Reflections - 07/08/2024

Reflecting

The below paragraphs are collections of various reflections I’ve had either with friends, coworkers, or on my own. They are summarised significantly but I believe they will do justice to getting the point across. As always, reach out if you have any questions or strongly disagree with my conclusions :).

How can you possibly learn if you do not fail?

Planning

A pattern I’ve noticed in my work, both personal and professional, is a tendency to overplan. The need for systems diagrams, mockups, and whatever other planning tools fit the projects I work on was a constant need. I felt that getting started was always the hardest part of any project, and this is still true. Oftentimes finding that spark of inspiration or setting the correct course at the very start of a project felt necessary. To an extent, this is a good problem to have. It has saved me from countless mistakes that would have crippled a project otherwise and set me back. On the other hand it comes at a great cost, with the currency bening time. It takes a ton of time to plan out projects to a high degree. Especially when it comes to complex professional projects. Recently, I’ve started to move away from this habit trying to trim down the planning phase. I allow myself a handful of post-it notes worth of planning space. Everything for my project needs to fit onto this area and be handwritten. If it doesn’t fit, it probably isn’t important enough to matter at this very moment. I feel that this new method of planning is working fairly well. It keeps my ideas constrained and allows me to focus on the core of a task without too many branching thoughts. This leads to more work being done faster.

WFH

The work from home vs in office debate is one that I have always found interesting. Personally, I find a fully working from home experience to be unbearable. It’s not for a lack of trying either, I have genuinely given my all to a work from home setup for weeks at a time and found my productivity tanking. The affordances and environment of an office space where the core intention is work is something I find very valuable. I personally find that trying to mix my living space, i.e. home, with my work life is just not something I can do. The separation between those worlds needs to be absolute, and not just in regards to the mindset one adopts when working, but also in regards to physical space. I’ve found a similar effect to be true when trying to study for exams. Studying at home is substantially less effective for me compared to studying at a library or generally just anywhere on campus. I suppose the actions of others in the environment are also a key factor here. If I am surrounded by people working, I will feel more inclined to also work. Overall, the idea of an everything space where one works, relaxes, studies, etc, is one I find conflicting and counter productive. I strongly believe I need separate physical spaces for separate mental modes to truly be productive.