A marathon is not a sprint
Before enrolling in a UX boot camp, I read Jesse James Garrett’s Elements of User Experience Design. This helped me understand the high-level concepts of UX design and confirmed that this was indeed something I was interested in pursuing professionally. In the book, a quote spoke to me so profoundly that I wrote it on a post-it and placed it in my work area. The very same post-it is still there four months later. It reads:
“A marathon is not a sprint. Know what kind of race you are in and run accordingly.”
The beginning of my learning journey was super-charged with the inertia of the impetus of change. I was finally doing the thing I had carefully considered for months. This energy carried me full force for the first two months. I was headstrong and determined. Unknowingly, or at least subconsciously, I was racing to finish as fast as possible.
However, a natural consequence of expending energy in the form of a sprint is eventual exhaustion. Despite having this quote hanging off my monitor for months, I assumed this energy was my new baseline. I quickly overloaded my calendar with various commitments, filling each hour that was not otherwise booked with my studies.
Now that I have been a student for 12 weeks, working full time, I am beginning to accept that I need to pace myself. This is a little bit of trial and error. I am testing out what feels right to drop, with the promise to come back to it when time allows.
So, what is the lesson here?
It is so easy to be hard on myself when I am surrounded by so many inspiring people (and social media plays no small part in this mindset). By starting the gate at maximum speed, I set a productivity standard that is not sustainable in the long run. Because of this, I have felt disappointed in my lack of progress in the last couple of weeks. At the end of the day, though, this is more progress than I was close to making in years prior. I hope to nip this vicious burnout cycle in the bud by recognizing this now and revisiting the above quote.
What am I doing to address this challenge?
I am slowly adjusting my mindset and taking steps to celebrate the small and big wins each week. I intend to focus the season of Spring on “balance.” This means balancing my social commitments, work, and study with things that fuel and replenish my soul. Last week, that looked like reading a book in the bath. This month, as I conclude a reading of Dune (a great read, by the way) with a book club of friends, I am bowing out of the next book reading.
I am still using Notion to aggressively organize my tasks and goals for each day, week, and month. I am celebrating today my ability to be okay with where I am in my learning journey, both in UX and self-acceptance.
References Used & Recommended Reading:
Garrett, J.J. (2022). Elements of User Experience (03) by Garrett, Jesse James [Paperback (2002)]. Peachpit, Paperback(2002).
