Weeknotes 6/2022

Yesterday I worked my first full day in the office in three years. Having to prep for a day away from home, get my children to school, catch the bus and commute added another layer of complexity to my day that was mildly stressful and fairly exhausting. I can’t shake this feeling of disbelief that I used to do this every day, in one of the busiest cities in the world (that said, I had half as many children then so it may have been slightly easier.)

What went well:

• I finished the complex piece of research I’ve been stressing about for weeks, huzzah!
• I attended some in-house training on coaching, and it was really useful. I noticed a lot of similarities between the “true coaching” approach we were taught and how I lead research, so it came somewhat naturally to me which was nice (let them take the lead, ask meaningful open-ended questions to help guide them but don’t interfere or lead them to a solution.)
• I ran another design community call and I managed to get someone else to host which was great for me and the community (They must be bored of hearing from me all the time by now.)
• I did something that scared me (went skiing for the first time in a decade) and it was really fun (even though it was whiteout conditions which made it even more scary.)

What I struggled with:

• Not work related but I’ver been having bad anxiety over the state of healthcare in my area. There’s pretty much zero chance of finding a family doctor to take us on where we live (its estimated that 700,000–900,000 people in BC can’t find a family doctor), so we have to rely on walk-in clinics which get so full that they also refuse to take patients. I generally trust government to help, but I don’t see any of the politicians here taking meaningful action. I’m lucky that my family is healthy but my toddler is due for a checkup and how am I going to know if he’s meeting his milestones? It shouldn’t be like this.

• I went away for a week while my eldest was on spring break from school. I’ve always loved travel, seeing family and having a break in the routine, but doing it with children always throws me off quite a bit. It feels so much more stressful and don’t sleep as well, which heightens my anxiety and leaves me really out of sorts. I feel like I’m still recovering more than a week later.

What inspired me

• What it’s like to work as a designer in a transformation programme by Kuba Bartwicki — great article that really resonates for me.
• This helpful take from Jared Spool

• Some useful tips on how to make your talks less boring

Reading, watching, listening

• Oldie but a goodie — I just finished The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and loved it.
• I’m sort of hate watching the latest season of Bridgerton, I find the story so cliche and kind of boring but I can’t stop watching for some reason?
• I listened to an older Ted Radio Hour episode called a Glimpse Into The Future and it was super interesting. Bonus: it includes a story on modernizing government.