That’s been a rather bumpy ride, although I did manage to stay sane throughout the first module, and made it to almost every webinar (aside a few I overslept, it is a tad challenging to wake your tired body up at 3 in the morning).
What did you do well? I enjoyed the learning a lot, so planning the activities and allocating a few hours daily on reading, working on challenges, and posting in the forum wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. I think I did pretty well in terms of submitting my works and writing journal entries on time, and keeping the quality up as well.
I also enjoy the fact that I’ve been using my journal to master React better, and now using its code to update my portfolio website. That went rather well.
What did you learn? I think I managed to learn much more than I initially expected to. Starting from how to write critical reflective journal and process every experience in and on, to channelling creativity and turning creative power into a muscle, rather than expecting the inspiration to kick in.
I discovered a few amazing titles: from ‘Essential Scrum’ and ‘Agile Foundations’ to ‘Unlocking Creativity’ and ‘The Design Thinking Playbook’: I even wrote my reviews on the latter two and got responses from the respective authors, which was unexpected and cool.
From the practical standpoint, I picked up a few nice design tools (Framer, Excalidraw) and some great canvases (Opposite Thinking, SCAMPER). Most importantly, however, I learnt how to communicate better: I was quite shy and anxious to post blog entries and write comments before, but now it feels very natural. I (almost) overcame my anxiety and finally started blogging on a regular basis (not only on design-related topics). That’s an important interpersonal milestone in my books.
What should you do differently in the next module? To second Jesse’s point: comment more frequently on others’ posts, make sure to check the replies and respond on time.
I need to set up a clear way of tracking my SMART goals — a panel on the website might do just fine. I have not forgotten about the goals I set up miday (nor of any other goals I added to list on the way), but it might be helpful to see them more frequently and check whether I have achieved them.
What still puzzles you? I still have a long way to go, and I think the previous week made me think a lot about my future perspectives and what I want to focus on. I think my priorities and aspirations puzzle me more than the module’s structure or the CRJ requirements.
Reviewing the SMART goals
A few weeks back, I set up a few SMART goals to help me become a better practitioner (and a better person). It is a good time I revisit the goals and review which of them I eventually managed to achieve.
Goal 1 I shall publish the forum entries and make sure to respond to at least 3 posts every week throughout the entire duration of my studies. This will help me communicate better with the people I barely get to talk to, and help make new connections.
Partially accomplished. I managed to respond to a few posts each week: however, some weeks, I only had a chance to post a single response. For the next module, I should be more active and monitor the amount of posts I make in the forum.
Goal 2 I shall implement a more flexible personal plan using Kanban with clear objectives and a roadmap, not bound by items in the to–do lists, but by achievable goals. I shall set up a planning board by the end of this sprint, and use it as a base for my personal learning planning.
Accomplished. I started using Kanban for personal planning, plan out the deliverables on Sunday, and running little retro sessions every two weeks, optimising the plan according to my ‘velocity’.
Goal 3 For the upcoming assignments of this module, I shall only use the software I am unfamiliar with. This way, I will manage to challenge myself, learn new things, master new techniques.
Partially accomplished. I completed my second rapid ideation using Open Source software (except final implementation). I keep challenging myself and want to continue doing so moving forward.
Goal 4 I should be active in the community — join their daily and weekly discussions, leave at least 5 comments each week in their Discord chats, and participate in the webinars they host every month.
Accomplished. I made a few new connections via Discord, had plenty of amazing chats with the community members, and got much more active online that ever before. I would love to keep it up and be much more proactive in building a network of personal and professional connections.