I've struggled to allocate time to my diploma work these last few months, and so now seems a good time to take stock and see where I am.
What's going well?
New job
I switched jobs at Christmas, and now walk 20 minutes walk from my house. Previously I worked two days a week at home, two days in a different city (meaning a two hour commute each way). The loss of the commute in itself was worth the change, and I also got a pay rise, and a fantastic, interesting, challenging, worthwhile job. However, I now work full time, and am feeling the loss of my free Fridays very keenly. On top of that, getting used to a new role always takes time and mental energy, and after nearly three months with no holiday, I've felt depleted. Time for an update to my Zone 00 design I think.
Peer support
I love the diploma facebook group, although I don't always join in. Each Monday, people post updates about their diploma journey, which I find incredibly motivating. I'd like to contribute more.
I've also joined a 'peer pair' with a fellow diploma apprentice who lives relatively locally. We've met a couple of times now to talk over our work, which has been really helpful, and we've started working on a joint design together.
Finally, I've joined an email peer group - we each write an email once a week on a Thursday with an update of how our week has gone. In practice, we rarely all manage to post every week, but it's always interesting to read about other people's work and their working processes. There's no obligation to respond either, which makes this group really low stress. Again, I'd like to contribute more regularly.
What's challenging?
Time
My new job has taken more mental energy than I'd thought. I've found myself working just ten minutes later each week, until gradually I'd started getting home near the time I used to get home when I had a two hour commute. This has meant I've been tired in the evenings, and not wanted to start work on anything diploma-related. At the weekends, I've felt like I should be working on decorating the house.
Speaking of the house... it's in an advanced state of chaos, which we've both been finding difficult to deal with. There is so much to do, and we've decided to do most of it ourselves. I work full time, which limits our available time, and we often differ in our opinions about what should be done, and how. However, we are learning many new skills, and we're saving a fortune while we live here mortgage free.
Unfinished projects
I've got several diploma projects which are unfinished, and two of these are collaborative projects. I feel a constant source of guilt that I've not worked on these for months now, and these are my first priority as I get back to my diploma again.
I'm not setting a target date to finish my diploma. My original target was to finish within two years, which gives me three months left. Clearly that's not realistic, and with our impending house move I want to leave myself plenty of time to create new designs at the new house.
Next achievable steps
I want to make progress on my designs that involve other people - the research project, and my new collaborative project designing a garden for a friend of my peer partner, Jennie. My first priority though, is to revisit my Zone 00 design and see what I can do to make things feel more manageable right now.