How Your Correspondent Spent the Year So Far
Alternatively: Why so quiet?
The year began with a hangover. Normally, the holiday period at the day gig is quiet; everyone gears up for the new year by spending what vacation they've squirreled away. This year was different.
I had a couple of potential projects come up in that usually relaxing period. Then, the first few months of the year added to the pile. Every time I looked at my phone, it seems, another new project had landed on it.
Now, on the one hand, this is great. Job security is a thing, right? On the other hand, you start to look at the calendar, count up the hours and the days and wonder, hey, does anyone understand how much work these will take?
Let's back up. I spend my time at the intersection of science and engineering. I came from multi-discipline and to multi-discipline I go. I'm learning what it means to be a generalist. In many senses; development at several levels has entered the picture.
The research part is supposed to be a given. That's my baseline. It's also, I realize, the time that I need to protect, while still being available for the service aspect of the job.
The first five months of the year, I did my thing on more or less the usual schedule. One week on the road, one or two weeks at home. Since June though, it's been more of one month on the road, one month at home.
I say a month on the road, it's more complex than that. It's much more like being a touring musician, Monday through on the road, weekends at home. Then pile as much downtime at home as I can get for a month, rinse and repeat.
Some years ago, one of my mentors talked about daily practice. He meant it quite in the same sense as we both understood it as sometime musicians: there is a daily rhythm that needs to be there, of the practice of the work.
Out of rhythm, out of time, and shortly out of sorts on all kinds of axes. Personally, I'd love to be able to say "Hey, I learned that already" and not revisit it given all the other things I could be digging into.
I do myself and others a disservice when I think that way. So, in between and alongside, I've begun digging back into daily practice. I'm behind myself, but I can see a road ahead, or a trail, asking for footprints.
I also need to remind myself not to get a whole list of goals and dreams and things to add to my work. Otherwise I'll just bury myself in all of those pieces which I haven't been able to get to. There's enough of that already, no need to do it to myself.
One of the elements of generalization I'm working on is learning to be a novice again. The point, I remind myself, is not to be the expert. The point is to learn to talk to the experts, understand and collate and merge.
As ever, a work in progress.
