3G Keys
Hey! If you’re reading this, you’re cool and I consider you my friend.
I plan on reflecting on my experience each week and condensing them into key lessons to share in these weekly posts.
These posts will follow the format 3G Keys where you can get catch a glimpse of my reflection process where I structure my learnings into three practices: gratitude, growth, and giving, or you can skip right to the TLDR key summary of these learnings at the bottom.
I’m Grateful for ...
Having Conversations
I found my conversations with my friends and colleagues at work to be an excellent source of motivation throughout this week. Whether it was over Zoom or a socially distanced walk, these conversations exposed me to many new ideas and helped me flesh out the ideas covered in this article.
Documenting my Experiences
Having a record of what I’ve learned throughout the week provided a lot of ideas to refer back to when I’m reflecting on my experiences. In my first week as a developer intern, I took notes on unfamiliar and interesting concepts covered throughout my conversations. This documentation process was very enjoyable because of this chrome extension which provided a clean and focused writing experience on Google Docs.
Distraction-Free for Google Docs
Prioritizing Sleep
I’ve never regretted a good night’s worth of sleep. I spend a third of my life sleeping, so I might as well get good at it. For the past month, I woke up at the same time consistently without an alarm clock. Because of that, I could get in a morning jog and read a couple of chapters to feel refreshed and inspired for work. I attribute a lot of my productivity this week to the practices outlined for promoting better sleep in this podcast on the science of neuroplasticity: The Huberman Lab Podcast
I’m Growing by...
Addressing FOMO
I uninstalled social media like Instagram and Facebook Messenger from my phone. found myself a lot less stressed recently. Don’t get me wrong, I did not abandon social media completely. I still use my personal laptop to check up on my messages on social media. But I no longer have the urge to hop on social media to stay updated on my friends’ latest messages and posts when I am on my phone.
I cannot stress how much of a difference that intention has helped me stay focused on work. During the workday, I designate my work laptop for work and only work. Nothing else. And that separation of concerns helped me overcome the fear of missing out on any work obligations because I know that at the end of my workday, I can close my work laptop and let go of any work-related thoughts so I can enjoy the rest of my evening free of the FOMO from work.
Attending Standups
In my first week as a developer intern, I was pleasantly surprised by how effective daily standup meetings can be for productivity. My team would have a video call at 2:00 in the afternoon, and we would each answer three questions:
What did we do since the last meeting
What obstacles or blockers we’re each facing
What we plan on doing
These meetings were productive and helped me stay accountable. I felt motivated to stay focused and get work done before and after each meeting because I knew my team was going to check up on my progress at work. During the actual meeting, I was able to voice out any technical challenges that were blocking my progress. This allowed me to quickly schedule an additional meeting during stand-up to get support from my team to resolve this blocker with intention.
Bullet Journalling
The format of this article was inspired by my bullet journaling habit that I’ve started this week. I find this format to be an excellent way to structure my thoughts into developing practices. This process takes less than 5 minutes for me in the morning to prime my thinking to be more appreciative and growth-oriented by focusing on practices throughout the day.
I’m Giving by...
Writing Articles
This weekly commitment to reflect on my experiences and condensing them into key lessons to share with others gives me a goal to strive towards each week. The thought of others reading this article made the writing and reflection process much more fulfilling and fun.
Sharing Ted Talks
I tend to ramble when I’m sharing a lesson I find meaningful. Usually, these lessons are inspired by an unordered and cluttered list of notes that I’ve taken. I found that the lack of organization in my notes usually translate a lack of organization in how I articulate these ideas when I’m sharing them with a friend.
I want to convey what I’ve learned more articulately. Structuring my notes to imitate a TED Talk is a challenge I want to take on. By setting a time limit, and organizing my notes into something more comprehensible in preparation for a 3-5 minute mini-lecture inspired by TED, I can incorporate fun challenges into my conversations and get better at conveying my ideas.
Sharing Books
Reading is an essential practice for me. Just like how running trains the body in endurance, reading trains the mind to focus. By immersing myself in a good book, I’m exposing myself to the ideas of great thinkers. This prolonged exposure helps train my focus and encourages me to think deeply about the ideas covered in the book. But what makes reading so enjoyable for me is when I can have conversations with my friends and discuss interesting ideas explored in these books. By sharing books, I contribute to the cross-pollination of ideas in my community through conversation, which I find to be an excellent way to expose myself to new insights.
So if you ever need a gift idea for a friend, consider getting them a book!
TLDR
My key learnings for this week are...
Always have a project to strive for
The process of writing this article motivates me to document, and reflect on my experiences in depth. I hope I can share the insights passed down to me to the people in my life through these weekly Sunday posts.
Conversation is productive, so value it
I learned a lot through conversation, and believe that teaching others what I’ve learned helped me gauge how well I understand or did not understand a topic. My conversations this week were a humbling process. They exposed me to many new ways of thinking, reminded me how much I still have to learn in life.
Think in practices
Knowledge is not power. It is potential power. I get a lot of ideas from reading, and putting what I’ve learned into practice helps me commit these ideas into my everyday life. I found bullet journaling to be an excellent way to structure my thoughts into practice.
You don’t have to break a leg like my pal Eric to advertise this blog, but if you learned something new, definitely share it with your community! Catch you next Sunday ( '◡' )
Resources mentioned:
Distraction-Free Mode for Google Docs
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