[00:02.540 --> 00:05.480]  So I'm going to talk about planning a project with no budget.
[00:05.900 --> 00:06.940]  My name is Travis Southard.
[00:07.140 --> 00:08.080]  I use he, him pronouns.
[00:08.400 --> 00:12.280]  I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I'm really excited to be here.
[00:12.360 --> 00:15.660]  This was very exciting to get this accepted.
[00:15.980 --> 00:20.100]  This is my first time at HOPE, and I'm just... it's been great.
[00:20.220 --> 00:22.480]  This is like... it's like you finding my people.
[00:22.660 --> 00:22.960]  It's lovely.
[00:23.800 --> 00:24.360]  So cool.
[00:25.040 --> 00:31.420]  Like I said, today I'll be talking about planning a project without a budget in a lot of software settings.
[00:31.420 --> 00:39.280]  A project has a finite-ish dollar amount that a client or a grant will cover.
[00:39.900 --> 00:47.600]  And from my understanding, a project is done when your client or grant is not going to pay you anymore.
[00:48.220 --> 00:55.500]  Like they're satisfied with the product and they're not going to like pay for extra features at this point, at least not yet.
[00:56.580 --> 01:05.700]  Sometimes this looks like having a contract for a specific set of money with a maximum amount, maybe like so many hours per week.
[01:05.700 --> 01:07.500]  I've had that before with different clients.
[01:08.600 --> 01:28.860]  And so then it's up to the development team or maybe the financial team to like decide what is the most vital stuff to spend time on, specifically like so that you can plan accordingly and pay, you know, your people or yourself what everyone deserves to be paid.
[01:28.980 --> 01:29.920]  This is like the goal.
[01:30.760 --> 01:33.900]  So then what about volunteer projects?
[01:34.120 --> 01:36.300]  What about internal projects that don't have a client?
[01:36.420 --> 01:38.960]  Your client is the company that you work for or like yourself.
[01:39.180 --> 01:43.620]  Like I'm going to be talking a little bit from a very like work-focused perspective.
[01:43.620 --> 01:48.840]  And maybe that reflects on me being like really too into my work day lately.
[01:50.120 --> 01:56.300]  But this certainly also applies to like personal projects, like how you're spending your time outside of this.
[01:56.500 --> 01:58.180]  It is going to be very work-focused though.
[01:58.320 --> 01:59.400]  So like, sorry about that.
[02:00.980 --> 02:09.940]  Uh, so, uh, we'll get into what I have learned in my career so far, uh, from a couple of, uh, those angles that, uh, we mentioned.
[02:10.420 --> 02:16.000]  Um, so we're going to talk about like what I found really works and what really does not work.
[02:16.120 --> 02:18.940]  What I'm going to like repeatedly say, do not do.
[02:19.160 --> 02:21.440]  Uh, but we're going to talk about it as a thing to compare to.
[02:22.680 --> 02:28.420]  Um, and, uh, at the top, uh, of course, excuse me, uh, getting a little button happy.
[02:28.640 --> 02:32.720]  Uh, I do want to explicitly say like, uh, these are my opinions.
[02:32.860 --> 02:34.000]  These are my findings.
[02:34.200 --> 02:39.040]  These are not reflect, like this whole thing is not reflective of my employer or the nonprofits that I work with.
[02:39.960 --> 02:42.480]  Um, and, uh, et cetera, et cetera.
[02:42.880 --> 02:46.120]  Um, so my opinion, I'm going to take that away.
[02:46.760 --> 02:48.500]  We're going to talk about what we're not covering.
[02:49.020 --> 02:52.460]  Uh, I'm not really going to dive into these too much.
[02:52.560 --> 02:57.960]  These are very well-tread paths and, uh, we all have strong opinions on them and I don't want to start fights.
[02:58.520 --> 03:03.560]  Um, so, uh, this is just like not going to be a recipe.
[03:03.640 --> 03:12.780]  This is going to be like the things that I consider, uh, and also like adding some new tools into our toolbox, like things that we can grab from and consider is because every project is different.
[03:12.780 --> 03:13.760]  And every client is different.
[03:14.300 --> 03:25.080]  Um, uh, so I'll be, uh, covering like project team level planning, uh, which, uh, like my professional work might be a team of one.
[03:25.240 --> 03:25.560]  It's just me.
[03:26.000 --> 03:30.560]  Uh, so we're not going to talk about waterfall versus agile.
[03:31.620 --> 03:37.700]  We're not going to talk about other teams holding us up because that's not a project planning problem.
[03:37.720 --> 03:39.160]  That is a workplace problem.
[03:39.460 --> 03:42.580]  Uh, that is something that you need to like deal with in your workplace.
[03:44.400 --> 03:46.520]  Granted my project team members.
[03:46.560 --> 03:47.980]  We're talking about like the things that we control.
[03:48.180 --> 03:50.500]  My project team members are like holding us up.
[03:50.780 --> 03:52.340]  That's going to kind of like fit into this, right?
[03:52.440 --> 03:55.740]  Like, like this is going to be like part of how we like measure urgency and things like that.
[03:56.440 --> 04:01.180]  Um, we're not going to talk about specific software for moving index cards from left to right.
[04:02.000 --> 04:04.820]  We won't really be talking about any specific software at all.
[04:05.220 --> 04:08.300]  Um, and I'm not going to get into like functional object oriented.
[04:08.300 --> 04:11.220]  That's not really project planning, um, et cetera.
[04:11.760 --> 04:12.940]  So, about me.
[04:13.180 --> 04:16.140]  Why should you even be listening to me in the first place?
[04:16.380 --> 04:18.460]  Uh, like I said at the top, my name is Travis Southard.
[04:18.660 --> 04:24.740]  During the day, I am the senior developer and data analyst at Community Legal Services, uh, Philadelphia.
[04:24.740 --> 04:29.360]  Um, I am the sole member of the Digital Innovation Lab there.
[04:30.080 --> 04:39.900]  Uh, CLS's mission is to fight poverty, challenge systems that perpetuate injustice and change lives through cutting edge advocacy and exceptional legal representation.
[04:40.280 --> 04:43.460]  I build web and data tools for our case workers.
[04:43.700 --> 04:48.540]  Uh, I help them with some data analysis and I administer our case management system.
[04:48.700 --> 04:51.720]  Has anyone in this room ever worked with Legal Server?
[04:53.040 --> 04:53.480]  No.
[04:54.140 --> 04:54.580]  Great.
[04:55.020 --> 04:57.940]  Um, it was mostly just for the people who, who would have.
[04:58.100 --> 04:59.580]  Uh, it's a, it's a great program.
[04:59.720 --> 05:00.800]  It's really, uh, lovely.
[05:00.900 --> 05:02.640]  The people who work on it are fantastic.
[05:03.120 --> 05:07.400]  Um, uh, I also volunteer as co-director of Code for Philly.
[05:07.520 --> 05:14.800]  This is a member group of the Alliance of Civic Technologists, which is still new, like still within its like first year of fully operating.
[05:15.100 --> 05:19.900]  Um, we use, uh, tech data and design as a mode of civic engagement.
[05:19.900 --> 05:21.740]  We're making Philadelphia into the city.
[05:21.860 --> 05:29.240]  We know it can be by bringing together a community of people dedicated to using their talents to improve their home and themselves.
[05:29.780 --> 05:33.240]  Uh, for years, I was a volunteer, uh, at Code for Philly.
[05:33.520 --> 05:41.280]  I, um, uh, before getting into software, I was a bike mechanic, a bicycle mechanic and a bike tour organizer.
[05:41.800 --> 05:45.920]  Uh, I've been a courier, many other jobs, uh, an educator, et cetera.
[05:47.400 --> 05:52.680]  Um, and, uh, I may, I did a bootcamp in 2020 and I, I'm somehow here now.
[05:53.040 --> 06:09.860]  Um, uh, but I worked on, um, for Code for Philly, I worked on the, uh, PACS project, the PA expunger, uh, that is specifically being built, uh, in partnership with Philadelphia lawyers for social equity to give them a new in-house tool for generating expungement petitions,
[06:10.400 --> 06:11.420]  uh, to help their clients.
[06:13.020 --> 06:14.740]  So we're gonna do a little bit of an icebreaker.
[06:14.780 --> 06:22.200]  This is a thing that I like to do just to, uh, you know, break ice, but also like, so that we get into the idea of like, you can ask me questions whenever.
[06:22.860 --> 06:26.420]  Um, so we can't spend the whole time on this, of course.
[06:26.420 --> 06:30.100]  Uh, but, um, here's a little prompt.
[06:30.320 --> 06:45.540]  We're gonna make a website specifically for the indie web that is a gachapon or like bubble machine, uh, that has like a finite set of little guys, uh, like, uh, pixel art guys in this case, cause I do a lot of pixel art as a hobby.
[06:46.220 --> 06:52.120]  Uh, until I reset the machine with new little guys, I want people to really only be able to play once.
