Weeknotes number 4. A whole month of trying to find interesting things to talk about at the end of the week. It’s been another full-on week with client work. We’ve moved on to a new business process as we come to the end of the mammoth business process that we started with. It’s nice to move on to something a little different and new. It also means I could try a new workshop approach to breaking down the tasks better, step by step, based off the experience last time round. Granted that was a bit of an outlier given the size of the first process. 🦣

The new approach worked well - still kept it conversational and light touch, which has worked well given the small size of the team – but broken down into a clearer checklist of users responsible (if what was initially mapped was incorrect) and any reporting or template needs that we’d need to consider as part of the build. This meant that we managed to cover this process in a 90-minute session, with time to spare, without leaving the call too frazzled at the end. The benefit of this has meant the team is more clearly aligned with what tasks happen, when tasks happen, and what additional needs we need to consider. It also means that there is more time to synthesize the work, refine the journey maps and craft the user stories – thankfully nowhere near as many this time round. 😁

There’s still some ongoing refinement to the first process, but again, I am repeating myself, it is a gargantuan process.

I did want to change my approach to these, try and make some notes throughout the week of notable things to put in here, expand, and reflect upon them. I (partially) haven’t. 🙃

However, the big standout thing this week is that I have completed my full-stack development Mimo certification. I am super happy to finally get round to completing this. I started it a long time ago and for one reason or another, didn’t get round to completing sooner. It is a big course though, 20 modules, each covering different aspects of HTML, CSS, JS, React JS, SQL, Express, Node, Data Structures – I think that's it?  It’s a great feeling to finally get the certificate in an official format and added to my LinkedIn. Another tool in the belt for sure. I’ve not gone as far as printing it out and framing it, but I am giving myself a well-deserved pat on the back. Next, I’m going to wrap up the front-end development course - I’ve already covered a lot of the topics and subjects in the full-stack course, so this one will not take me as long. After that, I’ll continue to refine what I’ve already done and look towards Python. I’ve already dabbled in this language – I'm in the process (have not touched it for months) – of building a basic course management/builder software in Laravel using Python and PHP. I won’t jump into that too much now as this is getting on a bit – it’s fun though, and something I’ll dive into further in a structured blog or a project deep dive. 💻

I’m still powering through Duolingo too, hit a 70-day streak so looking to continue building on that. Otherwise, outside of work has been relaxed this week, I’ve done my back in somehow so taking it easy on the fitness front whilst that sorts itself out. Voltarol to the rescue! I did have quite a craft themed Sunday, making stickers with a Cricut machine, and battling with transfer tape. 🎨

Watching 📺

I really want to get back into Rogue Heroes and finish off Guardians of the Galaxy but that hasn’t happened this week. I did have the displeasure of watching Wales get absolutely battered by France in the opening game of the Six Nations. Might be the first and last game I watch of the 6N, it put me off watching the other 2 games this weekend. The football in contrast was exceptionally good, Arsenal thumped City 5-1 so that was nice, and the darts (a new interest) finished a few moments ago in Milton Keynes with a great match between Humphries and Clayton. 🎯

Listening 📻

Earlier this week I listened to 21 Seconds by So Solid Crew for the first time in ages after watching a reel explaining why it was called 21 Seconds. Asher D, AKA Ashley Walters had said they had worked out the length of time for a song to get radio play, divided it by how many members there were at the time. The result being 21-seconds. Probably common knowledge. Anyway, this then meant I had a craving for Garage music the rest of week. 💿

Reading 📖

I have managed to read a bit more SAS this week. Some ridiculously early mornings have meant I’ve had some time to read without my daughter trying to climb on my head. I also bought a car magazine on the weekend, but, have not read that yet. 🧗

This week's picture is my certification for completing my full stack developer course. 🥳