Thinking About The Way You Think
I'm not going to lie - the first two weeks of prep have been a struggle, and I hear it doesn't get any easier. So if you can't beat em'...learn to deal with em! Here are my biggest challenges:
- Managing my time due to full-time work commitments and - more specifically - the time I spend on DBC material efficiently.
- Organizing of all the required elements and tasks at hand each week.
- Maintaining focus for a sufficient amount of time and not getting distracted.
- Trying to work through problems without prematurely feeling tempted to look at the answer.
- Again, feeling pressured for time and trying to 'be impressive' at the same time.
Whether it is my thinking style, lifestyle, or personality that catalyze my struggles, my best answer is probably - a cocktail of all three. For example, lifestyle-wise, I'm addicted to SoundCloud and TweetDeck; these are probably not the best means of focus when trying to code. Personality-wise, I'm an avid conversationalist. I love texting, messaging, chatting, etc. and this also is a hindrance to my focus. But what about my thinking style? I don’t want to blame everything on myself :).
As a chimera between an 'Abstract Random' and 'Concrete Random' thinker, I can't help but to feel that all my obscure thoughts of filling the Grand Canyon with Jell-o and inventing a giant vacuum that could suck up all my stuff when I move are substantiated. Well, sort of.
According to this article, 'Random' in pertinence to thinking is "organizing information in chunks and in no particular order" and often means "skipping steps in a procedure and still producing the desired results," maybe starting in the middle or even working backwards.
Ok, so my Jell-O and vacuum thoughts still hold no base regarding my thinking style, but I can definitely shake my head 'yes to the statements above.
As some of the characteristics conflict - such as 'Concrete Random' preferring independent work and 'Abstract Random' striving in groups, I picked-and-chose between the two characteristics to kind of come up with a personalized "Michelle Thinking Style." But like the duality suggest, sometimes I waver between two preferences and can't tell if I work better independently or in groups. The yellow dots notate some of characteristics I can relate to most strongly:
So the question is, knowing all this. what can I do about it?
To address my struggles - whether learning, lifestyle, or personality-related, I have some steps I take to better focus and make use of my learning time:
- Using the Pomodoro technique - shutting down my social media and putting my phone away during my focus times.
- Having expectations set before pairing sessions so I can prepare and experiment independently, then use the session to corroborate or enhance my knowledge.
- Keeping a checklist of all the week's activities and crossing each one off to see my progress and keep things organized.
- Find some peace by taking time to view other's work so I can gauge where I am and levelset myself with the pace of the group. Seeing competition in a motivating way, not as a way to "beat" others.