[06:52.640 --> 06:56.300]  Uh, the only real limitation I'm gonna put on this is no NFTs.
[06:56.300 --> 06:57.260]  Cause yuck.
[06:57.860 --> 07:02.300]  Uh, so the prompt here is, where do you start?
[07:02.400 --> 07:02.720]  What do you like?
[07:02.860 --> 07:04.560]  What's the first thing that you do?
[07:09.240 --> 07:10.080]  Design layout.
[07:10.360 --> 07:11.900]  But yeah, that's a great place to start.
[07:14.520 --> 07:15.400]  Buy a domain.
[07:15.700 --> 07:17.200]  That is also a good place to start.
[07:17.720 --> 07:20.660]  Um, also I think part of that's picking a name, like, right?
[07:21.480 --> 07:21.920]  Yeah.
[07:23.080 --> 07:23.520]  Yes.
[07:27.030 --> 07:27.910]  Oh yeah.
[07:27.910 --> 07:28.730]  That's a really good point.
[07:28.730 --> 07:32.870]  Making up a language for like the little pixel guys, like the design, like a design language is what you're saying.
[07:33.010 --> 07:33.150]  Yes.
[07:33.690 --> 07:34.430]  Uh, yes.
[07:37.950 --> 07:39.070]  Clarify what the goal the website is.
[07:39.170 --> 07:39.450]  That's great.
[07:39.550 --> 07:39.670]  Yeah.
[07:39.850 --> 07:42.970]  I mean, I think in my head, it's like, this is, this is just something I want to exist.
[07:43.290 --> 07:44.090]  Um, yeah.
[07:45.710 --> 07:46.910]  Figuring out a stack, like right.
[07:47.050 --> 07:48.370]  Picking the technology that we're going to use.
[07:48.370 --> 07:52.790]  That's, uh, uh, a key thing that sometimes feels obvious to us and sometimes doesn't.
[07:53.190 --> 08:04.130]  Uh, personally, uh, uh, similar to one of the first suggestions, I like to draw it out, literally by hand with a pen, a marker, uh, whatever it is.
[08:04.130 --> 08:13.010]  Um, and this helps me figure out what features I actually want because I like, uh, Ze Frank talks about an idea called like brain crack.
[08:13.170 --> 08:14.510]  This thing that we like, let sit in our brain.
[08:14.590 --> 08:16.270]  That's like, oh, it's the thing that I'm going to do.
[08:16.450 --> 08:17.450]  Like, I'm going to work on it.
[08:17.570 --> 08:18.410]  Like one, one day.
[08:19.730 --> 08:21.430]  And no, you're not just do it now.
[08:21.430 --> 08:33.170]  Uh, but, uh, this helps like during that, like brain crack phrase, we kind of like this, like fuzzy idea of something where like two conflicting ideas are in our head, but we're just holding them in separate places.
[08:33.430 --> 08:43.210]  Uh, and we, uh, drawing things out, like helps us like, uh, figure out those fuzzy details and start to like, uh, make firmer choices about design.
[08:43.710 --> 08:48.070]  Um, there's a couple of things I want to define around the idea of no budget.
[08:48.350 --> 08:50.490]  Uh, we kind of all think about this differently.
[08:50.490 --> 08:53.810]  Um, one of them is zero dollar budget.
[08:53.990 --> 08:54.950]  We have no money.
[08:55.190 --> 08:56.690]  Uh, we're unpaid.
[08:56.930 --> 08:57.450]  We're scrappy.
[08:57.670 --> 09:00.550]  We're trying to like string together whatever it is we can.
[09:01.070 --> 09:05.830]  Um, but, uh, these are, these are very often, um, volunteer projects, right?
[09:05.930 --> 09:15.030]  Like whether it's with a formal organization like code for Philly or beta NYC or, uh, uh, uh, fleshing tech, I believe we heard from the other day.
[09:15.550 --> 09:20.190]  Um, uh, and they're, we're just making it as we want it to exist, right?
[09:20.190 --> 09:22.050]  So like, that's one of the things I want to talk about today.
[09:22.470 --> 09:28.990]  Uh, the other idea is, uh, what I do in my day to day work, which is, uh, I have no, I have no budget.
[09:29.090 --> 09:41.270]  Like I'm paid for, uh, I'm allowed to ask for subscription services, but like no one tells me, Hey, we only have $10,000 to put into this, or you can only spend this many hours on this.
[09:41.390 --> 09:44.810]  Like no one's telling me that I am in full autonomy at my job.
[09:45.030 --> 09:46.890]  It is absolutely lovely.
[09:46.890 --> 09:49.510]  But in this case, sometimes it's very scary.
[09:49.550 --> 09:52.410]  Cause like I have to like deliver, I have to make things happen.
[09:53.270 --> 09:58.930]  Um, the other thing I kind of want to get into is, uh, a definition for urgent, right?
[09:58.930 --> 10:01.790]  So like, like what are the deadlines for this?
[10:01.990 --> 10:06.430]  Is it blocking other people from doing the work that they need to do to make their deadlines?
[10:06.770 --> 10:10.050]  And also like what needs more focus than other things?
[10:10.450 --> 10:15.390]  Um, I do like not want to say we should only ever be working on urgent projects.
[10:15.550 --> 10:24.670]  I think there is something at this talk that is reflective of my work lately, where I feel like I'm working on the urgent thing all the time, which is not sustainable.
[10:24.670 --> 10:26.910]  And so like, that's a lot of like what we're going to work through here.
[10:28.230 --> 10:34.850]  Um, so in approaching a project, whether new or ongoing, I need to know what it is I'm working on.
[10:35.010 --> 10:37.850]  Like, like right now, like what am I going to do today?
[10:38.390 --> 10:42.230]  Uh, what are the things that need my attention the most right now?
[10:42.670 --> 10:48.450]  Um, so it's, uh, I want to think about this, like not just the start.
[10:48.530 --> 10:52.510]  When we think about project planning, we think about like, oh, I'm like, we're gonna start a project.
[10:52.510 --> 10:53.590]  So let's make a plan.
[10:53.590 --> 10:56.170]  Uh, it is not just the start.
[10:56.210 --> 10:56.930]  It is ongoing.
[10:56.930 --> 10:59.430]  And we have to adjust that as we learn new things.
[10:59.430 --> 11:02.610]  And as we inevitably are slower than we expected, we would be.
[11:02.870 --> 11:04.970]  Um, we need to be constantly reevaluating.
[11:05.050 --> 11:06.350]  That is like a big part of that.
[11:06.470 --> 11:08.570]  And I, sometimes it's on a day to day basis.
[11:08.670 --> 11:11.530]  Sometimes it's on a sprint to sprint basis, uh, et cetera.
[11:12.150 --> 11:19.050]  Um, we, uh, like I alluded to before, like layout, big shapes and fill in details later.
[11:19.050 --> 11:22.130]  Uh, don't spend all your time on a teeny tiny function.
[11:22.450 --> 11:28.310]  If you still don't have like a login, um, uh, function before form.
[11:28.410 --> 11:30.590]  I think that like something should work first.
[11:30.590 --> 11:35.310]  I, uh, uh, I had a really good note about this somewhere.
[11:35.690 --> 11:47.290]  Um, the idea being like, don't, uh, like if you're doing a demo for someone, don't build out this like beautiful, like feature, like this, like, like button or whatever it would be.
[11:47.390 --> 11:48.730]  That's like absolutely gorgeous.
[11:48.730 --> 11:53.190]  And then describe to them with your mouth, what it is going to do.
[11:53.350 --> 11:54.190]  That sucks.
[11:54.290 --> 11:54.870]  That's not a good demo.
[11:55.010 --> 11:58.070]  It is so much better to have an ugly button that does the thing.
[11:58.170 --> 11:59.750]  Cause that is what they will be impressed by.
[12:00.610 --> 12:04.310]  Uh, also that form is defined by the function, right?
[12:04.410 --> 12:10.710]  Like it, like what, like we want to communicate what this tool does with how it looks.
[12:11.110 --> 12:14.950]  Um, and also this does sound a little bit repetitive.
[12:14.950 --> 12:22.290]  I think there's a few things, uh, that'll kind of be that way in this talk that might feel a little bit repetitive, but it is because it's cyclical, right?
[12:22.370 --> 12:23.030]  We're constantly reevaluating.
[12:24.290 --> 12:27.770]  Um, we're, uh, following a practice if you will.
[12:27.890 --> 12:36.930]  So like, uh, this idea of like the form is decided by the function gets back to like, let's look back at our big shapes and make sure that they still make sense, uh, for what we're talking about.
[12:37.750 --> 12:50.890]  Um, some of the things that I consider as I am, uh, like, and like questions I ask myself when I'm planning out what I want to work on and when, uh, these require honesty with yourself.
[12:51.270 --> 12:52.070]  That's hard.
[12:52.770 --> 12:57.290]  Um, so one of the things is, uh, what skill, like what skills does your team have?
