happening. Not everyone realises that I operate this way, and I realised that I needed to spell this out to others.
Similar to working on a task, you do a bit of an investigation, come up with options, rubber duck initially with someone and course correct as you work through the task, and as issues arise.
Sometimes some problems are beyond your control, so you need to determine what you can do that is within your control, and when you need help when it’s outside of what you can control. There were a few light bulb moments in the year, where no amount of energy was going to affect the change that was needed on my own, and that it was ok to ask for help, not everything needed to rest on my shoulders. In fact this leads to burnout and you need to watch for the signs early and often.
I also realised that there are people in my network who I should rubber duck with more often, and have set up regular cadence to provide the environment to talk out loud.
#3 — Values
We’re all motivated by different things, and when we are engaged with activities that align to our values, we often will feel a greater sense of purpose and that spurs us on to keep going.
When you find you are now working against the grain, against what you value, it can start to demotivate you.
As I went through the year, I kept coming back to a few questions — What do I value? What do I want to spend my time on? Where am I heading? What is the impact I’d like to leave on humanity?
I mapped out the answers to these questions during the year and it was clear to me that I needed to make changes to course correct where I was going.
If you would like a framework, I highly recommend this Values Exercise by a friend who has helped many people align back to what they value.
#4 — Goals can change
Every year, I sit down and think about my goals. I spend a day reflecting on the year — what I’ve done, what I enjoy, where I want to spend my time, and then devise a plan on these goals, as well as how to be more effective on the plan. Example: front load and plan activities earlier in the year so they land throughout the year.
I won’t cover goal setting in this post (a post for another time), but I will say that it’s a good idea to revisit goals on a regular basis. The cadence is up to you. For me, I like a deep dive every quarter and I apply a technique similar to the 4L’s retro to align myself back to where I want to go.
Sometimes though, if it’s a busy period, or there are challenges which need more attention, it’s not realistic to add extra pressure to keep on track. So that means that goals can go off track or need to be paused. And, that’s ok. This used to get me down, because I felt I was not progressing towards my goals “fast enough”. You just need to adjust, and come back to it when the time is right.
If you’re interested in reading about goal setting, here is a great post by a friend of mine, A developer’s guide to setting and smashing career goals.
#5 — Being creative
As I looked back at 2021, I realised I put pressure on myself to keep up with a lot.
What I realised was that I didn’t allow myself time to be creative, learn new skills or take on activities that were not related to tech. By being creative you actually recharge, balance stress and can come back to problems with a different perspective.
A friend of mine spent a year embarking on 20 sewing projects, with each project, she learnt a new skill as she moved through creating different garments.
For someone who has a demanding role, where feedback cycles take a longer time to realise, particularly if you are no longer cutting code and resolving tasks is not something you do anymore, embarking on these types of activities recharges you.
If you’re interested in the theory behind this, check out The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile.
#6 — Learning differently
As mentioned above, I’m someone who grew up with a particular work ethic and learning regimen. So I needed to balance that intensity with different techniques on how to keep learning while not burning out.
I took a break and I didn’t feel guilty. I was feeling overloaded and needed time away to recharge myself before consuming the next heavy resource on my learning list.
One of the things I do is to subscribe to everything. That way I’m surrounded by content that I’m interested in and can vary what I learn. Early on, I learnt that learning can take many forms, from reading books, reading articles, practical learning and watching videos. As technology and the industry progressed, I also came across meetups and podcasts which were added to the list. So as I was coming out of the “feeling overloaded” phase, I utilised this technique and would incorporate one item at a time per week at first, to ease myself back into the ramp up of learning. For example, I’d start with reading one article and that’s what I learnt for the week.
The other thing I do is I take notes when learning, I find this helps concepts stick. I have moved away from just words on paper to diagramming, because I realised that I am more visual as a learner and I can digest a picture more effectively than words on a page.
Lastly, learn something fun. Give your brain a chance to consume something unrelated to your career or goals.
#7 — Time spent on others
I’m someone who is driven to help others in the community, and I enjoy seeing others thrive in an environment where they enjoy learning. This is tied to my value of “What impact do I want to leave on humanity?”. However, as the demands of my 9–5 role increases, I realised that I needed to change where and how I spend my time.
Working on podcasts and articles certainly helps with scaling myself to others, and is going to be a continual journey to keep scaling the contribution back to the community and industry.
Many companies and individuals reach out to get involved with the non-profit I volunteer with, and all of these interactions require arranging time to meet, give information and organise follow up activities. Whilst the involvement is welcome, there is a lot of work behind the scenes to make things happen. During the year, if myself or the team didn’t have capacity, we owned up to that and took a break.
I have also shied away from actively joining mentoring programs because of the impact this has on work life balance and spending time with people like my spouse, family and friends. There have been instances in the past year, where women in the industry have reached out for advice and help, and while I enjoy coaching and mentoring them, I also realise that it’s not sustainable for me to continue doing this. For a while, I felt incredibly guilty because I am someone who wants to give back. I also know that I need to balance my energy, and there will be other opportunities when the timing is right.
Final thoughts
I hope the experiences I’ve shared will help you with how you reflect on your year, goal setting, as well as strategies to help you as you embark on the year.
Remember to listen to what you need, whether it’s how you balance your energy, support you will need from others or what you value. Remember to be kind to yourself, adjust as the year progresses and remember to have fun.
I’m excited about what 2022 will bring. I will endeavour to apply these experiences throughout the year, and I’m sure I will learn some more this year.
