"A woman, a plan, a canal – Panam-ow-a!"
My learning plan for completing EDA Bootcamp
February 2019
My goals
- Complete dev portfolio pieces that I can show to prospective employers!
- Increase my fluency in web development tools – HTML, CSS, JS, React... And More!
- Write code (at least) 6 days a week.
- Challenge myself by completing all stretch goals and continuing on to create my own stretches.
- Engage with my classmates and facilitators – embrace group projects!
- Get things finished within the time frames I set for myself – done is better than perfect!
Strengths to utilise
- Problem solving – My natural default is to adopt a positive mindset when solving problems and I get a lot of satisfaction from working things out. I will continue to practice this when facing new obstacles.
- Big picture planning – I love looking at things from the top down and seeing how all the parts fit together. This helps me plan all the different parts of a project and not get bogged down in the details.
- Working with others – I like to solve problems with other people! I enjoy taking the time to help others and I also feel comfortable asking for help. I think this mindset will help me to get the most out of my time at EDA.
Potential pitfalls
- I can have trouble getting things finished, especially when I’m done with the exciting parts and
only the routine, tidying-up parts are left. My strategies for tackling this are:
- Use time-boxing so the ends of projects aren’t dragged out
- Practice “Done is better than perfect”
- Tackle unpleasant tasks in the morning - my focus is best in the hours before midday so this is a good time to tackle sticky tasks.
- A high level of stress can make me want to withdraw when I should be reaching out to others.
Strategies to address this are:
- Establish regular check-ins – this creates a habit of communication and a space for any concerns to be brought up early
- Commit to showing up, even if I feel I might not be able to fully participate – I will make my best effort to show up and in exchange the course facilitators will respect any details I share with them about my ability to contribute fully at that time.
Other strategies
Reaching my goals will require focused work every day. To maintain this workload I will need to support my mental and physical health. In addition to the strategies above, I will work on:
- Sleep, food, social interaction, going outside – maintain regular, sustainable habits that ensure I can function well when working.
- Breaks – take regular breaks from sitting down and looking at my screen throughout my work day.
- Work to my internal clock – I focus best in the mornings and am at my least productive in the middle of the day. I will work this understanding into my schedule as much as I am able to (while working around others and group work).
- Turning up – My default setting is to always show up (unless staying home is required to support my ongoing health).
If I come across any issues that may affect my ability to continue participating in the course, my first stop will be to contact my facilitator and talk to them about what’s happening. I expect the EDA facilitators to listen to any concerns I have, be available within the time frames they have indicated, and to respect that I have the best understanding of my own experiences.
Outside commitments
- For the first 3 Thursday nights of bootcamp I have a work commitment and will need to leave by 5:30pm.