[12:57.650 --> 12:59.970]  Uh, this changes as the team changes.
[13:00.230 --> 13:11.310]  Uh, and even sometimes day to day, if your teammates are out sick, if you're out sick, uh, if someone's on vacation and hopefully you got to like plan for that, um, or say attending conferences, like we are here.
[13:11.870 --> 13:16.010]  Um, uh, how much can your team work in parallel?
[13:16.170 --> 13:18.250]  And there's, there's two parts to this.
[13:18.650 --> 13:22.290]  Do these tasks have a specific order and prerequisites?
[13:22.410 --> 13:24.590]  Like you have to work on one thing before the next thing.
[13:24.730 --> 13:31.610]  The other part about this is a little bit like harder that we have to wrestle with all the time, which is, is our team capable of this?
[13:31.610 --> 13:33.150]  Like that's not always true.
[13:33.270 --> 13:34.130]  We want it to be true.
[13:34.290 --> 13:34.830]  Should be true.
[13:34.950 --> 13:36.710]  We should be able to like work together on something.
[13:36.770 --> 13:39.230]  I should be able to work on one side of the thing and you work on the other side.
[13:39.350 --> 13:41.090]  And, uh, we have two sides.
[13:41.390 --> 13:45.550]  Um, but that comes from practice and process of working with your team.
[13:46.130 --> 13:52.110]  Um, uh, we want to, uh, prioritize based on urgency, right?
[13:52.210 --> 13:53.210]  How long is your deadline?
[13:53.470 --> 13:57.630]  Don't spend like, you know, six days on a thing.
[13:57.810 --> 14:04.830]  If it's due in seven days, like don't spend like, uh, you know, something that's like 10 percent of the project, like six days on that.
[14:04.910 --> 14:08.910]  If it's due in seven days, like you're going to be very unhappy on the seventh day.
[14:09.430 --> 14:12.690]  Um, is this more or less urgent?
[14:12.950 --> 14:14.550]  I like, I'll kind of keep coming back to this.
[14:14.630 --> 14:20.650]  Like I said, this is a little bit of a reflection on like where I am, uh, in my, uh, work process right now.
[14:20.930 --> 14:32.210]  Um, but at CLS, like, uh, one of the things that we run into a lot is that some deadlines are, uh, they are, um, much more vital than other deadlines.
[14:32.410 --> 14:35.390]  There's some things that like, if I, if I'm late on a deadline, it doesn't really matter.
[14:35.650 --> 14:38.250]  There's some things that if I'm late on a deadline, it matters.
[14:38.290 --> 14:41.350]  Like, uh, we are helping people stay in their homes.
[14:41.470 --> 14:42.870]  We are helping people stay with their families.
[14:43.030 --> 14:48.670]  We are helping people keep the, like their literal lights on in their house or food on their tables.
[14:49.210 --> 14:51.870]  Um, and so I like, you know, I gotta be on my game.
[14:51.870 --> 14:54.070]  That is an absolutely important part of this.
[14:55.510 --> 14:57.770]  Is there something already built that does this, right?
[14:57.810 --> 15:06.930]  We don't want to, like, go and, like, index the entire Internet and build up a search engine for, you know, a 50-word webpage.
[15:06.930 --> 15:08.310]  That doesn't make any sense, right?
[15:08.430 --> 15:10.150]  Like, that's an extreme example.
[15:10.150 --> 15:14.930]  But, like, if it does exist, why aren't you using that?
[15:16.170 --> 15:17.470]  There's good reasons, right?
[15:17.610 --> 15:27.830]  Like, cost, missing features, completely unnecessary, invasive data mining that would both break our duty of confidentiality and make our world a worse place, a really annoying UI.
[15:30.710 --> 15:37.530]  And if you have too many things, like, in process, like, building it just because it'll be fun may not cut it, especially in a workplace.
[15:38.510 --> 15:43.110]  You have to, like, really, like, know this is what we want to build, this is what we want to spend time on.
[15:43.890 --> 15:48.370]  And you do have to, like, constantly ask yourself, what does done look like?
[15:48.870 --> 15:57.470]  Like, having that, like, rough shapes picture and, like, having those, like, details filled in will help us get there because then you're like, oh, cool, I know what's missing.
[15:58.250 --> 16:04.290]  That's a thing that I think doesn't get brought up often enough in project planning is, like, when are we done?
[16:04.290 --> 16:05.010]  What's our MVP?
[16:08.230 --> 16:09.810]  So, what does not work?
[16:11.590 --> 16:19.530]  This is something that I've started calling just-in-time delivery, mostly as a joke with my coworkers to explain how sometimes tired I am.
[16:20.250 --> 16:31.630]  This is based around the concept in shipping and manufacturing logistics, this idea that, like, something gets delivered to the factory on the day that we want to use it and, like, moving on.
[16:33.710 --> 16:43.510]  Like, getting, like, and so, like, in my workplace, it might look like, oh, I owe, like, one of my units a data set on Tuesday morning.
[16:43.510 --> 16:45.770]  So, I'm gonna spend Monday working on it.
[16:46.290 --> 16:50.970]  That is gonna ruin my Monday night if everything doesn't go exactly right.
[16:51.830 --> 16:55.270]  And then, like, oh, cool, I got another thing due, like, Wednesday at, like, about lunchtime.
[16:55.270 --> 16:57.250]  So, like, I'm gonna work on that on Tuesday.
[16:57.810 --> 17:03.010]  Same thing, because, like, then if stuff gets behind on Monday, it's gonna push the stuff on Tuesday back.
[17:03.130 --> 17:09.770]  And, like, this is this terrible feedback loop that I was really, really fighting this past spring.
[17:11.790 --> 17:16.510]  So, this really doesn't work, say, when you get a real big problem.
[17:16.870 --> 17:18.950]  It causes problems.
[17:18.950 --> 17:23.690]  This is the traffic that was caused by the Ever Given ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal a couple years ago.
[17:24.890 --> 17:27.370]  We all loved it when the big boat was stuck.
[17:27.990 --> 17:32.410]  Except, like, the images of it, we did not like the fact that, like, we couldn't buy things.
[17:32.530 --> 17:36.610]  I think Europe and Asia were a little bit more affected by this than the United States, but still.
[17:37.610 --> 17:47.490]  But, yeah, you should not just give yourself the time that you thought it would take to complete, and then you're really under the clock, because that sucks.
[17:47.710 --> 17:48.450]  It sucks a lot.
[17:49.050 --> 17:52.190]  It's also completely unnecessary pressure to put on yourself.
[17:52.270 --> 17:53.790]  You're gonna make poor decisions, right?
[17:54.450 --> 17:55.450]  This is fragile.
[17:56.370 --> 18:06.290]  It's very, very easy to break this, and, like, get completely behind and very stressed out, and suddenly you're not working, you know, 35 to 40 hours a week.
[18:06.290 --> 18:08.810]  You're working way too much, and that's not okay.
[18:09.450 --> 18:18.250]  It's bad for your health, because it, like, really encourages you to not take sick days, because you feel like you can't, or you start putting pressure on your co-workers to not take six days.
[18:18.410 --> 18:18.790]  That sucks.
[18:18.910 --> 18:19.330]  Don't do that.
[18:20.950 --> 18:25.570]  So, we're gonna talk about what I find ideal, because you should not do any of the last slide.
[18:25.870 --> 18:28.610]  Like, I put warnings all over that for a reason.
[18:28.710 --> 18:29.310]  Like, don't do that.
[18:31.070 --> 18:38.150]  So, we want to make our plans, or our projects, we want to make plans so our projects are getting done sustainably and reliably.
[18:39.730 --> 18:41.350]  Like I said at the top, this is not a recipe.
[18:41.530 --> 18:42.370]  It's not a set of steps.
[18:42.550 --> 18:48.590]  I want to outline some considerations, questions, and check-ins that you should be doing with your team consistently.
[18:49.970 --> 18:51.410]  No, I'm not doing this perfectly.
[18:51.410 --> 18:52.650]  I've alluded to this a couple times.
[18:53.410 --> 18:54.430]  I'm a little messy myself.
[18:54.430 --> 19:02.870]  I'm a team of one, so it doesn't... Like, for building the software, it doesn't hurt a lot, but it hurts me.
[19:03.690 --> 19:08.010]  And if something's late, it hurts my co-workers that I'm trying to deliver things to.
[19:09.830 --> 19:14.050]  So, I also mentioned that, like, I'm the sole member of our digital innovation lab.
[19:15.650 --> 19:18.650]  CLS is an organization that's around 200 people now.
[19:18.930 --> 19:25.470]  It's mostly caseworkers, like people like lawyers, social workers, and paralegals, who are really helping people.
[19:25.650 --> 19:30.810]  And then we have, I think, a little less than 20% of the organization is administrative, including myself.
[19:33.030 --> 19:36.530]  So, this is largely a little bit of work therapy for me.
