I can’t believe that the month of August is drawing to a close. It’s been a wonderful month. As I’m sure most of you are aware, the MoT team took a step back to rest and recover. It has been wonderful.
But what are my wins for the month?
Work: I managed to focus on only doing the priority work - getting 30 Days of Tools and Test.bash(); live. Starting the sponsorship process.
Work: Keeping on top of getting content scheduled to go live while Mark was on paternity leave. I learnt how to get podcasts live (with a few bumps along the way).
Personal: Finished up some crafty projects that for some reason I felt oddly guilty about as they were gifts to friends. I need to work on not feeling guilty about finishing knitting/crochet/sewing projects super fast (or fast at all) - it’s OK to go slow and enjoy the process.
Personal: Celebrated turning 40 in a way that suited me - bouldering with friends and camping. No big fuss or party.
Something I wanted to share about wins. I expected to do lots of self learning around work ideas and also to do lots of other projects during the month of August. That didn’t happen. I felt awful and it started to stress me out that I didn’t finish reading that book on digital marketing, nor did I finish the course on event marketing. I did however spend the month mostly gardening, catching up with friends I rarely seen, I went swimming, climbing and took a proper break for my 40th. So I think the lesson is - it’s OK not to hit idealistic goals and it’s OK to just take time off and look after yourself however you need. We cannot constantly be achieving.
What are your wins for August? However big or small they are, share them here so we can celebrate with you
I need to start to write these things down. Trying to remember what happened this month
Anyway, plenty of wins:
The onboarding of our new colleague has gone well so far. Some of the things I did were appreciated by the teams, and have been picked up by others, which they now include in their onboarding
Found the right balance between working from home and being in the office. This has been the second month where I’ve been in the office for 3 - 4 days in a row, with the rest of the time being at home. Works out great for me
My biggest win, which is kind of both personal and professional, is discovering London’s Borough Market. It’s near my company’s new office, and lunch there will make trips to the office even nicer.
I got vaccinated with the first doze for covid19. And was finally able to have a good impression on my new office regarding my job and getting along with the team
Yay! I am so happy to share my wins for this month:
My Birthday was on 12th August . It felt like am celebrating it for the whole month cuz of numerous best wishes/belated wishes from all my LinkedIn family & all communities online(wherever I am associated with).
I started my new testing job as a ‘Consultant -Test’ this month.
Very much enjoy reflecting on all the wins shared on this thread. Congrats everyone!
My biggest win was recovering from COVID. Plus, I got to unexpectedly perform with other musicians again . I found a local open mic night and can’t get enough of it!
Work wise it’s been good to go at a different pace in August, reflecting on how I might make that happen in the coming months as things ramp up for all the exciting things happening in the community.
I also officially signed a contract to join MoT as a full-time permanent member of the team. Very chuffed about that!
August just passed away so quickly, didn’t even realized it is almost over again.
My biggest win for the month is, that I joined the stage on the MoT Atlanta Meetup. My first I did something like this at all. It was thrilling in a positive way.
Some other things I am feeling good about.
Got great feedback on some animated gif I included into our release notes. And for caring and taking over the communication with a customer when the product manager was on vacation.
On short notice a new (junior) tester joined another team and the team lead asked me to help with the onboarding. I was very pleased to learn that my recommended tool and approach find their way into practice. Feels so rewarding.
Then there was my first full day in the office just 2 days ago including meeting with people and I could see their legs.
Had two wonderful social events with coworkers.
And I started my ‘Value I delivered’ journal at the beginning of this month. And so far, noted something done every single day.
Personally, I enjoyed my time on the stand up paddle board and was more active less at home. Which was good, because I started feeling like an hermit.
Also, restarted with some routine to come back to a healthier style of living.
A lot of the good stuff happened in the last week, which is a nice ending for the summer time.
I feel like I’ve achieved a lot this month, mainly overcoming my mental health blockers that had been stopping me getting these wins!
I’ve been actively trying to get involved in the testing community again after feeling like I’ve been hibernating for most of the last 18 months
I’ve been posting here a bit
Using slack more
Using twitter again
Signed up for a few 99min workshops (if I remember to sign up now, I’ll remember to go)
Set some learning goals, and already started achieving them. I didn’t think I knew how to build a test automation framework but turns out I do!
Made a big career decision instead of just thinking and wishing towards it. It feels like it’s a now or never kind of thing so I now have goals and a timescale set and am working on a plan
Dropped to 4 days a week for main job to spend 1 on creating and teaching apprenticeships for testing and accessibility.
Meet the first 2 apprentices in an introduction meeting explaining how the training will work
Started researching the a11y apprenticeship and I expect to learn lots through this process
Submitted 2 talks to MoT for TestBash Brighton (fingers crossed but I’ll be there no matter what)
Was supposed to go the the Cricket Test Match in Leeds but my back went so had to watch on telly. Really disappointing as it would have been the first time in 2 years I’d been.
For the bank holiday (UK) had a lovely meal with my wife, daughter and mother in law at a local pub #SupportLocalBusinesses
And was finally able to have a good impression on my new office regarding my job and getting along with the team
. I found a local open mic night and can’t get enough of it!