Self-care, self-nurturing, self-sustenance: An Ode

May 24, 2024 | Updated: May 26, 2024

I started to search on Reddit just now, “self care tips for data engineers”, and because I didn’t find an answer immediately, I decided this might be a good time for a post. It’ll be an exercise in a good ol’ fashioned brain dump.

I quit my last job a few weeks ago, and am currently in the middle of a well-deserved two week break until I start my next position as a Senior Data Engineer. It is probably the most important two week period I’ve had in a long time… no pressure. I wanted to make the most out of it, without feeling like I was putting too much stress on myself to do so. It’s sort of like the feeling when you see a celebrity in real life, but you want to act cool, so you end up acting like a weird, robotic, non-sentient version of yourself? Does that make sense?

So, I wrote down a few things I wanted to do:

Hike with the dogs
Finish the dog bed I’ve been building
Read

And I’ve done pretty well which makes me happy! Look at my happy dogs! Success!

But it opened up a larger can of worms in my brain:

I don’t just want this self-care, self-nurturing and self-sustenance for these two weeks, I want it for my first two weeks at my new job, and for every day, week, month and year beyond.

I worked my fingers to the bone at my last job, I burnt out my burn outs , I gave pretty much all my brain capacity to a job and company that didn’t really give a shit about me .

I cannot do that again. So I want a fresh start .

My brain is doing a lot of oscillating between practical things I can do, and more perspective shifts, so h*ck it, I’ll write ‘em all down and I’ll code them cause I love a good code!!!

The Legend

home

work

life

The List

home
Get an ergonomic mouse, one of those really horrendous ones, so I don’t give myself carpal tunnel… again
life
Exercise a little everyday and a lot at least 3 times a week
life
Create a routine for the dogs because having an 8 month old puppy is a lot of work too. Not Tetley, she’s an angel
work
Set expectations with my new manager on day one, including that I have a propensity to burn myself out:

Set working hours

work
I don’t need to be at 100% maximum performance everyday - I have worked with people who managed to do just one ticket in 4 weeks… and they got promoted
work
When the laptop is shut, the laptop is shut - remote work habits!!!

Maybe I should use the last 20 minutes of my day to write myself an email of what I’m thinking to just get

Don't download Slack to my phone
home
Stand at my standing desk for at least 1 hour per day
home
Block off 12pm-1pm on my calendar for a break
home
For meetings that I can just listen to, do it on a walk
life
Do some stretching everyday
life
WATER!!

I am very lucky to have a well paying job, benefits, the ability to work from home, in a home of my own. I am very grateful for this. And I don’t owe any company or job my entire life. (Pardon the mantra).

I’m going to prune this list down and make it less, better. (IYKYK).

After polling my friends, I have some additions!

UPDATED LIST

Show your work
Do things that’ll make you look good
Don’t volunteer for other people’s work
Take a break in the middle of the day
TAKE PTO - set a goal (20-25 days)
It’s just ____ (e.g. if you work in cable, "it's just cable")