[19:36.890 --> 19:37.950]  And thank you for your time.
[19:38.190 --> 19:39.050]  You can bill me later.
[19:39.770 --> 19:43.830]  I have implemented most of the things that I'll be going over, but it does come with practice.
[19:44.370 --> 19:45.550]  And I'm going to come back to that a lot.
[19:46.670 --> 19:48.590]  So, let's help ourselves get some things done.
[19:50.550 --> 19:50.950]  Exactly.
[19:52.410 --> 19:53.290]  Know your pace.
[19:53.690 --> 19:54.830]  This is...
[19:54.830 --> 19:57.170]  You have to know how fast you actually work.
[19:57.170 --> 20:01.730]  How much time does it take to deliver the things that you need to deliver?
[20:01.850 --> 20:03.630]  Because that's work.
[20:03.750 --> 20:06.370]  Or, in a personal project, you want to get the thing done.
[20:06.410 --> 20:07.750]  You want to actually have the thing.
[20:07.830 --> 20:09.910]  Not always be saying, oh, I'm working on this thing.
[20:10.030 --> 20:11.110]  And people are like, how's that going?
[20:11.190 --> 20:13.830]  And you're like, eh, that's not fun.
[20:16.150 --> 20:17.890]  But this is going to change over time, right?
[20:17.990 --> 20:21.910]  Like, based on who on your team is available at the time, right?
[20:21.910 --> 20:26.970]  Like, who's here for the next week, sprint, month?
[20:27.150 --> 20:31.450]  Like, whatever your, like, period of time is that you're checking back in with yourself.
[20:31.970 --> 20:33.770]  The shorter, the better, generally.
[20:35.170 --> 20:36.190]  Are you shorthanded?
[20:36.450 --> 20:36.890]  Probably.
[20:37.190 --> 20:40.370]  I work in a nonprofit where, like, we constantly feel shorthanded.
[20:40.530 --> 20:41.350]  It's the deal.
[20:42.390 --> 20:45.910]  We're pretty well-resourced as an organization, but, like, still, you just...
[20:45.910 --> 20:47.070]  Like, it always feels that way.
[20:47.990 --> 20:55.010]  Like, is there something happening in your workplace, city, or country that might distract you or make your job harder?
[20:56.370 --> 21:00.590]  So, there are, like, PhDs, like, attached to this idea.
[21:00.950 --> 21:02.950]  Like, I'm not going to solve this in a slide.
[21:03.770 --> 21:13.430]  But a couple of the things that I like are tracking your time and calculating, like, like, how am I completing tasks per period of time?
[21:15.450 --> 21:17.550]  I worked on a team at Azavia.
[21:18.090 --> 21:19.410]  It's a company that's not around anymore.
[21:19.570 --> 21:22.790]  They did geospatial web apps that was really fun to work at.
[21:23.410 --> 21:25.370]  And we tracked our time really well.
[21:27.050 --> 21:28.670]  We would track...
[21:28.670 --> 21:30.830]  Well, we got done kind of, like, by points, right?
[21:30.910 --> 21:35.570]  Like, if you're familiar with, like, that idea of, like, pointing tasks.
[21:37.650 --> 21:45.010]  And we would figure this out considering, like, oh, like, Terrence was out last Tuesday.
[21:45.070 --> 21:48.150]  So, like, let's only, like, divide by nine for Terrence's work.
[21:48.230 --> 21:50.610]  Like, we got way too into it.
[21:51.350 --> 21:56.090]  And we were really good at kind of, like, predicting how much we would get done the next week.
[21:56.450 --> 21:58.050]  But we still always felt slow.
[21:58.070 --> 21:59.550]  So, this isn't like a panacea.
[21:59.690 --> 22:08.250]  Like, you should know how fast am I working, but you should also not just be concerned with going faster, because that only scales so far.
[22:10.470 --> 22:11.490]  Give yourself room.
[22:12.030 --> 22:21.610]  Whatever time you think it's going to actually take you to do something, plan for it to take, like, 125 to 150% of whatever you just thought to yourself.
[22:22.170 --> 22:25.450]  And for your clients, for the people you're delivering to, double.
[22:25.770 --> 22:28.410]  Like, that is just doing yourself a favor.
[22:28.530 --> 22:34.950]  This is something that my spouse is learning as she works with, like, clients for, like, custom fashion projects.
[22:35.650 --> 22:39.150]  It's a thing that I'm learning all the time, is I'm like, oh yeah, totally, I can do that.
[22:39.210 --> 22:39.990]  That's, like, totally fine.
[22:39.990 --> 22:41.350]  And then I get stuck.
[22:43.730 --> 22:46.450]  So, with the idea that, like, oh, I think I can do this in five days.
[22:47.190 --> 22:49.450]  Really think to yourself, it's going to be, like, six.
[22:50.030 --> 22:50.870]  Maybe a four week.
[22:51.310 --> 22:52.170]  That kind of idea.
[22:54.170 --> 22:55.070]  Leave room for error.
[22:55.190 --> 22:56.990]  This, like, feeds back into the last idea.
[22:57.550 --> 22:59.530]  But, like, give yourself room.
[23:00.550 --> 23:06.650]  And understand that you're going to make mistakes, because when they do come up, you won't feel as frustrated about them.
[23:06.810 --> 23:08.030]  Yeah, you knew this was going to happen.
[23:08.710 --> 23:10.910]  Sometimes that feels worse than other times.
[23:12.770 --> 23:18.470]  But time spent fixing things counts towards how long it took you to complete that task.
[23:20.130 --> 23:22.210]  Even if you never make mistakes.
[23:22.430 --> 23:23.010]  Yes, you do.
[23:23.890 --> 23:28.310]  They might look different, or you might not consider them a mistake, because you don't know that you made it yet.
[23:30.750 --> 23:34.270]  And then we want to break things down into, like, teeny, tiny steps.
[23:34.550 --> 23:34.650]  Right?
[23:34.790 --> 23:38.470]  Like, we want to write them down.
[23:38.630 --> 23:40.230]  That's a very important part.
[23:40.370 --> 23:40.450]  Right?
[23:40.630 --> 23:44.150]  Like, getting that together.
[23:44.290 --> 23:44.850]  Getting a checklist.
[23:45.090 --> 23:48.170]  Like, understanding, like, what does done look like.
[23:48.370 --> 23:52.190]  Having your checklist to work from, so that when you check off that last thing, cool, we're done.
[23:52.290 --> 23:53.290]  We don't have to think about anything else.
[23:53.290 --> 23:57.990]  Like, except to go over it a bajillion times, because you're still nervous about it.
[23:59.670 --> 24:05.130]  Yes, you can write them down on index cards, or sticky notes, or whatever your software of choice is.
[24:07.950 --> 24:13.930]  My Kanban board right now is the pinned email feature in Outlook.
[24:13.930 --> 24:18.090]  I pin the emails where someone has asked me for something, and I have to deliver it.
[24:18.250 --> 24:21.250]  And then I get to unpin it when that's over.
[24:21.350 --> 24:24.650]  So it's not Kanban board, but it works for me because I'm a team of one.
[24:24.790 --> 24:28.250]  If it was a bigger team, I would put a lot more thought and effort into that.
[24:32.430 --> 24:35.930]  And also, like, write down details for your teammates.
[24:35.930 --> 24:39.470]  Like, write, like, I told you last week how to do it.
[24:39.550 --> 24:41.630]  It doesn't really cut it.
[24:41.750 --> 24:45.930]  Like, do yourself a favor, get less, oh, wait, what did you mean by this?
[24:46.030 --> 24:48.450]  By just writing it down in good detail.
[24:48.570 --> 24:50.110]  I also struggle with this.
[24:50.210 --> 24:51.290]  This is a thing.
[24:53.570 --> 24:55.350]  And, right, so putting context in.
[24:56.390 --> 25:06.030]  But when I was leading the Code for Philly project with PAX project that I mentioned before, we were lucky enough to take on a fellow.
[25:06.190 --> 25:09.930]  We got a fellowship that Code for Philly had put together.
[25:10.530 --> 25:11.670]  Comcast sponsored it.
[25:11.830 --> 25:18.490]  And so Comcast was going to pay a couple of fellows to work on a project.
[25:18.490 --> 25:23.110]  And they were going to get eight weeks of getting paid for 10 hours of work.
[25:23.110 --> 25:28.110]  And it was, like, an okay stipend, considering it certainly was not a full-time job.
[25:28.810 --> 25:33.510]  But 10 hours a week is easily double what I was putting into that project at that point.
[25:34.550 --> 25:40.790]  And I started to realize, like, oh, I've been telling volunteers, don't follow the readme.
[25:41.110 --> 25:42.930]  Like, here's how to do it for real.
[25:42.930 --> 25:45.750]  Or, oh, ignore those cards, they're not relevant anymore.
[25:45.890 --> 25:47.410]  And that was insane.
