I’m starting a new job on Monday, and have had the luxury of ~10 days off since leaving Cleo. The past 12 months have been unbelievably stressful in my own life, even before taking into account living through a pandemic, and now a war in Europe.
I stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦 💙 💛, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the unfolding situation. If you have the means, consider donating to Unicef or The Red Cross
To avoid complete overwhelm, I took the opportunity to read, wind down, and really think about what I want to achieve in my first few months in my next job.
In times like these, I find it most useful to hide myself away a little, and indulge my bookworm tendencies 🐛
Reading
I’ve recently subscribed to a few newsletters and am so far enjoying them all:
- The Imperfectionist by Oliver Burkeman for thoughtful reflections on modern life.
- I struggle to stay on top of tech news, TLDR has really helped with this.
- The Pragmatic Engineer is great for software engineering specific news and thought-pieces
I’ve been struggling to read as many blogs as I should, or to write in my own little corner of the web, maybe creating a newsletter would help me form the habit? Also, the demise of Google Reader was big contributing factor in me giving up blog reading. If I can’t find an alternative, maybe I should build one 🙃
I’ve also been reading Staff Engineer by Will Larson. I’m at least a few years away from Staff Engineer level, and not yet sure where I’ll go after I’ve gotten what I want out of a mid/senior software engineer role. But I’ve so far found this book to be a great introduction to the role, and some of the tips will no doubt be useful in the near future.
Listening
I’d somehow completely forgotten about Criminal, but came back to it with a lovely episode about Masquerade, a book I was obsessed with as a child.
First time listen for me, to Not Overthinking, and the latest episode discussing The Pathless Path was probably a great start for me. My career has taken many twists and turns, but overall I’ve found that I do better when I focus on short-term goals, together with self-knowledge, and trust the process to take care of the rest.
As I’ve matured I’ve realised that I needed to add a financial plan into the mix, to avoid continually re-starting my life and allow me to reach life goals as well as career milestones.
Watching
Nothing tech-related here! In stressful times, my version of comfort watching involves lots of quiet, calm youtube videos.
The Sounds of Camping series by Go4x4 is so soothing, and I love seeing the beauty and variety of Australia. It makes me want to go back soon!
I only recently discovered that I enjoy Studio Ghibli films, My Neighbour Totoro is now one of my all time favourite films. The first 30 minutes in particular are really special.