The (more than) 11 things I’ve Learned In the Past Month
Burn Out, Wipe Out, Crash… are some of the words that could have described me if I wasn’t a fast learner.
This post will take a step back and look at what’s going on behind the scenes. If you’ve read any of the previous posts, you might have figured out that I run a startup that is launching soon, but what you might not know is that I also attend a coding bootcamp for mobile engineering. The bootcamp hosted by The Iron Yard is an intense 12 week school where you go into a physical location 5days/week and learn to code. From day one you create an app and every day after that, you learn and improve on your engineering, design, and soft skills to prepare you for a full-time software engineering job. Cool, right? It’s really paying off already since I started using some of the soft skills in everyday life and in the company/work life.
I do, of course, have to have a social life of some sort, so I kinda just meet people at coffee shops and eventually get to know them better and hangout with them. For example, last Sunday I met an interesting couple who this weekend, I am doing a photoshoot with. Or last night I met a photographer and a Saudi Arabian girl. The girl and I hung out for a while last night and had a good time, but It’s interesting how easy it is to meet new people. I kinda brought up my hobby when I mentioned doing a photoshoot.
Yes, on my weekends I like to take pictures of people in front of colourful places. Most of my clients (though I don’t charge anyone $) are instagram models (of sorts). I’m not really that good at photography, but my father is a talented aviation photoger and helps me edit the pics, so the pictures always turn out looking professional, to the point where career photographers complement the work.
So my definition of a busy lifestyle is one in which I have something to do at all hours of the day and there really is not time for Netflix. So, I have a lot that I do…But here are a couple of things that I’ve learned from a busy lifestyle. Maybe my insight or tips can help some of y’all who have similar lives and don’t know what to do.
- Being very busy isn’t as bad as it sounds, and it gets easier (sort of). When I first started, I had no idea how I was going to get through the next week. I definitely takes a different mind set and a positive one at that.
- My calendar continues to save my butt. You will forget a lot of dates. In fact time doesn’t really exist for me anymore. There is just day and night and caffeine. You might need your phone to tell you it’s your mom’s birthday or that it is Saturday morning.
- Quiet time is a must have. I don’t know if I could stress this enough even If I used CAPS and “!!!!!!” This is extremely important if you don’t want to burnout. Just take 20–30 min a day by yourself away from everything. Block out the world and all the noise that comes with it. Whether that looks like meditation, leisure reading, going on a walk, or just having a good meal/snack by yourself, do it, you won’t regret it.
- You WILL get good at using your time wisely OR you will crash and burn. You really have to figure out how much time you have to do your work before your body needs its daily fuel and cooldown. This brings me to the next two points.
- Planning your day Out Your Day Out will save your butt. When days get busy the first thing you should do would be to take 5–10 minutes to plan. Figure out how much time each task will take then try to take on the hardest tasks first. It gets really easy to put off the hard things then not realize how long it takes to complete those tasks (when it’s 2 in the morning).
- Get your required fuel or die. Get enough sleep and eat healthy, balanced meals. Your body will reward you with focus, energy, and with occasional happiness.
- Taking breaks will also save your day. You need to give your brain a break every now and then. It should be about once an hour. Just get up walk around for 5 min. Just something to let your mind rest. I would go into the psychology behind all of the rest stuff, but I don’t feel like typing down all the references.
- Follow my Karate instructor’s advice: Empty your cup. “Emptying your cup” just means that before you go from task to task, take time to clear your mind of what you finished and focus on what’s next. Some people like to add in “check your previous work” to emptying your cup. It just allows for better work flow.
- Learn to apologize. I’ve noticed that the more people you meet, the more people you’ll probably get the opportunity to disappoint. It’s bound to happen. You’re going to forget someone at some point or another. Just learn to give a decent apology.
- Learning to Learn again may be needed. It took me learning how to learn again when I was tasked with taking in large amounts of information in short periods of time. It might take getting to know yourself better in order to adapt to new environments.
- It comes down to Discipline. In the end, things are only going to get done if you put your mind and body to it. You have to be committed enough to sacrifice the things you don’t need for the things that need to get done. And it takes discipline, which I don’t have have yet, but I’m working hard on.
- A positive attitude will make a hard day easy. If you can train your mind to think positive about every circumstance, it gets a lot harder to see a day any less than fun. You’ll start finding good in everything and even finding purpose in the lesser enjoyed parts of the day.
- Learning from my mistakes has becomes a habit that I picked up quick. I make so many mistakes daily, but each mistake that I make teaches me something new about other people of even about myself. I learn the most when I’m in the process of failing.
- When You get behind, the only thing you can do is work harder and become even more focused and determined to reach your goal. Right now this blog is behind, but I set a time to complete it and deploy it even though this time is normally used to relax once I get home. The feeling of getting things accomplished comes in second to rest, but being accomplished and being well-rested is the best.
Those are just some of the things I’ve learned over the past month.
Thanks for reading!