[25:47.730 --> 25:51.490]  Like, this was the moment that, like, kind of, like, got me onto this idea.
[25:51.490 --> 25:57.130]  So before Elizabeth showed up and did really, really amazing work, she knocked out so much stuff for us.
[25:57.310 --> 26:07.070]  I spent a few weeks organizing all of our cards, updating our readme so that our setup instructions were correct.
[26:07.230 --> 26:10.770]  So that our, like, how to run this project, like, instructions were correct.
[26:11.410 --> 26:18.110]  And I also, like, added, like, little categories for, um, how urgent do the attorneys at Pulse think this is?
[26:18.370 --> 26:23.630]  Um, how, like, is this more for the team and for our own organization?
[26:23.630 --> 26:26.130]  Or is this for, like, a feature for them?
[26:26.270 --> 26:30.130]  Is this, um, what, like, what part of the code does this touch?
[26:30.130 --> 26:31.910]  They're still kind of using this system.
[26:32.030 --> 26:34.590]  I think that they calmed down because that was, uh, a lot of categories.
[26:34.750 --> 26:42.470]  But it really helped Elizabeth to be able to pick out the next task when she finished one without having to call me and say, what do I do next?
[26:43.130 --> 26:44.070]  Um, it was great.
[26:44.190 --> 26:45.470]  She was able to work very independently.
[26:45.810 --> 26:48.510]  Uh, it was really impressive everything that she was able to do.
[26:48.510 --> 26:55.270]  Um, and, uh, this has been a big lesson for me as well in how I, like, make things for myself.
[26:55.270 --> 26:59.910]  Because in two weeks, I'm not going to remember the context for whatever it was I started this week.
[26:59.910 --> 27:01.310]  That is just, like, always the deal.
[27:02.770 --> 27:07.830]  So, uh, this also applies to larger or in-progress projects.
[27:07.830 --> 27:13.070]  But I found that, uh, the things I'm going to describe here really help, uh, smaller projects.
[27:13.330 --> 27:18.150]  Uh, especially ones that kind of, like, come up quickly, like, hey, can you make me this thing by next Tuesday?
[27:18.690 --> 27:20.610]  Um, I think, I think that does come up.
[27:20.950 --> 27:25.410]  Um, uh, cause, uh, laws, laws change quick, y'all.
[27:25.890 --> 27:30.870]  Um, the, uh, so one of the things is, uh, make yourself a template.
[27:31.230 --> 27:36.370]  If you find yourself kind of, like, doing the same-shaped project over and over, make yourself a template.
[27:36.570 --> 27:40.190]  It is just, like, just really do yourself a favor at that, right?
[27:40.230 --> 27:41.490]  Like, copy-paste from yourself.
[27:41.930 --> 27:48.070]  Um, a really easy way to do this is, like, like, yes, you can get, like, get into history and stuff.
[27:48.070 --> 27:48.370]  Like that.
[27:48.510 --> 27:55.490]  But if you're not, uh, like, really on your GitFu, then a really easy thing is to take a project that you like how it's set up.
[27:56.750 --> 28:00.670]  Strip everything out that, uh, is related to that specific project.
[28:00.870 --> 28:02.410]  And then just start building the next thing on it, right?
[28:02.510 --> 28:03.410]  That's your template.
[28:03.410 --> 28:05.770]  And you can, like, have that in its own repo.
[28:06.870 --> 28:11.250]  The hard part of that is that you have to update that template.
[28:11.710 --> 28:22.810]  Uh, the way that, um, we would do this at Azavia, the way that I was taught to do it was, um, when you are starting up a new project from that template, things are going to have changed.
[28:22.810 --> 28:25.130]  Uh, like, you're going to want to update stuff.
[28:25.450 --> 28:27.530]  Uh, things have new versions all the time.
[28:27.950 --> 28:29.870]  Uh, code rots a little too quickly.
[28:30.130 --> 28:30.730]  It drives me nuts.
[28:31.090 --> 28:40.790]  Uh, and, uh, as you're building up the new project, whatever changes you make to the infrastructure, go back and make those changes in the templates.
[28:40.790 --> 28:44.050]  We were pretty good at that, but not always.
[28:44.730 --> 29:00.170]  Um, the other thing that we would do is, um, we would update, like, we wouldn't really update our docs necessarily, but whenever we were spinning up a new team member on a particular project, we would tell them, don't ask me anything.
[29:00.630 --> 29:01.870]  Follow the documentation.
[29:02.370 --> 29:05.470]  Whenever you get stuck, we'll, we'll figure it out together.
[29:05.710 --> 29:16.110]  And then their task, uh, every time that this happened was to go into our documentation and say, actually, like, if you run into this error, like, uh, this is, this is the answer.
[29:16.230 --> 29:23.810]  Like, doing that for yourself is going to help so much because sometimes you, you really want to play with that new OS and you've got to completely wipe your computer.
[29:23.950 --> 29:27.750]  And so, like, you're going to blow away everything and you, like, maybe want to do this every year.
[29:28.290 --> 29:31.230]  Um, also, again, does it already exist?
[29:31.230 --> 29:33.290]  Like, why aren't you using that?
[29:33.570 --> 29:42.750]  Um, and if, uh, if there is a good reason not to use it, like, please, but, like, uh, also copy paste from that as much as the license allows.
[29:43.250 --> 29:50.110]  Um, so, uh, the other thing I want to talk about is, um, calendar.
[29:50.270 --> 29:51.210]  We're talking about project planning, right?
[29:51.330 --> 29:52.330]  So, like, time matters.
[29:52.850 --> 29:57.350]  Um, make yourself a calendar, uh, with all of your deadlines on them, right?
[29:58.490 --> 30:02.790]  Um, this, uh, should be, you know, a paper one.
[30:02.970 --> 30:11.850]  If you're in an office or, like, if you are meeting with a group of people where, like, you have control of the space and you're consistently in the same physical space, paper calendar might really help.
[30:11.850 --> 30:15.230]  Um, for a lot of us, it's gonna be some sort of digital calendar.
[30:15.470 --> 30:18.550]  Insert your favorite calendar, uh, software here.
[30:18.850 --> 30:25.710]  Um, but if you do make a paper one, uh, maybe you do a big paper one or, like, you know, just like a cartoonishly big one.
[30:25.710 --> 30:26.410]  It could be fun.
[30:27.010 --> 30:31.790]  Um, uh, if it is digital, make it separate from the rest of your calendar, right?
[30:31.870 --> 30:40.690]  Like, give that its own thing specifically so that you can hide it from yourself later when you're, like, really, really stressed out and you don't want to look at that deadline anymore.
[30:41.210 --> 30:44.230]  Um, don't turn that off all the time.
[30:44.230 --> 30:46.030]  That's not, like, the point.
[30:46.210 --> 30:50.550]  Uh, but, like, make it separate so that you can when you need to because you might need to.
[30:51.310 --> 30:55.050]  Um, help yourself, uh, see the future with this, right?
[30:55.050 --> 31:02.430]  Like, anticipating problems of, like, oh, like, these two deadlines are, like, right on top of each other for two different projects that, like, the same people work on.
[31:02.570 --> 31:03.990]  Like, like, that kind of thing.
[31:04.490 --> 31:07.090]  Now, granted, you can't always predict that.
[31:07.230 --> 31:11.310]  Uh, but, like, as much as you can, like, uh, make sure that you're doing that.
[31:12.110 --> 31:14.230]  Um, this next one's kind of hard.
[31:14.870 --> 31:17.030]  Uh, we need to be honest about timelines.
[31:17.430 --> 31:23.410]  Yes, with ourselves, but also, uh, with the people that we're delivering these things to.
[31:23.410 --> 31:25.310]  Um, which sometimes is also ourselves.
[31:25.750 --> 31:28.430]  Um, but you gotta be honest about timelines, right?
[31:28.590 --> 31:30.770]  Like, like, like I said, leave some room for error.
[31:31.330 --> 31:38.030]  Um, uh, you have to update whoever your stakeholders are.
[31:38.150 --> 31:39.250]  You have to update them.
[31:39.330 --> 31:42.070]  If something's gonna be late, you have to tell them.
[31:42.070 --> 31:44.070]  Um, but only once you know.
[31:44.590 --> 31:47.230]  Like, not just like, oh, hey, we think we'll be late.
[31:47.330 --> 31:47.590]  Like, whatever.
[31:47.750 --> 31:48.730]  Like, you don't know that yet.
[31:48.810 --> 31:49.670]  But sometimes you know.
[31:50.370 --> 31:51.810]  And that's when you have to tell them.
[31:51.950 --> 31:53.450]  You have to, like, do it like that.
[31:53.590 --> 31:56.670]  That is going to, like, help keep trust.
[31:57.590 --> 32:01.710]  Uh, don't, um, like, really don't reassure people.
[32:02.350 --> 32:06.430]  Uh, like, oh, yeah, we're totally gonna be fine on that if you're not.
