There Are Usually Pitstops. It's a Journey.
A personal look into overcoming roadblocks and looking ahead.
I come across a particular tweet format at the end of every month. It goes something like “successfully wasted 2 months of 2023” and I retweet it unfailingly because why not? It’s not like there’s much to show from the previous 64 days of the year.
It’s easy to fall into that spiral and somehow lose control of your own life. Time really flies when you’re not doing anything but I retweeted and decided I wasn’t interested in it for next month. I’ve been working towards growing and last week was a really weird one for me. I had a few productive moments but it was mostly spent lazying around. I had a technical documentation project that I abandoned last year because I got to a point where I had no idea how to progress.
With no idea on how to go forward, I let it sit in the back of my mind for months, and I got frustrated every time I thought about it. I decided to seek help. I didn't know many expert technical writers in the industry, but I decided to reach out and ask for help. And it worked! I found someone who was willing to chat and help me out, and now I'm back to working on the project. Hopefully, I delve into the work a lot more and it is completed very soon.
Friendly Tip: When you reach out to someone to request a call, first ask if they have a Calendly that you can work with instead of the mental gymnastics and to-and-fro that could make them lose interest in the conversation.
If you’re having similar issues and you have no idea how to get an expert in your field to speak to, you can check out ADPList. It's a great place to connect with mentors for free and get advice on how to grow in your career.
My personal experience with ADPList. I had identified a Senior Technical Writer I wanted to speak with. Ask them the regular questions one might have. I had sent connection requests on LinkedIn, a DM on Twitter, and shot a cold email after using an email permutator. None of them clicked, but I felt like this person was going to be very helpful to me. I got on the site and luckily for me, this person who I had tried so hard to reach was a mentor there and had free time slots. I have no idea if this could help you but if you’re looking for advice or just regular communication with experts in your field of study, ADPList is a great place to check and connect with people.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be experimenting with time blocking to see if it helps me be more productive. Basically, time blocking is where you divide your day or week into smaller segments and assign specific tasks to each block of time. I've tried it before for short bursts of a day or two, but I want to see if I can make it work for a whole week. Feedback on the process will be shared in the next issue.
Finally, I've been working on improving my communication skills. I got some great recommendations for a book and some podcast episodes, and I'm also going to try interviewing someone to practice my skills. Preparing the conversation, guiding it in how you want it to go, and understanding the flow patterns are all important things to know. I'll let you know how that goes, too.
Thanks for reading, and I'm grateful to have you along on this journey with me. Until next time!