Weeknotes #4:

This week I’ve felt unfocused and unproductive. Is this why I’ve only just remembered weeknotes at 4:30pm on Friday afternoon?

Here’s a hurried, last minute recap of my week.

The good:

• The product I’m working on (Report a Cyber Crime) came back online this week (it had been taken down to sort out a firewall issue.) This means we’ll be receiving real feedback on the live service, which we can use to iterate it.
• My 4yo’s school has become more active — she has little assignments and class check ins each week which help add some structure and and a social aspect to her life (and ours.)
• A lot of good things are happening in government these days — for example, another federal government department launched the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and it’s been widely applauded for being very easy to apply for (unlike pretty much every other benefit.) A month ago I (and many others) would’ve told you this was impossible, but here we are. I’m impressed.
• On a related note, this medium article from Matthew Cain on digital delivery in a time of crisis is an excellent read. My personal highlight: “We now know it’s possible to deliver value in two weeks. We should never settle for less.”

The meh:

• As a newcomer to my product team, I’m at this weird stage where I know there’s lots I need to learn about many different aspects and systems, and yet I don’t know enough yet to know what I don’t know. You know? People ask me if I have questions but sometimes I feel like I don’t even know enough to formulate a question that makes sense.
• I’m really enjoying writing weeknotes but I feel like I ramble too much. Also I never know what kind of photo to share or how to structure what I’m saying. It takes practice but I feel like as a former professional writer, I should be better at this.
• Nobody in our house has been sleeping well this week and I haven’t had much patience for my 4yo (or anyone, really.)

The to-do list (aside from my regular job):

• there are a lot of systems I need to start getting used to again like Github, Trello and google analytics. I’m not very technical and find it difficult to work them into my daily rhythm even though I can see the value in using them.
• I have some thoughts around policy design and trust models rattling in my brain that I want to form into something coherent.
• I want to start sketching again — but need to find a way to work it into my life in a way that doesn’t make it seem like a chore.

That’s all for now — happy weekend!