[32:06.430 --> 32:11.210]  Like, you're going to keep trust with that person by letting them know, hey, we're a little bit behind.
[32:12.170 --> 32:14.750]  Um, know what your MVP is, right?
[32:14.830 --> 32:16.050]  Like, know when you're done.
[32:16.350 --> 32:20.530]  Like, like, like I said, this is gonna all sound repetitive, but each thing kind of, like, feeds into the next.
[32:20.710 --> 32:25.670]  Because, uh, you have to know when a feature is done, you have to know when your project is done.
[32:26.350 --> 32:31.050]  Um, so, we talked about a lot today.
[32:31.570 --> 32:37.990]  I think this easily is the most, uh, uh, the most crucial for everything else.
[32:38.650 --> 32:44.470]  Um, this is easily the biggest part of project planning and executing a project, right?
[32:44.670 --> 32:48.230]  Delivering it, like, not being in this perpetual state of, oh, yeah, we're working on this.
[32:48.750 --> 32:59.210]  Um, like, approach your project from a consistent set of steps that you do in every project or in every feature or every task, right?
[32:59.210 --> 33:02.330]  If that's how you're thinking about it, to keep your work consistent.
[33:02.830 --> 33:07.270]  Um, setting up, uh, these are some automatable things, right?
[33:07.370 --> 33:15.450]  Like, uh, the idea of, um, uh, having a linter just built into your IDE or, um, a formatter.
[33:15.610 --> 33:16.530]  Actually, I think those are great.
[33:16.650 --> 33:19.270]  Like, like, format on save is, like, my best friend.
[33:19.670 --> 33:22.230]  Um, because that just, like, keeps me really consistent.
[33:22.730 --> 33:34.210]  Um, the, uh, so I want to talk about practice, like, practice both as, uh, repeated actions, uh, trying to achieve a level of skill, right?
[33:34.310 --> 33:37.250]  Like, we practice to get better at the things that we do.
[33:37.430 --> 33:41.030]  Like, when you do something consistently, you get better at them.
[33:41.430 --> 33:45.410]  Uh, um, uh, I, I watch a lot of dropout TV.
[33:45.410 --> 33:46.330]  It's very fun.
[33:46.650 --> 33:57.650]  Very recently, uh, one cast member specifically brought up the idea of, like, the, the, like, definition of insanity being, like, doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
[33:57.810 --> 34:00.130]  And he very rightfully pointed out, yeah, that's practice.
[34:00.370 --> 34:03.190]  That's, like, that's what you do to, like, get better at things.
[34:03.790 --> 34:06.590]  Um, there's the, there's limits on that.
[34:06.670 --> 34:13.550]  Cause you actually should, like, be making, like, practice is making sure that you are, like, achieving that skill and not just, like, doing the same habit that you're used to doing.
[34:13.550 --> 34:17.730]  Um, but practice also as, like, a practice, right?
[34:17.810 --> 34:22.890]  A method and procedure for being consistent and reliable in what you do, right?
[34:22.970 --> 34:25.090]  Like, that way you can, like, can, can do that.
[34:25.250 --> 34:31.430]  Now, granted, from project to project, from sprint to sprint, we're gonna learn what works for us and what doesn't.
[34:31.710 --> 34:35.410]  Like, we're gonna try new things and maybe it'll help and maybe it'll actually hurt us.
[34:35.490 --> 34:36.830]  And, like, you have to, like, do that.
[34:36.950 --> 34:41.590]  But, like, the consistency, like, really leads to the reliability.
[34:41.590 --> 34:44.070]  Like, making sure that you're following a practice.
[34:44.310 --> 34:53.050]  Like, this is something that, like, I have had good habits built into me by colleagues who, like, taught me those good habits.
[34:53.170 --> 34:58.270]  Like, that, like, that is, like, one of the great things about, like, having worked at a couple different places, worked across a couple different disciplines.
[34:58.890 --> 35:05.070]  Um, I still apply a little bit too much, like, bike mechanic analogy to my work.
[35:05.070 --> 35:06.930]  Um, but, but it applies.
[35:07.070 --> 35:08.570]  It's, like, it, like, matters for it.
[35:09.210 --> 35:12.430]  Um, so, you gotta make choices intentionally.
[35:12.930 --> 35:13.350]  Thank you.
[35:13.910 --> 35:15.170]  Uh, you gotta make choices intentionally.
[35:15.430 --> 35:19.810]  If you can believe it, I was a theater kid in high school and in my early 20s.
[35:20.190 --> 35:26.430]  Uh, I don't remember, uh, the particular scene, but I do remember that there was a two- or three-person scripted scene.
[35:26.430 --> 35:34.590]  And at some point during the scene, I stood up from, uh, sitting, um, from, like, the blocking that we were given.
[35:34.890 --> 35:38.990]  And, uh, after we were finished, the director asked me, why did you make that choice?
[35:39.230 --> 35:40.270]  And I was like, what choice?
[35:40.550 --> 35:42.490]  And she said, to stand up.
[35:42.690 --> 35:44.550]  And I was like, well, that wasn't a choice.
[35:44.650 --> 35:46.090]  It just, you know, I was doing something in the moment.
[35:46.190 --> 35:48.410]  She was like, no, that's making a choice.
[35:48.550 --> 35:50.390]  Like, like, why did you do that?
[35:51.310 --> 35:56.390]  And I said something to the effect of like, oh, well, I felt like we were being too still and that's boring.
[35:56.710 --> 36:02.250]  Uh, so I added some movement and that, that's not a good reason for that choice.
[36:02.470 --> 36:04.350]  Like, there was a reason why that character was sitting down.
[36:04.730 --> 36:09.350]  There are great reasons for a character to stand up, but that wasn't why I was making that choice.
[36:09.450 --> 36:10.270]  It wasn't a character choice.
[36:10.410 --> 36:12.070]  It was just, I thought we were being boring.
[36:12.410 --> 36:17.590]  Uh, and that, like, it, like, um, notes.
[36:19.190 --> 36:23.550]  Knowing, like, why you're making a choice, like, really, really matters.
[36:23.870 --> 36:25.770]  Like, being intentional about the choices you make, right?
[36:25.970 --> 36:31.370]  Like, put a button where, like, a button deserves to be, right?
[36:31.430 --> 36:32.590]  Like, where you actually need that.
[36:32.710 --> 36:35.990]  Like, don't use a button as a modal.
[36:36.370 --> 36:42.230]  Like, that's not really a great example, but I have seen kind of silly things like that, like, or like as a block quote.
[36:45.030 --> 36:48.330]  And, like, you... This is especially true in the code, right?
[36:48.410 --> 36:55.210]  Like, you want to know why you moved this variable to a constants file or named a function in a certain way, right?
[36:55.290 --> 36:57.010]  Like, we're making choices around that.
[36:58.470 --> 37:05.190]  And having an intentional process with intentional choices makes us better what we do at teams.
[37:06.070 --> 37:07.010]  As teams.
[37:07.770 --> 37:10.170]  And also as individuals.
[37:10.590 --> 37:18.730]  It saves us, I grant, long-term time, even if it feels like, oh, I don't want to be spending time on this in the short term.
[37:18.750 --> 37:21.090]  It does genuinely save you long-term time.
[37:21.730 --> 37:26.950]  Um, and, uh, it makes, uh, your code easier to read.
[37:27.110 --> 37:32.230]  It makes your, uh, whatever your project is, like, easier to use, uh, ideally.
[37:32.530 --> 37:35.590]  Uh, and it makes, like, us better.
[37:35.770 --> 37:37.010]  It, like, really improves our skills.
[37:37.630 --> 37:42.650]  Um, so, I just, like, kind of went for a second.
[37:42.950 --> 37:45.550]  But, uh, oh, and update as you grow.
[37:45.810 --> 37:46.950]  Didn't have a note about that.
[37:47.250 --> 37:49.910]  Um, so, we can get in some questions.
[37:49.910 --> 37:54.510]  I did just, like, talk a lot, uh, about a lot of information all at once.
[37:54.870 --> 37:57.630]  Uh, but I'm happy to answer some questions about the things.
[37:57.810 --> 37:59.590]  Especially if I wasn't very clear on something.
[38:01.830 --> 38:02.490]  Thank you.
[38:08.400 --> 38:08.840]  Anybody?
[38:09.520 --> 38:09.960]  Yes.
[38:10.360 --> 38:16.400]  So, would you say, like, the practice aspect was the most impactful piece to your workflow?
[38:16.620 --> 38:20.040]  Or do you think there's something else than, um, to your specific?
[38:20.820 --> 38:26.580]  Uh, so, uh, the question being, like, do I think that practice was most impactful to my own workflow?
[38:27.040 --> 38:28.660]  Or could it have been something else?
[38:29.260 --> 38:41.800]  Um, one thing that I know is very impactful, at least for me this past spring when I was feeling very busy, uh, kind of catching up on, like, what my new role at this organization was, uh, was a couple things got done.
