- 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?
The behaviors and activities that were helpful for me last mod were definitely in my time management and focus on sticking to my schedule. Making sure lunch was a dedicated no-coding hour to eat, go on a walk, etc was extremely helpful to maintaining my focus and energy throughout the day. Also taking an hour break after school from 4-5 to do the same. I tried to stop coding by 9pm and generally was able to follow that, and be in bed and/or asleep by 10/1030. The behaviors I want to try differently this mod are keeping better track of my questions and asking them as soon as possible, additionally asking for help as soon as I'm needing it - ignoring my innate sense that needing help will be a bother to someone else.
- 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 organized, energized, confident in my abilities and understanding. The habits that will help to get me there are a set bed time, timeblocked study time, consistently taking breaks, good, deep sleep, and finding time to move my body. These habits are tied to the identity of a software developer in that devs are organized, focused, determined, thoughtful people that manage their jobs, personal life, and success in healthy ways.
- Incorporate temptation bundling to create a new habit by using this template:
After I wake up at my first alarm, I will get directly out of bed. After I get directly out of bed, I will make myself coffee.
After I make myself coffee, I will do a short workout(15/20min). After the workout, I will puruse social media or watch a tv show while I eat breakfast.
- 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?
Habit 1: Getting directly out of bed in the morning - will make waking up easier and consistent and give me more time to accomplish things before school. This will help me maintain my routine and give me more time to focus my brain on the day ahead, rather than focus on being tired. This habit will show me that I am capable of doing something I put my mind to (even something that in the past I would have considered impossible) Habit 2: Doing a short workout/moving my body every day. This will not only help me sleep better and wake up more energized each day, it will help relieve stress and remind me to stretch my shoulders and back to help counteract the strain of working at a desk all day. This will also help with my focus by relieving pent up energy and allowing me to focus fully on the tasks at hand. This will also benefit my physical health overall. Habit 3: Timeblocking my studying/coding. It's become increasingly apparent to me that Turing will take up as much space as I give it, and I want to be more consistent about setting limits on my time. This will give me the space to find time for workouts and going to bed on time to facilitate getting up earlier. This will also help me provide boundaries for myself about when and for how long I can work on school work each day. This is important for my future as a dev because I will have time limits and deadlines to meet in my career, and being able to provide more focused work time in smaller chunks will make me more productive overall.
- 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?
My current environment is pretty helpful to my habit goals currently. My workspace is in a separate room which means that creating a boundary between work and play is quite easy in my apartment which I feel very lucky for. I also live alone which limits my distractions. Due to the current state of the world, workouts generally happen at home anyway, so my yoga mat and 'workout space' (aka my living room) are readily available and in eyesight at all times. The harder part of this is that I live in an apartment building with downstairs neighbors, so any jumping/cardio based workouts are limited to certain hours out of respect for them. But I do also have easy access to lots of Denver parks and outdoor space. Perhaps an adjustment per the limitations of my environment (eg neighbors) would be doing softer/lighter workouts in the AMs like yoga or low impact movement.
- “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?
2 min habit updates: Rather than getting out of bed immediately, turn my light on and sit up a bit. Moving my body every day - I have a cohort-mate who does 1 minute planks every POM, which is a good way to get blood pumping and wake up your body. That's a great start, I think, maybe setting a goal of 2-3 POM planks every day to start, and adding more movement later on. Today I tried doing the POM plank while my instagram stories were playing so I could combine my love of mindlessly scrolling instagram with some body movement!