[38:41.800 --> 38:45.920]  And I had room to think and, like, room to, like, make some stuff.
[38:46.060 --> 38:55.340]  But, like, I, I feel like, uh, like, having a practice, like, having a, some sort of process, like, uh, was a big driver in that.
[38:55.340 --> 39:00.320]  Just because I think that's, that I probably put the most thought into, like, how am I starting my day?
[39:00.420 --> 39:04.060]  What am I doing when I open up my IDE?
[39:04.340 --> 39:05.060]  Like, what am I doing?
[39:05.420 --> 39:15.300]  Um, how am I setting up, uh, projects so that, like, they will have those, like, nice automations in place so that, like, I'll have a formatter and have, uh, those things.
[39:15.300 --> 39:22.480]  Um, but I think that's maybe just the part that I feel the most, but I, like, I don't, I don't know that it's the most impactful.
[39:22.600 --> 39:27.120]  I do think that a lot of these things do tie into each other, uh, pretty consistently.
[39:28.440 --> 39:28.920]  Yes?
[39:29.360 --> 39:40.760]  Um, you're reminding me of someone from the Manahead project said, uh, it, um, is surprising how long we spend getting against physicians at night?
[39:41.900 --> 39:42.560]  I like that.
[39:42.860 --> 39:52.060]  Um, the, uh, uh, uh, scarily enough, I, uh, I reminded the melody, uh, uh, uh, an attendee here of, um, someone from the Manhattan Project.
[39:52.300 --> 39:57.440]  That's just out of context, but, uh, uh, sorry, what was the quote again?
[39:58.020 --> 40:05.640]  Um, we, was, was done so much energy getting into physicians today.
[40:06.660 --> 40:07.620]  We paraphrase.
[40:10.300 --> 40:21.220]  Maybe paraphrase may be, uh, misattributed, but, uh, we, uh, we spend a lot of energy, uh, just getting into place to think.
[40:21.560 --> 40:22.760]  Did I, did I say it right?
[40:24.220 --> 40:24.880]  Thank you.
[40:25.580 --> 40:37.620]  Um, this is, this is like, for me, I, I have, I have, like, done a whole lot of, like, clearing the channels for communication.
[40:37.620 --> 40:42.640]  Um, putting up a blog, getting into a habit about essays.
[40:43.260 --> 40:48.120]  Um, uh, and you talked about, like, stakeholder communication.
[40:48.120 --> 40:59.460]  Um, so, I'm, I'm thinking, like, how do you, how do you get feedback from your audience?
[40:59.540 --> 41:02.340]  And, like, how do you know it, it matters?
[41:02.700 --> 41:08.240]  Like, if it, if it has meaning, um, to, to the people you're trying to read?
[41:08.700 --> 41:10.060]  Uh, heard.
[41:10.380 --> 41:19.040]  Uh, um, so the idea is, like, like, with the idea of, like, stakeholder communication, like, how do you elicit feedback from your audience?
[41:19.180 --> 41:19.240]  Right?
[41:19.300 --> 41:20.440]  Like, how do you, how do you get that?
[41:20.540 --> 41:24.360]  How do you, uh, find meaning was, like, especially the, the heavy part of that.
[41:24.560 --> 41:37.580]  Um, so, uh, in, in a workplace, you, you have a direct person to ask and hopefully you have regular meetings with that person who will give you feedback and hopefully will tell you when you have done something badly.
[41:37.580 --> 41:46.640]  Uh, I had a couple of attorneys, uh, really give me and a former coworker, like, a real going over about a particular project.
[41:46.640 --> 41:49.380]  And it, it, they were correct to do it that way.
[41:49.820 --> 41:53.200]  Um, I, I, I genuinely wasn't even mad.
[41:53.200 --> 41:56.720]  I was just, I was so excited to have, like, oh, cool, I get to make this good.
[41:57.220 --> 42:01.020]  Um, but, um, sometimes you don't have that, right?
[42:01.020 --> 42:12.600]  Like, so, like, I have, uh, I have a, uh, personal website, uh, solicited here, uh, where the way that I had set it up when I was initially putting it up on GitHub pages, I had an RSS feed.
[42:12.740 --> 42:15.040]  That is a one-way thing.
[42:15.300 --> 42:17.080]  I, I did not have room for comments.
[42:17.080 --> 42:18.880]  I did not, like, set that up for myself.
[42:19.040 --> 42:20.840]  And so, how would I get feedback?
[42:22.500 --> 42:27.700]  Occasionally, someone, uh, on social media or someone would see me in person go, hey, like, I read that thing and it was really good.
[42:27.700 --> 42:29.660]  And, like, those moments are delightful.
[42:29.940 --> 42:30.780]  They're, like, really good.
[42:30.920 --> 42:35.080]  Or sometimes people, like, really push back and tell you that you're wrong and sometimes they're right.
[42:35.520 --> 42:46.200]  Uh, but, um, it can be really hard, uh, in the case of blogging, uh, like you mentioned, um, or, like, making projects that, that are broadcasts.
[42:46.240 --> 42:51.360]  Like, it's very hard to kind of, like, get that feedback back because we don't, we don't have, like, Nielsen for websites, really.
[42:52.100 --> 42:54.500]  Um, but, yes.
[42:55.240 --> 42:57.120]  That's, uh, that's, uh, that's as far as I get.
[42:57.200 --> 42:58.160]  Do you, do you feel like you got that?
[42:58.880 --> 42:59.200]  Yeah.
[42:59.440 --> 42:59.700]  Hell yeah.
[43:04.190 --> 43:06.750]  Oh, I, um, I, so, okay.
[43:06.890 --> 43:08.290]  So, the question was, which font am I using?
[43:08.470 --> 43:12.470]  And this is, I believe, called DaddyTime, uh, Mono?
[43:13.050 --> 43:17.330]  Uh, I, it's, I did not pick it for the name.
[43:17.610 --> 43:26.430]  I, uh, I was just kind of, like, looking through, uh, nerd font repositories, uh, trying to, trying to find something that was a little bit more readable for me in my terminal.
[43:27.850 --> 43:33.130]  Um, and this just stuck out the most, and I kept trying to be like, no, it's gonna be, it's gonna be a different one, right?
[43:33.290 --> 43:34.590]  But, like, they did a good job.
[43:35.190 --> 43:38.190]  Um, uh, but I, I've been enjoying it.
[43:38.270 --> 43:41.270]  I, I think it's called, yeah, I think it's called DaddyTime Mono.
[43:41.270 --> 43:42.390]  Uh, but yes.
[43:42.890 --> 43:43.010]  Yes.
[43:43.930 --> 43:50.190]  So, in projects, I've been, you know, working for three years, founding a makerspace in my area.
[43:50.490 --> 43:50.790]  Hell yeah.
[43:51.250 --> 44:00.830]  And that's obviously a project that, well, we have very, very little budget, but also no actual end to it, because it's this space that's going to exist, that's going to evolve.
[44:01.870 --> 44:07.450]  But, I have become a short-term deadline of writing a newsletter every single.
[44:07.810 --> 44:08.250]  Yeah.
[44:08.370 --> 44:10.290]  Help me with something to say in the newsletter every week.
[44:11.150 --> 44:15.310]  And, like, three years of that, I'm burnt out.
[44:16.590 --> 44:18.810]  And how to manage, like, that type of thing.
[44:20.050 --> 44:20.690]  Yeah, totally.
[44:20.890 --> 44:30.310]  So, so, um, for, uh, for our live stream, uh, the context was, uh, we have an attendee who, uh, has been spending three years, uh, building a makerspace, which is rad.
[44:30.310 --> 44:31.030]  I love that.
[44:31.570 --> 44:34.650]  Uh, we certainly need more of those, especially in the U.S.
[44:34.990 --> 44:37.810]  Um, uh, cause we, we don't like making things like that.
[44:37.910 --> 44:38.090]  I don't know.
[44:38.210 --> 44:38.950]  That's, which is not true.
[44:39.190 --> 44:43.890]  Uh, but, um, there's not like, yeah, there's not like a done state for a space like that.
[44:43.890 --> 44:44.890]  That's gonna be evolve.
[44:45.250 --> 44:51.670]  Uh, the question in this case was like, you know, doing a weekly newsletter or a blog like, like, what do you, what do you do when you start to burn out?
[44:52.350 --> 44:59.650]  Um, uh, some of the things I've really found help is, uh, that genuinely should have been a slide actually is, uh, take a break.
[45:00.130 --> 45:03.570]  Like, like, uh, like pause, like pause it for a second.
[45:04.050 --> 45:08.550]  Uh, it doesn't have to be like pause it for like six months while you go like meditate or like, like, that kind of thing.
[45:08.550 --> 45:14.410]  But it could be just taking a week off or sending out a newsletter that says, hey, I need a break.
[45:14.710 --> 45:16.770]  That's totally valid and totally okay.
[45:18.810 --> 45:26.850]  In a lot of indie web spaces right now, it's bloggist, where people are trying to write a blog every single day for the month of August.
[45:27.990 --> 45:33.690]  And I just read three or four posts that came out today that were like, how am I going to do this?
[45:34.090 --> 45:35.510]  And we're only halfway through the month.
[45:35.510 --> 45:43.850]  And ribo.zone, who's fantastic, and you should check out that website, is really good.
[45:44.750 --> 45:52.750]  The author recently was saying like, oh, I want to be spending more time on video games.
[45:52.790 --> 45:54.530]  I want to be spending the time that I want to spend time on.
[45:54.830 --> 45:57.410]  And not on this blog, but I'm spending too much time on this blog.
[45:57.650 --> 46:02.670]  And they came around to the idea of, oh, I'll just spend a little bit less time on it, right?
[46:02.710 --> 46:03.470]  Like streamlining it.
[46:03.470 --> 46:05.370]  Like if you can make a template for yourself, that's really helpful.
[46:05.910 --> 46:10.710]  My spouse ran into this a little bit with her newsletter that she's very proud of.
[46:11.770 --> 46:16.070]  But like some weeks, like she's like, I'm just spending too much time on this.
[46:16.170 --> 46:19.950]  And at some point she had to like learn like, hey, I got to just press send a little bit earlier.
[46:20.210 --> 46:21.610]  Like I don't have to dwell on this so long.
[46:23.310 --> 46:24.610]  Like here's next week's schedule.
[46:25.450 --> 46:25.730]  Yes.
[46:26.030 --> 46:26.110]  Yeah.
[46:26.370 --> 46:26.750]  No, exactly.
[46:26.970 --> 46:34.110]  Like delivering the bare minimum to like your stakeholders sometimes is totally valid.
[46:34.350 --> 46:41.430]  And like that can, you know, there could be a negotiation as part of that of like, hey, listen, I know those kind of bare bones, but like this is, this is what I got.
[46:41.430 --> 46:42.830]  Well, we'll, we'll, we'll work on it later.
[46:43.110 --> 46:44.630]  Like that's, that's totally okay.
[46:44.630 --> 46:54.910]  And like, uh, is a great way for you to set a precedent with those people as well of like, hey, sometimes this is not going to be like an A plus and you got to be okay with that.
[46:55.850 --> 46:59.130]  And it, I feel like in a DIY space, that would be like fine.
[46:59.790 --> 47:00.750]  Um, but yeah.
[47:04.100 --> 47:04.780]  Anybody else?
[47:05.860 --> 47:06.860]  Uh, yes.
[47:07.280 --> 47:13.080]  Uh, you mentioned like making the list, like, you know, splitting up your tasks, multiple tasks where you're the single checklist.
[47:13.660 --> 47:18.980]  Um, but like if the, if the end product is maybe a little bit more nebulous, right?
[47:19.160 --> 47:26.460]  How often do you, or what, you have examples of talking about, like, when you go back to like redefining the list of things.
[47:26.460 --> 47:27.460]  How many times?
[47:27.640 --> 47:28.300]  Too many times.
[47:29.940 --> 47:30.300]  Yeah.
[47:30.640 --> 47:30.720]  Yeah.
[47:30.900 --> 47:33.560]  So, so any idea of like something being kind of like nebulous, right?
[47:33.640 --> 47:36.640]  Like kind of like, uh, not, you don't really know what the end is going to be.
[47:36.720 --> 47:37.740]  You're going to kind of like let it evolve.
[47:38.280 --> 47:40.200]  Um, how often do you check in?
[47:40.300 --> 47:41.180]  Like what's too much?
[47:41.520 --> 47:48.600]  Um, uh, having, having like, it's having a process around it is going to help.
[47:48.880 --> 47:53.680]  Uh, just this idea of like, I like T a lot of teams like meet every two weeks.
[47:53.680 --> 47:59.860]  Like at Azavia, we would have like every other Thursday, we would spend a six hour meeting.
[48:00.420 --> 48:03.140]  With snacks and with a lunch break in the middle.
[48:03.400 --> 48:08.240]  Um, but a six hour meeting talking about last two weeks and what's coming up the next two weeks.
[48:08.240 --> 48:14.220]  And that was a time for us to consistently ask ourselves, does this make sense?
[48:14.520 --> 48:16.820]  Like, like, is what we're doing still making sense?
[48:17.140 --> 48:20.420]  Um, and having that like regular check in with yourself is good.
[48:21.080 --> 48:23.760]  I, I feel like maybe I do it, I do it too often.
[48:23.900 --> 48:25.500]  Like, uh, because I'm working by myself.
[48:25.660 --> 48:28.200]  I'm like consistently like, does this, does this make sense?
[48:28.260 --> 48:30.340]  And I feel like maybe sometimes they look a little crazy in my coworkers.
[48:30.560 --> 48:33.920]  And I'm like shoving something in their face going like, does it, does this work?
[48:34.320 --> 48:37.860]  Um, but, uh, but like it, like, it still is important.
[48:38.000 --> 48:39.800]  Like, I don't, I don't think you can really do it too much.
[48:40.280 --> 48:44.000]  Uh, but like, don't spend all your time on it.
[48:44.220 --> 48:45.900]  Like on reevaluating, right?
[48:46.800 --> 48:49.800]  Um, oh, are you sure?
[48:50.840 --> 48:50.920]  Yeah.
[48:51.040 --> 48:51.120]  Great.
[48:55.020 --> 48:59.740]  No, when you're involved in multiple projects and you, you need to.
[49:03.040 --> 49:03.840]  That excellent.
[49:04.120 --> 49:04.480]  So, right.
[49:04.580 --> 49:12.460]  So how do you say no when you're, when you're, uh, when you got too many projects in process and you got to take a break, you got to slow down.
[49:13.660 --> 49:16.000]  I have been running into this somewhat recently.
[49:16.140 --> 49:23.260]  I've been working on, um, two kind of large brand new projects at work and like one medium kind of ongoing one.
[49:25.240 --> 49:33.000]  Um, and someone came to me and asked, uh, one of our attorneys came in to me and asked like, hey, can we work on this like really cool tool that like, oh my God, I want to work on.
[49:33.100 --> 49:34.180]  It's going to be really cool when it's done.
[49:34.280 --> 49:35.120]  Cause it's map based.
[49:35.340 --> 49:35.860]  I'm very excited.
[49:37.040 --> 49:39.560]  Uh, and, um, but I was like, hey, we cannot even do this.
[49:39.560 --> 49:40.820]  I can't even start talking about this till September.
[49:41.180 --> 49:44.540]  Like, like just like setting your, your timeline that far, right?
[49:44.740 --> 49:47.080]  Like knowing I probably will have time.
[49:47.600 --> 49:50.040]  Uh, like this, I think this conversation was back in June.
[49:50.080 --> 49:51.860]  I was like, I probably will have time around now.
[49:52.000 --> 49:54.020]  And I, I kind of am getting there, which is nice.
[49:54.640 --> 50:07.260]  Uh, but like still just being like, like doing that thing where like, uh, you're not necessarily saying no, it's like, I want to work on this, but like, we're going to, we ha like, we cannot start working on this until, uh, like I'm much more free.
[50:07.260 --> 50:09.460]  Like when you know that you're going to be free as well.
[50:09.840 --> 50:15.220]  Um, cause it sucks to like accidentally put too many things on your calendar too soon.
[50:16.000 --> 50:17.640]  But it is a great question.
[50:17.800 --> 50:18.900]  Cause like saying no is hard.
[50:19.340 --> 50:23.140]  Um, sometimes you just also say no, like, cause sometimes it's not a project worth doing.
[50:23.820 --> 50:25.260]  Um, and that's important to check.
[50:26.800 --> 50:28.820]  Um, but very cool.
[50:29.160 --> 50:34.300]  Uh, unless there's any more questions, then you're absolutely welcome to, uh, come up and chat with me.
[50:34.440 --> 50:35.140]  This has been fantastic.
[50:36.040 --> 50:40.700]  I'm, uh, very, very, uh, pleased with, uh, getting to speak here.
[50:40.940 --> 50:44.660]  And, uh, the folks at HOPE have done, like put together a really good weekend.
[50:44.660 --> 50:46.720]  And I've, uh, been really, really impressed.
[50:46.720 --> 50:51.700]  Uh, like, uh, things have run really smoothly even if we feel like they're not.
[50:51.840 --> 50:56.040]  Cause like the things that haven't run smoothly have maybe taken six minutes.
[50:56.360 --> 50:58.120]  Uh, and that's been really impressive.
[50:58.320 --> 51:02.720]  Uh, and, uh, I think everyone who worked on this should be very proud of it.
[51:02.720 --> 51:03.720]  It's like really rad.
[51:03.820 --> 51:04.580]  I'm very happy to be here.
[51:04.880 --> 51:05.440]  So cool.
[51:05.820 --> 51:06.380]  Uh, thanks y'all.